Due to his stance on the Iraq War, presumed GOP nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona is very unpopular amongst the college crowd. However, it does not deter McCain of trying to get the youth vote. This is an indication that McCain is planning to acknowledge Senator Barack Obama of Illinois as the eventual Democratic nominee. However, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York is not out of the race yet.
But, this voting bloc has played an instrumental part of Obama’s candidacy. In short, Obama is very popular amongst the college scene. Also, many schools have been infected with “Obama Fever.” The polls even show that Obama and Clinton fare better than McCain amongst the 18 to 29 year old age group on individual levels. That was then.
Now, it shows that McCain has been gaining steady ground. It shows that the youth vote does not exclusively belong to Obama. In addition, it shows that McCain has gained a sizeable lead over Clinton. But, it is unknown how long McCain’s allure will last on the younger voters.
While McCain’s main platform is Iraq, he has been showing that he is not the “typical” Republican. This has been McCain’s main message to Democrats and Independents; that he is not the “typical” Republican. In a sense, it would be the case of Obama and McCain chipping away at each other’s voters.
This is helping McCain. But, it is hurting McCain at the same time. Recently, McCain has addressed the environment with Independents. He was in Oregon, one of the final six states in the Democratic Race. It is expected that Obama will have a high chance of winning in Oregon. Clinton’s support looks strong in Kentucky and West Virginia.
In this case, McCain must take part in another balancing act. His other balancing act is on immigration where he has to balance the Latino voting bloc and the GOP’s conservative voting bloc.