Ryan Kopiasz, a Barack Obama supporter, works on his laptop computer at the Obama 2008 campaign headquarters in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008. The young, healthy are largely absent from Obama's fight to overhaul health care.
(AP Photo)
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."
Younger people are generally healthier and rely on less medical care, particularly young working men who make up the largest group that goes voluntarily without health insurance. They also are less likely to be as vocal at contentious town halls; many are either working or in school during the daytime forums.
Among senior citizens, the fear is palpable about Obama's efforts, reflected in public polling that shows support falling for his proposals. Seniors worry that paying for the $1 trillion-plus, 10-year overhaul will mean cuts in Medicare benefits.
Talk of death panels and "pulling the plug on grandma," although discredited, has scared seniors. Sensing opportunity, the Republican National Committee announced a "Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights" Monday that pledges to protect the elderly from any attempt to ration health care because of age.
Seniors preferred Republican Sen. John McCain by a 55-43 percent margin in last year's general election — the only age group Obama lost.
Determined to energize his activist base, Obama talked up health care in an online town 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 every state and congressional district.
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