In '08: 'It's the Generations, Stupid'

By Yoji Cole
April 09, 2008

To learn why Sen. Barack Obama enjoys great popularity among the nation's younger voters, listen to the rap song "Open Letter to Obama." In it, Asian-American rapper Jin says: "You want to make change then you gotta take note. What you gonna do, huh? Take it to the polls! Dear Obama/Comma/First off, this is truly an honor/I'm a supporta/I wanted to say how strongly I believe in your bipartisan ways/Red states, blue states, that's kinda late/In your eyes it's only the United States."

Generations X and Y--people 18 to 45 years old--have become a major factor in a Democratic presidential contest so close that every delegate vote counts. So far, Obama has bested Sen. Hillary Clinton among young voters who have been galvanized by his themes of hope, change, and working past ideological, racial and religious differences, and who are inspired by his biracial background. His support among young voters is so strong, a New York Times editorial noted this year's political theme is "It's the generations, stupid."

Because this Democratic presidential contest is such a tight race, with neither candidate garnering enough delegates to win the nomination outright, each vote counts. How a candidate markets ideas and identity to younger voters, a group that is more diverse ethnically, racially and ideologically, and one that sees commonalities rather than differences, could decide who wins.

Obama enjoys support from young voters because he's talked about changing methods of governing, reaching out to Cuba, talking with Syria, supporting civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, changing energy policy and creating more access to college. He is half-black and half-white and as a result embodies the multiculturality with which younger generations are familiar.

For example, Jin raps that "he's out to do far more, as far as war he's trying to stop genocide in Darfur."

Says Howard Buford, president and CEO of Prime Access, a multicultural-marketing firm: "For those younger generations, diversity is part of their self-definition in a way it hasn't been for baby boomers."

Members of Generations X and Y respond to messages that are open, direct, progressive, and authentic and that embrace different people. Obama is perceived as authentically representing his message in deed and word, says Buford.

"This is very much a marketing situation," says Buford. "Consider the candidates as brands. You have to have an authentic brand because they embrace authenticity and direct messages that are inclusive. They don't like being pitted against each other or having groups pitted against each other because their whole network of friends and sometimes even family is diverse, so they don't like group divisiveness. They see themselves as not being isolated or categorized into a group and to do so goes against their own social networks."

David Bositis, senior political analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, agrees.

"I think it's pretty clear that it's Barack Obama's campaign [that is attracting the youth vote], because about 70 percent of that age group is voting for Barack Obama," Bositis said to New America Media. "I think [the youth voter turnout] has something to do with change … I think young people are looking for the change, and he represents change more than any of the other candidates."

Added Dick Bennett, president of American Research Group, which researches voting trends: "Women over 50 are annoyed with women under 50 because they're not supporting Clinton. The only group Clinton wins is [boomers and those older]."

Obama kicked off the primary season with a win in Iowa, which is one of the nation's whitest states. But he won the state because of an overwhelmingly strong under-25 demographic turnout. In addition, polls showed that the number of absentee ballots (including those of college students and students abroad) that were turned in prior to the election exceeded the total number of ballots in the 2004 primary election (absentee and non-absentee voters combined), according to New America Media.

Obama is tapping into a pool of young voters who were already energized. In 2004, young-voter turnout increased more than in any election since 18-year-olds won the right to vote 35 years ago. Turnout among voters ages 18--24 increased 11 percentage points from 36 percent to 47 percent, while turnout among ages 18--29 increased 9 points from 40 percent to 49 percent, according to the report "Young Voter Strategies," a project of The Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.

In 2004, the most recent census statistics on voters, there were 118.4 million people between the ages of 18 and 44. Of those people, 63.7 million were registered voters, compared to 65.8 million people between the ages of 45 and 74 who were registered voters. Voters ages 18 to 44 reflect the country's racial and ethnic demographics. Of the registered young voters in 2004, whites comprised 47.1 million or 73 percent; Blacks comprised 8.5 million or 13 percent; Latinos 5.3 million or 8 percent; and Asian Americans 1.6 million or 2.4 percent, according to the census.

In 2006, however, the percentage of Latino and Asian-American voters ages 18--29 increased, while the percentage of white voters decreased. In 2006, 71 percent of those ages 18--29 were white, down from 73 percent in 2004, while 11 percent were Latino, up from 8 percent, and 3 percent were Asian American, up from 1.6 percent, according to Young Voter Strategies.

Tap Into the Youths' Social Networks

Because the nation's youth are a multicultural group that relishes its diversity, expect them to live in bilingual worlds. Latino and Asian-American youth listen to, read and watch both in-language and English-language media. Former President Bill Clinton, for example, visited a radio station in Los Angeles that features a Spanglish-language (Spanish and English) format to stump for his wife. And candidates should meet with the editorial boards of ethnic newspapers, said marketers Miriam Muley, CEO of 85 Percent Niche, Bill Imada, chairman and CEO of IWGroup, and Juana Veliz, deputy managing director of LaGrant Communication's Hispanic Practice.

"He crosses the generation gap so young voters can see him as a professor or a neighbor," says Muley. "He … hasn't denied any aspect of his [mixture], which lends to his authenticity … [His campaign] is about new fresh perspectives and breaking the paradigm and not being locked into the way we did things just because that's the way we did them."

Imada points out that the Asian-American community, roughly 16 million people, is often forgotten in discussions about immigration, education and healthcare. But the population is growing in cities and towns thought not to have a large Asian-American population, such as Atlanta, which features several in-language media outlets for the Asian-American community.

He adds that the campaigns should feature more Asian Americans in prominent positions to show the community the candidate cares about their issues.

"Each of our communities can tip the scale one way or another," says Imada. "The Asian-American voter typically gets their information from more than one source. Although they may read the Los Angeles Times or Wall Street Journal, they're going to look for information about candidates from their own cultural point of view."

Both Obama and Clinton need to feature prominent Asian-American community leaders among their campaign leadership, said Imada. "You can't ignore online and mobile media," says Veliz. "Especially when considering that Latinos over-index other communities when it comes to cell-phone use and instant messaging."

Veliz also says the campaigns must keep in mind that younger Latinos and Asian Americans are often bilingual, so they live their lives authentically as Mexican American, Cuban American, Vietnamese American or Korean American. When Veliz was young, immigration was important to her because some of her relatives were not naturalized citizens. But other issues touched her as well. She wanted to attend college, so the cost of tuition and economy were issues because she wanted a career after graduating.

Veliz suggests using celebrity endorsers to attract young Latinos. Clinton has received support from Eva Longoria and America Ferrera, while in addition to Jin, Obama has received support from George Lopez.

And all marketers agree that more Latino, Black and Asian-American representation in leadership roles will always serve a candidate well.

They betta believe the hype

Obama '08