How Republicans plan to win over the youth vote

Published July 11, 2012 2:27pm ET



Four years after Barack Obama won the support of 66 percent of voters aged 18 to 29, Republicans are working on a fresh approach to bring younger voters and candidates into the fold, using a coalition of traditional campaign organizations, super PACs, nonprofit advocacy groups and policy-based think tanks.


And even Republicans organizing these efforts admit it’s going to take some work.


Two groups, the Young Guns Action Fund and Maverick PAC—the latter was co-founded by George P. Bush, nephew of former President George W. Bush and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—will focus on finding young Republican political talent and supporting them with money. The two organizations announced a strategic partnership Tuesday that organizers hope will increase engagement with voters that were lost to Obama in 2008. One short-term goal, of course, is to narrow the enthusiasm gap between young Republicans and Democrats, but ultimately, they’re looking far beyond the next election.


“The relationship is about developing something for the long-term that looks past just this November,” YG Action Fund President John Murray told reporters during a breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. “By the midterms in 2014, perhaps we’ve made a little more progress; by the next presidential we’ve made some more progress, and [we’ve gained] … the capacity to build that over time because it’s going to take time.”


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