POLITICO.COM : 4 million more Millennials, Millennials 25%, Seniors 17% in November - Demographic-based optimism for an Obama victory - Team Obama’s youth mobilization is breathtaking - Romney's TV ads are much less effective with this generation

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Jennifer Granholm ( born 1959 ), former Democratic governor of Michigan, serving from 2003 to 2011 asks the vote of Youngsters ( Millennials ) for Obama. She is now host of “The War Room” on Current TV. She is also a visiting public policy and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

POLITICO.COM
The Millennial factor
By JENNIFER GRANHOLM
June 6, 2012


The Millennial factor


Some excerpts :

Everyone knows that young people don’t vote, right? They are apathetic, the hardest to motivate, the most difficult to register, the toughest to rouse to the polls. Research by Hais and Winograd makes clear that whichever campaign cracks the code of mobilizing Millennials will be the one that wins the presidency.

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First, the numbers are stunning. In terms of electoral demographics: 20 is the new 60.

In 2008, only 40 percent of Millennials were old enough to vote. But each year since then, 4 million more Millennials — the generation born between 1982 to 2003 — become eligible. That’s 16 million more potential eligible young voters since 2008. And this new group supports Obama over Mitt Romney by two-to-one.

In 2008 — when a hearty 52 percent of Millennials voted — they provided a 7 million-vote bulge for Obama. In 2012, even if a smaller percentage — say only 50 percent — vote, this could still be a 10 million-vote bulge for Obama.

Put this growth in context with other electoral demographic groups, and it upends traditional political lore: Millennials will outnumber seniors in November. Four years ago, each group made up about 17 percent of the population. But Millennials even then had a slight edge in voting – 18 percent, to 17 percent for seniors (age 65 and up). Now, Millennials comprise about a quarter of the adult population, while seniors remain 17 percent.

The second reason for optimism: Team Obama’s youth mobilization is breathtaking.

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The ham-fisted efforts by Republicans to deny Millennials their vote will simply add fuel to their fire. If there was a danger of apathy before, these Republican efforts of Voter Supression will stoke their determination to scale the barriers being placed in their way.

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So here’s my plea to Millennials: If you have any generational defiance in you, if you feel outraged by cynical attempts to limit your most fundamental rights, if your inner rebel is twitching, then cast your vote. Do it despite the obstacles the Republican legislators are erecting. Or maybe because of them.

This is your moment. You have the juice. If you’ve ever wanted to stick a finger in the eye of the politicians in your parents’ generation — now is the time. (In the eyes of Republican legislators, of course.)

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