(MintPress) – The GOP has rolled out a new fundraising campaign in hopes of luring the young demographic that overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama in 2008 to get behind Republican candidates and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. The new super Political Action Committee (PAC), Crossroads Generation, is playing to the emotional appeal that plagues young voters, such as poor job prospects and growing student loan debt.
President Obama still maintains the majority of support of voters in the 18-29 age range. A recent Gallup poll shows that particular demographic overwhelmingly supports Obama over Romney, 64 percent compared to Romney’s 29 percent. The new super PAC, which launched a $50,000 social media campaign on Monday, criticizes Obama’s message of “hope and change” on its website, saying, “we’re still waiting to see what that is supposed to mean.”
“We’re graduating from high school and college and have to move back in with our parents to make ends meet. We’re in jobs that don’t pay enough, or that aren’t leading to a career we want,” the site said. “And that’s if we have a job at all; the unemployment rate for our generation is even higher than for the nation as a whole. Many have school loans to pay and have to postpone major life choices because of the economy.”
Crossroads Generation is receiving funding from large organizations such as the College Republicans, the Young Republicans, the Republican State Leadership Committee and American Crossroads. The group’s organizers say they will target young voters in the nations swing states, such as North Carolina, Missouri and Colorado.
Obama has been popular among young voters as of late. The president’s recent endorsement of same-sex marriage is in line with 66 percent of voters’ ideologies between the ages 18-34. Obama has also been visiting college campuses across the country to push measures that would prevent student loan interest rates from doubling July 1st.
The new super PAC and Obama both have votes to court, however. Prior to the elections in November, 4.3 million potential voters will turn 18, and despite the rise in young adults, only 60 percent of them on average are registering to vote.
Obama has also curbed his rhetoric away from the “hope and change” Crossroads Generation criticized and pushed for programs that would benefit the youth. In one initiative, Obama announced 110,000 summer jobs for low-income youth as part of a jobs program.
But Crossroads Generation believes young voters are looking for an alternative to Obama. The group is pushing for a presence on college campuses in the upcoming fall semester, right before the elections. There are around 250,000 College Republican members nationwide at 1,800 campuses.
“Younger voters aren’t looking for a party label,” said super PAC advister Kristen Soltis in an interview with the Associated Press. “They’re looking for someone to present a solution for how things are going to get better.”
The youths’ battle
America’s young voter demographic has faced an uphill battle since the recession started in 2008. As student loans continue to swell alongside the youth unemployment rate, Generation Y finds itself with few options to sustain a middle class lifestyle. In the United States, nearly 18 percent of those under the age of 25 were jobless in 2010, up from just over 10 percent in 2005. The rate more than doubles today’s nation unemployment rate, which stands at 8.1 percent.
Many that enter the job market are coming out of the school with unprecedented amounts of debt, as the average college graduate enters the market with $27,200 in student loans, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
In response, students – some in affiliation with the Occupy movement – have planned widespread protests this summer against rising tuition costs that have resulted in many choosing between debt and education. Having hit the $1 trillion mark of outstanding loans, critics say student loan debt could be the next bubble to burst after the housing market in 2008.
“We’re already seeing a large increase, a large number of student loan defaults across the country. And that’s coming at a rate similar to when the mortgage loans started to default as well and this has a cumulative effect, it’s a downward spiral,” Occupy Student Debt organizer Edward Needham told RT.
Already this spring, graduates are wearing stickers displaying their student loan debt totals while wearing a ball and chain around their ankles at their graduation ceremonies.
Super PAC critics
Crossroads Generation adds to the long line of super PACs already influencing this year’s elections. The organizations fundraise in order to campaign for or against a candidate, using private donors to provide financing. The practice – a byproduct of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case – has opened the floodgates for corporate support of political candidates. The court’s decision ruled that the First Amendment does not allow the government to limit spending of corporations or unions for political purposes.
“It goes back to politics before we had campaign finance reform and Watergate,” said Clemson University political science professor David Woodard in an interview with McClatchy. “It’s just a complete reversal that has brought us full circle to where it’s rich guys playing politics.”
As of May 14, super PACs have contributed $204,712,775 during the 2012 election cycle, according to Open Secrets.
American Crossroads, a financial backer to the Crossroads Generation PAC, has raised $28.1 million this cycle, the second-highest total of all super PACs.
Crossroads Generation did not respond to interview requests from MintPress.