The Daily Caller has an interesting look at the full dimensions of the Obama Administration’s fervent campaign to secure the youth vote, using your tax dollars:
President Obama, his immediate aides and his cabinet secretaries have used taxpayer dollars to woo young voters at more than 130 universities and schools between March 2011 and March 2012, according to a survey of news reports and press releases reviewed by The Daily Caller.
[…] Roughly one-third of the visits were to swing states, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado and Florida.
The number of swing-state visits was matched by visits to universities and schools in blue states, including California, New York, Maryland and Massachusetts. Still, many students in blue-state universities can vote in other states.
Obama personally visited 27 colleges and high schools while trying to boost support and enthusiasm among younger voters. He used Air Force One to visit three more universities this week, spurring charges that he’s using taxpayer-funded flights to subsidize his 2012 campaign.
The first lady, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill visited another 26 education centers during the year. Top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett visited seven centers, and his cabinet secretaries flew or drove to 73 more.
None of these people drove themselves to their questionable university appearances in a Chevy Volt, after checking out of the local Motel 6 and grabbing a quick bite to eat at the Waffle House.
This frantic effort to shore up the youth vote is every bit the sign of dire political weakness that it appears to be. The Daily Caller mentions a “30-point drop in support for Obama among students” in an October Gallup poll. They gave him 66 percent support in the 2008 election.
Young voters are, understandably, worried about unemployment. Even the “cooked” unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds was 13.2 percent in March. Add in the million-plus young people who have dropped out of the workforce entirely, suggests the non-profit Generation Opportunity, and you’re up to 15.4 percent.
The Washington Post recently conducted a poll showing “nearly six out of 10 young voters ranked the economy as the most important national issue, and the same number disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy.” This, combined with the President’s obvious preference for cheering crowds of impressionable young voters over grumpy adults with tough questions about his record, explains why you’re paying so much to put Administration officials on university stages these days.
