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Hey, Obama! Leave them kids alone!

Harvard poll: Young people don't like ObamaCare, want Obama recalled



As long as the name "Barack Obama" has been associated with presidential politics, there has been one constant. He was the hip, charming, tech-savvy politician that young people loved. His 2008 campaign was centered, almost exclusively, around this concept. Since he was elected, virtually every one of his policy "successes" has hinged upon the idea that he could rely on the grass roots support of America's youth. Even now, his signature legislation fails certain doom if young people don't buy into it.
Unfortunately for the President, a new poll conducted by Harvard University's Institute of Politics shows that - somewhere along the way - America's millennial got wise to the Obama scam. According to The National Journal:
The survey, part of a unique 13-year study of the attitudes of young adults, finds that America's rising generation is worried about its future, disillusioned with the U.S. political system, strongly opposed to the government's domestic surveillance apparatus, and drifting away from both major parties. It blows a gaping hole in the belief among many Democrats that Obama's two elections signaled a durable grip on the youth vote.

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Indeed, Millennial are not so hot on their president. Obama's approval rating among young Americans is just 41 percent, down 11 points from a year ago, and now tracking with all adults. While 55 percent said they voted for Obama in 2012, only 46 percent said they would do so again.
Believe it or not, that's the good news. Dig a little deeper into the findings and a spectacular number of respondents under the age of 25 would remove Obama from office if given the chance.
When asked if they would want to recall various elected officials, 45 percent of millennials said they would oust their member of Congress; 52 percent replied "all members of Congress" should go; and 47 percent said they would recall Obama. The recall-Obama figure was even higher among the youngest millennials, ages 18 to 24, at 52 percent.
Maybe that's because the data shows they're not too happy with the way Obama has handled...well....anything.

Of particular note in the graphic above is young people's opinion of ObamaCare. Remember that, by the President's own admission, the law will fail unless the number of young, healthy, ObamaCare enrollees is big enough to support all the newly insured older, sicker, Americans. The fact that 56% of the all-important millennial bloc disapproves of the ACA - no matter what you call it - should be deeply troubling to the administration. As the National Journal puts it:
According to the poll, 57 percent of millennials disapprove of Obamacare, with 40 percent saying it will worsen their quality of care and a majority believing it will drive up costs. Only 18 percent say Obamacare will improve their care. Among 18-to-29-year-olds currently without health insurance, less than one-third say they're likely to enroll in the Obamacare exchanges. In addition to health care, domestic spying is an issue that puts Obama on the wrong side of the rising generation. While split on whether Edward Snowden is a "patriot" or a "traitor" for revealing Obama's surveillance programs, strong majorities of 18-to-29-year-olds oppose the government collecting information from social networks, Web-browsing histories, email, GPS locations, telephone calls, and text messages.
Before Republicans start thinking that these results signal some sort of shift in their direction, they should be aware. These kids don't care forthemeither. Only 24% consider themselves Republicans. The vast - and growing - majority belongs to the independent category, in which 41% place themselves. While Obama may be losing young people over issues like federal intrusion, the GOP isn't doing anything to pick them up. One would hope that the strict-constructionist and Libertarian wings of the party are paying attention. There's an opportunity here, if the Republican elites are willing to get out of the way. If you're inclined to disagree with any of this, bear in mind: it came from the hallowed halls ofHarvard. As we all know from listening to liberal whining, nothing from Harvard is ever wrong.


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