USA Africa Dialogue Series - Add Lationos/Latinas To Blacks --- No 2008 Enthusiasm To Vote This Time

Big Trouble:

 

We have heard a lot of talk about how the Latinos/Latinas, for whom Obama has tuck his neck out, as opposed to Blacks, are going to vote for him in droves. Well, not so fast!  Now add the Latinos/Latinas and the young to our Black folks who are not as enthusiastic to vote this time as they did in 2008. 

Young and Latino voters less excited to vote than other groups

by theGrio | July 13, 2012 at 11:43 AM

 

Alex Wong/Getty Images News

In a potentially troubling sign for President Obama's reelection hopes, registered voters under age 30 and Latinos, two key electoral blocs for the president, are less excited to vote than other groups, according to a new Gallup survey.

"Fifty-eight percent of U.S. registered voters aged 18 to 29 say they will "definitely vote" this fall, well below the current national average of 78% and far below 18- to 29-year-olds' voting intentions in the fall of 2004 and 2008," says Gallup.

RELATED: Are young people going to turn out for Obama again?

Only 64 percent of Latino registered voters say they will definitely vote this fall, also well below the national average. Seventy-six percent of blacks said they will definitely vote, which is about the same as the overall number.

In contrast, 85 percent of registered voters over 50 say they will vote.

Why does this matter? Because the winner of the Obama-Romney race will be shaped largely by turnout, and increasingly the American electorate is polarized among age and racial lines: young, Latino and black voters are strongly behind Obama, while Romney leads among older voters.  Obama leads by more than 20 points among young voters, 40 points among Latinos and around 90 points among African-Americans. But he will need these voters to cast ballots in high percentages, like in 2008, to win reelection.