I run into people often who say that Obama is the ‘youth choice’ and he will be the better choice for our nation’s young voters.  I find that odd enough…sure there was a lot of hype back in 2008, but many have seen reality now– for one thing they may be out of a job or under-employed!  The unemployment rate for young adults 16 to 25 is 15%!  And they think Obama has helped them?

I have fallen in love with the video below which illustrates how many young people feel today:

During the DNC Democratic convention Barack Obama’s acceptance speech was been moved from a 70,000 seat stadium to the 20,000 site.  This was supposedly because of concerns about the rain, though previously it had been said that the speech would be at the outdoor Bank of America stadium regardless of weather…but suddenly this became a great concern to the Democratic Party.  Maybe it was because the building wouldn’t be as filled as they would like?  Whatever the reason it is open to speculation…

One particular headline after this announcement caught my interest.  It was an article detailing the story of two teenagers who worked hard to earn tickets to Obama’s speech.  Because the event was moved to a different location their tickets have been voided.  Imagine what a disappointment that would be!  Why would a campaign slight these two young people?  They had promised a reward for the efforts of this brother and sister.

Because the location changed these young people were not the only ones who had been promised tickets for their volunteer work and were slighted, but to me this illustrates the Obama administration…disappointment, hyped up enthusiasm and volunteers taken advantage of.

A short while before reading this I had run into New Mexico’s Republican Congressman Steve Pearce at a political function.  He told one story about Mitt Romney’s recent visit to Hobbs, New Mexico which struck a chord:

Some local Junior High or Middle School youth had worked preparing for the rally and other events for weeks.  These youth had had the opportunity to meet Gov. Romney as a group, but as the long day began to close, Governor Romney headed toward his car and off to the airport, Rep. Pearce mentioned something about the young people who had worked on this event…wouldn’t it be nice if Gov. Romney could take a few minutes and thank each personally?    A moment of thought and Gov. Romney returned to meet with the young people who had worked for weeks to make this day a success.
When I heard this story it truly reached me.  After a long day campaigning Gov. Romney was exhausted.  He could have simply ignored this request or brushed it aside.  These young people wouldn’t even be voting for him.  Why bother?  Instead he chose to take an extra five minutes or so to thank the young people personally.

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What kind of a president do we want for the next four years?  A man who’s campaign slights to teenagers and people who have poured time into his campaign?  Or a man who was willing to take a few minutes and go farther than expected to thank those who have helped?