Obama Losing Support

                  In my last blog I discussed the voter turnout in the 2008 presidential elections. As I pointed out, Barack Obama won big support with the minority and young adult communities. Of all of the young people who voted in 2008, 66 % supported Barack Obama (Horowitz Keeter and Tyson). The African American community had the highest number of supporters for Obama, with 95% voting in his favor (Lopez and Taylor). The Hispanic community also preferred Obama to McCain with 67% casting their ballot for Obama (Lopez). If some of us don’t remember, Obama ran on the platforms of “Hope and “Change we can believe in.” Those two slogans were very inspiring to everyone, but they resonated with those three communities. However, as recent polls show, the communities that so fervently supported Obama in 2008 are becoming more and more dissatisfied. So the question arises can President Obama recapture the majority vote with those groups. In my opinion, President Obama will once again win with those groups in the 2012 reelection, but it will not be as big of a landslide as it was in 2008. Here I will discuss why those three groups are
              Although the Hispanic community voted majorly Democratic in the 2008 elections, they are still considered a swing vote. In 2004, President Bush captured 40 % of the Hispanic vote (Lopez).  As a recent Gallup Daily poll shows, the Hispanic job approval for President Obama has a hit a new low. In August the approval rate for the President among Hispanics was just 48 % ( Saad). This is down from 60% in just January (Saad).  The current dissatisfaction with the Presidentis due to the lack of attention to issues Hispanics see as important. The most prevalent being immigration reform. President Obama has been trying to recapture the Hispanic support by going back to the issues deemed important by the Hispanic community. Obama has continuously stated his support for the DREAM Act, which would pave a way for undocumented students to go to college or join the military and eventually become citizens. He has also stated that there needs to be more comprehensive immigration reform (Mason). Although over the summer, Obama hosted numerous Latino groups at the White House and made appearances at Latino events, many Latinos feel Obama is not doing enough to recapture the Hispanic vote for2012 (Mason). It will be interesting to see what will happen with the Hispanic vote this time around. The Hispanic community tends to sway politically so I am wondering if a high percentage will actually vote Republican.

The next group with growing dissatisfaction for President Obama is the young adults. In an article published by The Hill, I read a very scary statistic. “Earlier this year, the total amount of student loan debt owed by Americans surpassed the amount of credit card debt owed by Americans for the first time in history. The total amount of student loan debt is expected to pass the $1 trillion mark by the end of this year”(Williams). As a student who has taken out student loans, this fact scares me. I really am terrified of an economic climate where I am not able to pay off my student loans by myself. This economic uncertainty is the main reason for dissatisfaction with the administration among young voters. In a poll conducted by Generation Opportunity, 44 % of18-29 year olds disapprove of how the President is handling the job situation (Marcos).  As Williams points out, the President has been trying to regain the young vote by “overhauling the federal loan program” and allowing kids to stay on their parents health insurance up until the age 26. Although, those were very important issues they do not address the job situation. Very frequently I think about my future and whether or not I will be able to support myself after college. The “American Jobs Act” has eased some of those worries in the sense that the administration is doing something about jobs. However, the Act will not benefit me at all as a young adult going into the employment market. Although, I really don’t think the President is doing enough for job creation I still will vote for him because I don’t have any other options. President Obama is at least trying to do something for young adults. I am a little shocked to read the following in The Hill article, “Pew finds Republicans have an 11-point advantage among self-identified young white voters” (Williams). It will be interesting to see if young adults actually vote Republican in this election.

               The African American community had the most support for President Obama in the 2008 elections. As pointed out earlier, 95 % of African Americans voted for Barack Obama (Lopez and Tyson). However, even among this community support for the President has been slowly declining .A September Washington Post-ABC News Poll revealed that only 58 % of African Americans view Obama as “strongly favorable” (Thompson). This number is down from 83 % which was just 5 months ago (Thompson).  So what is behind the growing decline for the President among African American voters? The issue once again is jobs. The unemployment rate for African Americans is 16 % compared to the national average of 9.1 % and African Americans believe Obama is not doing enough to help that (Thompson). Obama continuously defended his policies, saying that the programs he passed benefit everyone. However, some CBC members are calling for more focus primarily on the issue of African American unemployment (Thompson).  
             Overall, I am really curious to see the numbers for the 2012 elections. I understand that those groups feel somewhat abandoned, as do I, but simply not voting will not help things. Imagine what would happen to immigration or unemployment insurance if a Republican were in office. However, I do wish that the president was more progressive.

                                                                  Works Cited                           

Keeter, Scott, Juliana Horowitz, and Alec Tyson. "Young Voters in the 2008 Election." Pew Research Center. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1031/young-voters-in-the-2008-election.

 

Lopez, Mark, and Paul Taylor. "Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History." Pew Research Center. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1209/racial-ethnic-voters-presidential-election.

 

Lopez, Mark. "How Hispanics Voted in the 2008 Election." Pew Research Center. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1024/exit-poll-analysis-hispanics.

 

Marcos, Cristina. "Poll: Younger Voters Dissatisfied with Obama's Handling of the Economy." The Hill. The Hill. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. <165937-poll-younger-voters-dissatisfied-with-obama-economy>.

 

Mason, Julie. "President Obama No-show Miffs Hispanics - Julie Mason - POLITICO.com." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57313.html.

 

Saad, Lydia. "Obama Approval Sinks to New Lows in August Among Whites, Hispanics." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. http://www.gallup.com/poll/149351/Obama-Job-Approval-Sinks-New-Lows-Among-Whites-Hispanics.aspx?utm_source=tagrss.

 

Thompson, Krissah. "Obama’s Favorability Numbers Start to Drop among African Americans - The Washington Post." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Web. 02 Oct. 2011. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-ratings-among-blacks-falls/2011/09/21/gIQAqzJdlK_story.html.

 

Williams, Juan. "Opinion: Dems Must Worry about Young." The Hill. The Hill. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. <http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/183761-dems-must-now-worry-about-young?page=2#comments>.