Economy will be pivotal to final 2012 youth vote turnout and margin

If they want to appeal to young voters, Republicans cannot marginalize minority communities. But with the economy being the central issue for young Americans, there is no evidence that their decision to hit the ballot box will hinge upon a candidate's embrace of same-sex marriage.

Two questions to grapple with in the coming month:

1) A new GOP super PAC has launched to target young swing-voters. Does Team Romney make a more forceful effort to court young voters - and does the presumptive GOP nominee soften the harder-line conservative positions he has inherited from the primary? 

2) We have seen in the last couple of months the Obama campaign's most active college homecoming since his 2008 primary campaign. Does the President continue to pursue young voters with renewed vigor, both newly registered teens and his '08 supporters (both loyal and disillusioned ones)? 

For our readers: Wesley and I both start new reporting projects in June and will be posting here with less frequency. Thank you for your ongoing interest in the millennial angle surrounding this election cycle.

As we have tried to explain here, younger constituencies are one of the most decisive demographics of 2012. More broadly, the state of youth political engagement, here and across the globe, is an enormously important subject.

In the upcoming U.S. contest, the size of President Obama's marginal advantage with 18-29 voters will likely determine the fate of his re-election bid against Governor Romney.

Wesley and I will continue to analyze the salient youth dimensions of this campaign. As veterans of new media campaign and youth vote coverage, we are both pleased to discuss the subject, so do feel free to get in touch.

Youth Vote 2012: A Breakdown

I stumbled across this online yesterday, and figured it was certainly worth sharing with those readers following this year's youth vote.