President Obama scored big with the youth vote during the 2008 presidential race and he’s hoping this demographic will support him as he gears up for the 2012 election. With a Pew Research Center report showing 66% of voters under 30 voted for the commander-in-chief, it’s no surprise Mr. Obama is strategically targeting 18-29-year-old voters.
Obama’s re-election campaign launched Greater Together, an initiative enlisting campaign volunteers and assisting first-time voters with registration, on Tuesday. The youth-branded campaign will use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, as well as outreach to campuses in key states, such as Ohio State University and Penn State, to garner support. The first of a series of “Obama Student Summits†will be held on Nov. 2 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The project will be spearheaded by Valeisha Butterfield-Jones, former executive director of Russell Simmons’ Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and a daughter of Democratic Rep. G. K. Butterfield of North Carolina, and former Obama field organizer Eric Zoberman.
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