NEW YORK — Add this to President Barack Obama’s problems in selling his health care overhaul: A lot of the tech-savvy activists who helped put him in office are young, feeling indestructible and not all that into what they see as an old-folks issue.
It’s a crucial gap in support and one the White House may have to correct if Obama is to regain the momentum and get Congress to act on his top domestic priority.
Matt Singer, a 26-year-old founder of the liberal group Forward Montana and an activist in the health care trenches, has tried to engage young people.
“Right now we’re seeing a big conversation with seniors, but you’re not seeing the same mobilization among young people who are President Obama’s core constituency,” Singer said. “The age demographic most supportive of reform has not been engaged, and it makes me very nervous.”
Among senior citizens, the fear about Obama’s efforts is palpable, reflected in public polling that shows support for his proposals falling. Seniors worry that paying for the $1 trillion-plus, 10-year overhaul will mean cuts in Medicare benefits.
Determined to energize his activist base, Obama talked up health care in an online meeting last week with Organizing for America, the campaign operation reconstituted as the White House political arm. The operation has stepped up its push on health care, hosting thousands of events across the U.S.
“It’s great to be here with all of you because it reminds me of how we got here in the first place,” Obama told the group in the meeting.
Heather Smith, the executive director of the youth-oriented group Rock the Vote, said the heated arguments that have dominated the debate recently — from the future of Medicare to “death panels” to claims of rationing — have seemed far removed from the lives of young people, whose health-insurance worries primarily center on the cost and availability of coverage.
“What we’ve learned by working with this generation through polling is that attacks, rather than dialogue, doesn’t attract them,” Smith said. “Beyond the screaming, there’s a tremendous amount of interest and concern among young people. It’s just not something you see.”
But critics also point to a failure of Obama’s message, saying that by focusing so intently on senior citizens’ concerns, the White House may have lost the attention of younger voters.
“If we’re going to keep this generation engaged, we have to move away from the politics of partisan talking points and move back to what was done last year: the politics of engagement, citizenship, democracy, online and on-the-ground activity, and conversations with peers,” Smith said.
To bring those voters back, Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who has researched the youth vote, said Obama needs to draw on his personal popularity and make the health care debate about him.
That’s the argument Amanda Mack, a 27-year-old organizer in South Dakota, says she makes when she urges young people to participate in the debate.
“During the campaign, young people got involved because they believed in Barack Obama and health care is something he made a priority,” Mack said. She said she expects more activity around the issue in the fall, when colleges are back in session and younger families return from vacation.
