With the presidential election approaching and campaigning on both sides gearing up, President Barack Obama took time last week to address the importance of the youth vote and encourage students to register.
In a conference call with The Badger Herald and other student newspapers around the country, Obama said regardless of which candidate they support, he wants to make sure as many students as possible are voting this year.
“The key here is to make sure your voice is heard and hopefully that people get educated on the issues that are going to make a big difference,” he said.
With that said, Obama said the choice this fall should be clear for students to re-elect him for a second term, as he has created a new college tax credit, doubled grant aid for millions of students and “fought and won to keep student loan rates low” with the help of the youth vote.
He said Romney’s “top-down” approach to economic policy and advice for college students to “borrow money from your parents” are not in the nation’s, or young person’s, best interest.
“On all these issues, young people are ultimately the ones who are going to pay the price one way or another,” Obama said.
In addition, he said “the other side” will be discouraging the youth vote through cynicism and attack ads but that he has been visiting college campuses because he sees the kind of change young people can bring about.
University of Wisconsin College Democrats Chair Chris Hoffman said he sees Obama as the clear choice for students because he is in support of more funding for Pell Grants and federal funding for higher education.
He added he agrees with Obama’s point about Republicans discouraging the youth vote, citing recent attempts at voter ID and residency requirements in Wisconsin and the rest of the country, which he thinks are making voting more complicated.
“Voter ID and residency requirements are making it more and more challenging for students to vote, … and the simple act of registering is becoming more difficult,” Hoffman said. “The process is becoming overcomplicated.”
Hoffman said with this in mind, his organization is aiming to get students educated on voting procedures to make things go as smoothly as possible.
“We’re focusing on getting students educated on how to vote so when Nov. 6 comes there will be no problems,” he said.
Obama encouraged students to register to vote, regardless of their affiliation, and said students should go to gottaregister.com to find information on a state-to-state basis.
He said although the atmosphere may not be as cheerful as it was four years ago because of a tough economy and negative TV ads currently on the air, he did not say change would be easy.
“All the progress that we’ve made in our history usually came about through some struggle and I hope that young people recognize that that struggle’s worthwhile now, because I’m very optimistic about the future,” he said.
Representatives from the Republican Party of Wisconsin and UW’s College Republicans did not return calls for comment.
