Young people won't let Obama off easy in 2012 campaign for collegiate votes

As we near the eve of the S.C. primary contest, the mainstream media are finally reporting what we first chronicled here at SCOOP2012. Ron Paul could tap the youth vote all the way to the 2012 presidential debate stage. As USA Today reports, a third-party Paul candidacy is sure to complicate the campaign.

The Pew Research Center finds 44% of registered voters would support Obama, 32% would back Mitt Romney and 18% would get behind Paul in a three-way race.

If youthful Paul supporters remain energized and behind Paul (and not persuaded to jump ship to the mainstream Romney), and the online grassroots donations continue to roll in, his Libertarian campaign will remain alive and well.

Over the next month or beyond, Paul may decide not to enter the fray as an independent because he doesn't want to jeopardize the standing of his son, Kentucky senator Rand Paul, in the Republican Party. It is also not clear, as was the case for reform candidate Ross Perot, that he actually wants to be the nation's leader.

But the important point is this: Even if Paul resigns his campaign, at least a fraction of the anti-Romney college-aged faction probably will not be silenced. They may even attempt to draft a similar Paul or Perot model.

Now, back to our policy discussion of higher ed.

Yes, it is a still a lofty aspiration for the modern American university to serve as a cost-free extension of the public school system. In the current economic climate, it is not plausible to imagine a totally free system of higher ed.

This is particularly true of public universities, many of which are still suffering through fiscal wreckage. Many private universities, however, have eliminated socioeconomic status as a potential barrier to graduating from a top-notch school. Most graduate schools, even the well-endowed cream of the crop, still do not offer a loan-free future for students whose scholarship doesn't cover the balance.  Law school tuition has tripled over the last quarter century.

In fact, the overcrowded over-paying graduate scene is so problematic that two prominent Yale professors recently argued that law schools "should pay students to quit law school." Not so inspiring.  But while the graduate disciplines may carry debt for some time, it is more realistic to envision, with the financial backing of school trustees and alumna, college that will not financially handicap Gen Y and the next decade of college grads.

President Obama and the federal government should probably take note of the need-blind priorities of the nation's most prestigious schools of higher and secondary learning, in order to craft a workable plan for the nation's public universities.

If he wants to recapture young people's zeal, I believe the president must articulate a plan, working alongside schools, to make college more affordable beyond the baby steps (like slightly increasing the federal Pell Grant and access to federal loans).

Many college students know that, and aren't going to let Obama "off easy" in 2012. Sure, Obama needs a summer college campus tour to reconnect with young people. But eloquent speeches won't do the trick. This year's visits to campuses must strike a balance of strategic rhetoric and new policy to appeal to young people.

So, here's my question for you, Wes: How does Obama channel the energies of disaffected college youth who expected more than the president has delivered?