Obama, Democrats Aim Voting Appeals at Young People
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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
On Tuesday, the United States will hold [A]congressional [/A]and state elections in a year defined by voter [A]dissatisfaction[/A]. Democrats are trying hard to excite their party's base of support in an effort to limit Republican gains.
That base includes young people. Two years ago, two-thirds of [A]voters[/A] under thirty voted for Barack Obama. Now, the president is urging them to remember that excitement and his [A]campaign[/A] for change. His efforts to reach young voters include [A]appearances[/A] on MTV and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" along with [A]college[/A] visits.
Recently he spoke to about thirty-five thousand people at Ohio State University.
BARACK OBAMA: "And now we are not just [A]advocating[/A] change. We're not just calling for change. We're doing the hard work of change -- we're grinding it out. Sometimes it's [A]frustrating[/A]. We're delivering change [A]inch[/A] by inch, day by day. It's not easy. Believe me, I know it's not easy."
Zach Howell, president of the College Republican National Committee, could have said the same thing two years ago. But he says this year is "completely different." He says more young people are proudly identifying themselves as [A]conservatives[/A] and as Republicans.
ZACH HOWELL: "It is all about the [A]economy[/A]. That is everything to them. I mean, twenty percent of college [A]graduates[/A] are unable to find work right now. So young people are [A]concerned[/A] about their futures."
Sixty percent of college students [A]approved[/A] of the job President Obama was doing in May of last year. That number was down to forty-four percent in a recent Associated Press-mtvU [A]survey[/A].
Heather Smith is [A]executive[/A] director of Rock the Vote. Her group tries to get young people to become politically active. She says schools need to provide more civics education and states need to continue their efforts to make voting [A]easier[/A].
More and more Americans vote early; some states even let people register and vote on the same day. But Ms. Smith says the voter [A]registration[/A] process may be one [A]reason[/A] why young people are less likely to vote.
HEATHER SMITH: "They are new to the [A]process[/A] and that [A]means[/A] that for the [A]majority[/A] of them, they need to register to vote for the first time."
But getting more people -- especially young people -- to vote is harder in years without a [A]presidential[/A] election.
Young voters are getting a lot of attention. Yet the group AARP, which [A]represents[/A] millions of older Americans, says [A]candidates[/A] should keep something in mind. The group says two-thirds of [A]voters[/A] this November could be age forty-five and older.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. Join us online at 51voa.com and on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Bob Doughty.
