Sway Calloway tells CBS' 'Early Show' about MTV's New Hampshire primary coverage and election-year plans.
By Gil Kaufman
Sway Calloway on CBS' "The Early Show"
Photo: CBS News
MTV News already showed you some of the Power of 12 on Tuesday in Iowa when we spoke to a number of poll-goers about their choices in that first-in-the-nation presidential caucus. And our young voter initiative will continue next Tuesday as we descend on New Hampshire for the first primary of the season.
This time, our correspondent Sway Calloway will be on hand to speak to voters about what issues are on their minds, which candidates are likely to get their vote and what they're looking for from their leaders as campaign 2012 heats up.
Sway dropped in on CBS' "Early Show" on Friday (January 6) to talk up the initiative, telling reporters Nancy Cordes and Jim Axelrod why the nation's 45 million millennial (18-29) voters could hold the key to this year's contest. "They can help set the agenda," Sway said. "It's about the individual vote and, collectively, they could change the whole entire election. We've seen this in the past, just four year ago. That's what the Power of 12 is all about."
And that, Sway added, is the reason behind the Power of 12 hub, a clearinghouse for information on voting and a resource for young voters to get information and become informed about the issues. A continuation of MTV's two-decade-plus commitment to political engagement, the Power of 12 initiative is an updated way to engage a new generation in the importance of political participation.
"The Power of 12 is about now. It's about 2012. It's about this generation who are experiencing a different economic climate, as well as political climate," Sway explained. "A lot of young Americans are feeling disillusioned, but they're not disengaged with the political process. We saw the turnout with Occupy Wall Street. But when I go out in the streets and I talk to young potential voters, some of their concerns are student loans, how to pay for college and coming out of college and not having jobs."
It remains to be seen whether young voters will come out to support the remaining Republican candidates in New Hampshire. But in Iowa they showed up loud and proud for libertarian Ron Paul, even if voters under 30 only ended up representing 4 percent of the total vote in the Hawkeye state.
Asked whether those voters will turn out for incumbent president Barack Obama the way they did in 2008, Sway said that while Obama still has the highest approval rating among that group for Democrats, "young voters will definitely set the agenda. If the candidates are wise, it would behoove them to tap into this 'Power of 12' and utilize this power and talk to this young vote."
Check back here around the clock for up-to-the-minute coverage on the primary caucuses and stick with PowerOf12.org throughout the 2012 presidential election season.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676875/young-voters-power-of-12-new-hampshire.jhtml
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