A few weeks ago, I noted a shift in polling data indicating that Barack Obama’s stranglehold on the so-called “youth vote” was weakening. A Reuters summary of the latest Zogby poll confims the trend:
“Obama’s support among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, which had been one of his strengths, slipped 12 percentage points to 52 percent. McCain, who will turn 72 next week, was winning 40 percent of younger voters.”
Anecdotally, I can attest that several of my friends — fellow twenty-somethings — who were once quite enthusiastic about Obama have recently expressed disappointment in his campaign. “I’m so sick of reading headlines like ‘Obama Slams McCain,’ or vice versa,” one told me. “I thought that this campaign would actually be different, but it’s not. It’s depressing.”
The more Obama wades into the mud, the less transcendent he appears, and his Unity/Hope/Change message is exposed for the vacuous nonsense that it is. This data should be worrisome for Team Obama because their ultimate base is slipping away. Perhaps it’s time for another super-hip will.i.am video.