Watching as the government continued to bail out Wall Street, suppress constitutional rights, and encourage deep ocean oil drilling, young people couldn't help but notice the compromises made by their president that favored the rich and powerful over the interests of students and entry-level workers.
The economy sucked, jobs evaporated, college tuition increased, coal slurry continued to spill into mountain streams, and oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Youthful enthusiasm was dampened by the repeated failures of President Obama and the Democratic Party to "change the way Washington works." Although more than half of Millennials placed the blame on special interests and Obama's political opponents, one third of the young people came to blame Obama himself for failing to deliver on his promises.
The effects of their disappointment was quickly felt as young people reduced their political participation. Youth voting in the 2009 gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey was only 17 and 19%, and only 15% of Massachusetts young people turned out to vote in the special senatorial election in January 2010, resulting in the defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley.
Disenchanted in 2010
During the year following his inauguration, President Obama's approval rates fell from 73 to 57% among young people, and a July 2010 poll found him trailing a "generic Republican" among 18- to 34-year-olds.
Young people have been especially hard hit by the failing economy, yet they were generally ignored by most Congressional candidates in the 2010 election cycle. As Heather Smith of Rock the Vote said, "These young people are willing to participate and be active by nature, but they are not going to show up unless they are invited."
Leading up to last week's election, an October McClatchy-Marist Poll found that only 11% of registered voters under 30 were "very enthusiastic" about voting, compared to 48% of voters over 60 years of age. An earlier Rock the Vote poll in September found 34% of young voters favoring Democrats, 28% wanting a Republican takeover, but significantly, 36% believed it did not matter which party controls Congress.
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