The College Fix

President Obama is spending a lot of time on campus these days.

The school year’s already brought high profile speeches at the University of Texas and the University of Wisconsin, a conference call with hundreds of college-aged reporters and smaller affairs like this week’s visit to Bowie State in Maryland. The efforts have some wondering: Is Obama losing the youth vote?

Polling says that might be the case. According to data collected by the New York Times through July 2010, 50 percent of those born after 1981 approve of the president, down from almost 75 percent in early 2009.

“I think President Obama is not what candidate Obama promised to be,” said Stephen Siao, president of the Vanderbilt College Republicans. “His policies are burdening and indebting our generation, and it is really motivating college students against him.”

According to Siao, rising young stars in the Republican Party, such as Nikki Haley and Stephen Fincher, are attracting college-aged students to the conservative movement.

“College Republicans across the country are energized,” Siao said.

According to a poll released by Rock the Vote last week, 77 percent of young people polled are planning on voting in the November midterm elections.

The poll surveyed 1,000 18-to-29-year-olds and found that 83 percent of respondents were confident in their power to affect outcomes in the coming election. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed, however, report feeling more cynical about politics now than they had in 2008. Thirty-six percent said that they do not care which party is in control of Congress.

Vanderbilt College Democrats President Naveed Nanjee said that although the hype may be gone, the president still maintains his support from the college-aged base.

“The youth is a hit and run type of thing,” Nanjee said. “I don’t think people have lost hope or feelings for Obama, they just lost the hype.”

According to Nanjee, the actions Obama has taken to expand Pell grants and health care and minimize the achievement gap have all benefited the college-aged generation.

“(Obama) was given two wars, the biggest recession since the Great Depression and a failing health care system,” Nanjee said. “Everyone just expected him to wave a magic wand and everything would be okay. He has taken steps to alleviate problems created by this issues, but the magical feeling has faded.”

In a conference call with college journalists on Monday, President Obama attempted to reignite enthusiasm for midterm elections in November.

“You can’t sit it out,” said Obama. “You can’t suddenly just check in once every ten years or so on an exciting presidential election and then not pay attention during big midterm elections where we have a real big choice between Democrats and Republicans…That is a big choice. That has big consequences. So even though this may not be as exciting as a presidential election it is going to make a huge difference in terms of whether we are going to be able to move our agenda forward over the next couple years.”

The President also visited University of Wisconsin last Tuesday, continuing his effort to reach out to the college-aged demographic.

With midterm elections quickly approaching and the first signs of the 2012 presidential race coming into focus, academics at Vanderbilt University speculate on the future of the Obama presidency.

John Greer, Vanderbilt professor and political scientist, is optimistic about the President’s chances in the long run.

“Given the state of the economy and everything else on the president’s plate, Obama is doing just fine. If his approval hovers around 50 percent, that‘s a good indicator that he would be re-elected,” Greer said.

According to David E. Lewis, professor of political science at Vanderbilt, Obama’s declining approval ratings is making it difficult for the administration to retain cabinet positions through 2012.

“Higher-ups in the Obama administration are starting to make calculations about their own careers,” Lewis said. “It will be more difficult for Obama to keep an effective and committed team if he is perceived as struggling.”

Kyle Blaine is the news editor of the Vanderbilt Hustler and a sophomore at Vanderbilt University. He is a member of the Student Free Press Association.

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter