President Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, kicked off a new push to court the youth vote at a rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
“What people don’t focus on is there’s 8 million voters who are 18 to 21 who weren’t old enough to vote last time and who are going to cast their first vote for Barack Obama,” Messina said at the event at UPenn promoting the campaign’s new ‘Greater Together’ initiative. “Your older brothers and sisters started it, and you’re going to complete it.”
Young voters were key to Obama’s 2008 election and the campaign will need them to return in similar or greater numbers if they want a crack at a second term. The Greater Together program is aimed at reconnecting with 18-29 year olds to try and help capture some of the old energy early in the race.
Staffers for the Obama campaign say they plan on highlighting a variety of White House policies that appeal to young voters in particular, including the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, a provision of the Affordable Care Act that allow adults to stay on their parents’ health care plan through age 26, and the end of the Iraq War.
