University of Virginia Library

Nixon Commands Youth Majority

other side he thinks that his
vote isn't necessary.

Q. Do you expect this
apathy to dissipate as the
election draws closer?

A. I hope it does, and I think
it will happen simply because
the election draws nearer, and
because of all our activity in
the field.

Q. Is the Nixon support soft,
as has been charged?

A. I think anytime you have
a 28% lead in a national
election you're soft. I don't
think there is any way a
presidential candidate can go
into the last weeks of a
campaign with such a lead
without it being soft. I think
there will be some slippage, but
at the same time I felt the same
way three weeks ago, and now
its three weeks from the
election and the lead has held
much firmer than any of us felt
it would.

Q. Do you feel the Nixon
support among the Democrats
in the polls may be false, and
that McGovern will pick up
much of that support when it
finally comes to the voting
booth? Has the Committee
given this any serious
consideration?

A. Sure we've talked about it
a lot, but supporting President
Nixon wasn't one of the most
popular things among
Democrats a year ago. It wasn't
the "in" thing to do to support
the President. My feeling here
is that there are many more
Democrats that are going to
vote for the President than are
saying so now, rather than the
other way around.

Q. Where is Mr. Nixon's
support strongest, with regard
to young voters?

A. The two strongest areas
of support by young people are
the South and the Mid-west,
with the West then the East
following after that. There is
no question, though, that the
President is more popular with
young people in the South and
Mid-west, but he does retain a
majority with young people in
all areas of the country.

Q. What of the campus
cross-section of the youth
vote?

A. When you take the total
youth student population, it's
about even. He's way ahead on
southern campuses, though.

Q. What is the organizational
structure of the Young Voters
For The President?

A. We have a state
organization in every state.
Then within each state we try
to organize all the colleges,
high schools and counties. We
send out the literature and
they distribute it. Most of
them are run on a completely
volunteer basis. Right now we
have about 140 people working
full time, plus over 300,000
volunteers. In fact, we are
supplying better than 50% of
the entire campaign work.