Is Obama is now part of the wallpaper for young people who came of age during his presidency?
Is Obama is now part of the wallpaper for young people who came of age during his presidency?
What comes next?
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/23/7874901/obama-youtube
When Barack Obama first ran for president in 2008, he famously mobilized and inspired millions of young voters for change. But yesterday, at the start of his presidency's seventh year, he was asked by a 19-year-old woman: why should young people care about politics, anyway?
The question was asked by YouTube star Bethany Mota as part of a Q&A session organized by the website. "Before I came to do this interview for YouTube, I never really followed politics that much," Mota said, adding, "A lot of my online audience in the younger generation don't seem as interested in it." So, she asked, "Why should the younger generation be interested in politics and why should it matter to them?
As Obama said during the speech, he has no more campaigns to run. But still, the White House has been trying hard to spread its message, gunning particularly for audiences in the digital space. They announced news on LinkedIn, posted the speech's full text beforehand on Medium, and hoped to make the speech the most interactive State of the Union ever. Yet when he was asked a simple question — why young people didn't care about politics — he didn't have a clear answer.
This was a striking contrast from 2008. Back then, Obama didn't have to convince young people why they should care about politics. Now, in early 2015, a young woman was essentially telling him on air that she'd been uninterested in everything he's done over the past six years.
It's the latest indication that while Obama may have been the inspiring catalyst for change back then, now he's part of the wallpaper for young people who've come of age during his presidency. The issues that motivated young people to turn out in 2008 — unhappiness with the Iraq war, the collapsing economy, frustration with the Bush administration, the desire to make history with the first black president — are no longer relevant. And Obama's idealistic hope of changing politics clearly hasn't panned out.
So, why should young people care — and why should they bother to turn out in 2016? This is a question Hillary Clinton's campaign-in-waiting is struggling with. As Ron Fournier wrote in National Journal, Clinton's "challenge is to convince voters that, unlike Obama, she can deliver on her promises." While endorsing many of the same proposals as Obama, she'll have to argue that she is uniquely positioned to actually make those changes happen.
You Tube from the White House:
= new reply since forum marked as read
the question is: Does Hillary have the ability to attract young voters with a message that appeals to THEM....the way Obama did to those now older?
That's what the article asks.
Did you read the whole article, watch the Video? Young People are "at the moment" with "Facebook/Selfies" and other distractions... much different from those who voted in 2008.
That's what I read from the article.
