A new Bloomberg poll finds that President Bush has a much lower approval rating among Americans age 18 to 24 - just 20 percent - than among Americans of all ages overall, where his approval rating now stands at 40 percent.
Bloomberg writer Heidi Przybyla says the data indicates that "Bush's hopes of attracting a new generation of voters to the Republican Party may be fading, as younger Americans are far more critical of his job performance than the broader population." She continues...
Much like Franklin Roosevelt attracted a new generation of voters with the New Deal, Bush and his administration have had high hopes of drawing younger voters to his party. He has sought to do that through policy initiatives aimed at creating an "ownership society," and public relations tactics like a Youth Convention at the party's 2004 national convention, in which his twin daughters took the stage.
Among the initiatives aimed at drawing a new generation into the Republican fold are health-care savings accounts, elimination of the so-called marriage penalty in the U.S. tax code, and Bush's proposal to create private investment accounts from a portion of Social Security payroll taxes. `Younger Americans really want to see some leadership,'' Bush said last year as he launched his Social Security plan.
Instead, the Social Security initiative flopped in Congress after attracting criticism from the public and lawmakers of both parties, and health-care savings accounts haven't done much to expand coverage, with only about 1 percent of the U.S. population currently participating in them.
I hate to break it to Przybyla, but health savings accounts and the marriage penalty aren't big issues for 18-24 year-olds. Most of them aren't married, and many in that age group choose to forego buying health insurance even if their employer offers it.
Her take on how Bush's stand on social issues is driving his approval rating lower among the younger demographics may be more on-target, though.
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