O'Malley makes a pitch to younger voters.
Martin O'Malley came to this New England college town bearing pizza, and a message he hopes will click with the young voters who could be critical for his long-shot bid for president.
"One thing I've been struck by is a big generational shift underway in our country," O'Malley told about 100 students gathered May 31 in a small library meeting room at Dartmouth College last week. "I've rarely met someone under 40 who denies climate change is real. I rarely meet anyone under 40 who wants to scapegoat immigrants."
The line brought murmurs of agreement from the crowd of young Democrats. . .
Whoever inspires them will have an important advantage in the Democratic primaries next year, and the general election in November. In 2014 there were 46 million eligible voters under 30, compared with 39 million seniors, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University. . .
So it was little surprise that O'Malley planted himself in the Dartmouth library a day after announcing his campaign on Federal Hill in Baltimore. He spoke about college affordability, climate change and the job market that some of the students listening are anxiously preparing to enter.
"I'm for moving us to a point as a country where we have debt-free college," O'Malley told the group. "You can finance a home at less than you can finance your college education. And sadly, if you can't finance your college education you're never going to be able to buy a home."
Plenty of O'Malley's lines drew applause, and several students said they would follow his campaign more closely. . .
It's interesting that he's taking the direction of appealing to the younger audience in contrast with Hillary Clinton," she said. "He addressed a lot of the social issues this younger generation cares about. I think it was effective that he highlighted that."
Charlotte Blatt, also 18 and a freshman, is vice president of the Dartmouth College Democrats.
"As a college student, it's important to hear politicians speaking about the issue of college loans and student debt," she said. "It's really crippling." . .
But as far back as last summer O'Malley was using words like "fundamentally newer" and "new way of leadership" to describe his approach.
On the campaign trail, those phrases have become sharper, and they have taken on added meaning in the context of a race that includes Clinton, a former first lady, senator and secretary of state who has spent decades in Washington.
O'Malley has never directly made an issue of Clinton's age — at 67, she is 15 years his senior — and he has demurred when asked about it directly. Yet he has sought to project an image of youth by appearing more often with his Celtic rock band and by talking about the data-focused management he employed as Baltimore's mayor and Maryland's governor. . .
But there may be a sliver of good news for O'Malley in the polling from Maryland, where he is known best. Though his approval slipped during the 2014 gubernatorial election, he does slightly better among young voters in the state — though the difference is within the margin of error.
A Goucher Poll from October found than 18- to 34-year-olds in Maryland had a slightly better impression of O'Malley than older age groups did.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-omalley-young-voters-20150605-story.html#page=2
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