The projected decrease in the number of young people voting for Obama this year compared to 2008 could result in a win for Mitt Romney, Tagg Romney said on Wednesday night. And the GOP has Obama’s depressing economy and high Republican voter enthusiasm to thank for that.
“Obama won among young people last time, with 60 percent of the vote among those under age 29,” the GOP contender’s son said. “We’re polling right now around 45 to 46 percent among people under 29, which for us is a huge, huge step forward. If we win this election, like I think we’re going to, it’ll be in large part because of the number of young people who switched sides and voted for the guy who knows how to fix the economy.”
The GOP presidential candidate’s oldest son made these remarks during a Young Americans for Romney tele-town hall, where he was the special guest. In 2002, when Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts and won, his son was heavily involved, as a full-time staff member and the campaign manager for his dad’s running mate. In this presidential election, however, the 42-year-old was supposed to take a backseat role in the campaign to focus more on his personal life, The New Republic reports.
Yet as the election grew more complicated, so did Romney’s oldest son’s relationship with the campaign, as he has become increasingly involved. In this case, it was a 15-minute phone call with young supporters.
Young people across the country called in to hear Romney speak on the status of his dad’s campaign and to ask questions. Romney addressed the current economic situation and high youth unemployment as reasons why young people should not vote for Obama.
“I can’t imagine wanting to graduate from high school or college and go into this work force, or this economy, knowing that 50 percent of people coming out of school aren’t able to find work, and thinking that four more years of Barack Obama is going to make it any better than the last four years,” he said.
When talking about his dad’s focus on bipartisan work while governor of Massachusetts, Romney criticized Obama for the attack campaign he has been running recently — something that caused the GOP presidential candidate himself to lash out against Obama in the third presidential debate, saying, “Attacking me is not an agenda.”
“[My dad] made sure never to get personal, and never to attack people personally,” Romney said. “He would have disagreements on policy, but he would never do the things you’re seeing the President do right now to my dad, which is make personal attacks and denigrate people and their motivations.”
Romney assured listeners on the call that his dad is “competent and smart and qualified,” as well as a “really good person.” He touted the enthusiasm he has seen among young people across the country, especially on college campuses, and fielded questions about how young people can be more involved. Romney encouraged listeners to volunteer to make campaign calls and talk their friends into voting for “the right guy.”
“Four years ago, it was very cool to vote for Barack Obama,” Romney said. “Four years later, I think it’s a lot less cool.”
