The College Fix

Via Diverse Issues in Higher Education:

As she considers a 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton has appeared at colleges packed with students who could help power a second White House bid. In 2008, Clinton wasn’t their first choice during the Democratic primaries; young voters supported Barack Obama by wide margins. So if there is another campaign, their backing could prove instrumental.

At universities, Clinton often appeals to young voters’ idealism and encourages civic participation. She also raises the kind of powerful symbolism—her potential breakthrough as the first female president of the United States—that helped propel Obama’s history-making campaign to become the nation’s first Black president.

Clinton’s allies are setting up a voter outreach operation that could enable her to connect with young voters and build upon the Obama campaign’s success in courting women, African-Americans, Latinos and gays and lesbians.

This time, they say, will be different.

“I don’t think you’re going to have this contrast in a Democratic primary that you had in 2008. I think there will be a ton of enthusiasm” for a potential Clinton candidacy, said Mitch Stewart, a former Obama campaign aide who now advises Ready for Hillary, a super political action committee that’s building support for a potential 2016 race.

“If she were decide to run, there would be an historic element to her candidacy as well that I think young people would want to be a part of,” he said.

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