Wed., 5/9/12: Young America

Young America
We’re looking at Millennials and how they’ll affect the presidential race. In 2008, young voters were the mighty engine that helped carry President Barack Obama to the White House, voting for him two-to-one over John McCain. But over the past four years, the Millennials have been losing steam as they wade through hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt, and slog through a stagnant job market. Mitt Romney and President Obama have been trying to appeal to these young voters, from parachuting into college campuses to slow jamming on late night TV. These well-heeled boomers can’t say they feel the millennials' pain, but they promise to stop it. It looks like Obama's tactics are working. A new poll finds Obama leading Romney among Millennials.

We’ll discuss what the candidates need to do to earn the millennial vote. We'll also gauge if Millennials have the momentum this time around to give a candidate that victorious bump. Millennials, we want to hear from you. Leave a comment on our Facebook page or Tweet us.

GUESTS:
  Erin O'Brien, associate professor of political science at UMass Boston
  John Della Volpe, director of polling at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, founder of SocialSphere
  Alexa Scordato, director of social media and communications at 2tor, Inc.