“We were out-flanked, frankly, by the Democratic Party in terms of the social media and really adopting a 21st century campaign ?platform,” said Young, who was elected to the position in 2010. “I’m not talking about the issues, but I’m talking about the infrastructure.”
Early in his speech, Young said even though President Obama is not up for re-election this year, his policies are still on the ballot, through the policies set forth by other Democrat candidates up for re-election.
Young mentioned that Democrats made better use of social media for their campaigns in 2012. He said he hoped that the IU College Republicans would help lead the social media charge.
He stressed the need for volunteers for his reelection campaign, noting he wanted members of the IU College Republicans making phone calls, going door-to-door and signing up for his text message service.
Young said he wants to emphasize three issues in particular for the upcoming election: education, healthcare and the economy.
All three of these issues, Young said, affect young people.
He said the cost of tuition for college was an issue but mentioned that he wanted to improve the economy for recent college graduates so they can pay back their ?student loans.
He said the current economy is disproportionately affecting young people and that voting for a Republican ticket can help future job seekers.
“I came here this evening to remind everyone with roughly 30 days to go before a major general election, of the importance of not just voting, hopefully early voting and getting the votes in the bag for Republican, conservative or center-right candidates,” Young said.
Young said he came to IU to help inspire students to vote for a Republican ticket and to remind them that he believes Obama and the Democratic Party’s policies have hurt the country.
Young specifically mentioned the Affordable Care Act, spending and over-regulation as issues from the Obama administration that have hurt the country.
He said this year’s election is a referendum on Obama’s policies, mentioning that issues facing Americans today are “on the ?ballot.”
One of the attendees at Young’s talk was Riley Parr, chair of the IU College ?Republicans.
“I think he hit on all the major issues,” Parr said. “He did a good job of applying them to college students.”
Parr also said he plans to follow Young’s advice to make use of social media for November’s election, specifically mentioning Twitter, Facebook and email.
Parr said talking to voters face-to-face is also important in the weeks leading up to the election.
Early voting for the Nov. 4 midterm elections begins today.
