No surge in youth interest after Obama first year: group

U.S. Democratic Party supporters in Halifax say they still find it tough to attract young people to political issues.

Democrats Abroad members gather around a pub TV to watch President Barak Obama's State of the Union address.

A year after U.S. President Barack Obama reinvigorated the American political scene, Democratic party supporters in Halifax say it's still hard to engage young people in political issues.

Stewart Zaun is youth co-ordinator for the Halifax chapter of Democrats Abroad, a group that aims to connect Americans living abroad with each other. But the Mount Saint Vincent student says it's not much of a job.

Zaun was the only university student at the Democrats Abroad's latest event, a gathering to watch Obama deliver the State of the Union address Wednesday night that attached about 20 members

"We try to get the word out there as much as possible. We have an [ad] in The Coast that was advertising this. We try to get it out there but there's not a lot of response," he says.

Obama was widely credited with sparking interest in American politics during the 2008 election - especially among people.

Zaun says it's frustrating that American youth aren't making time to stay involved in politics.

"I feel that it's necessary to be actively involved in politics for where you are, as well as where it influences you," he says. "We're the first people to complain about getting the short end of the stick, but we're also the lowest turnout in voting, if you want to complain, do something about it."

David Williams, co-chair for the organization's Halifax branch, says the branch needs to do more work to get youth to come out.

"We haven't worked hard enough to try to involve youth. I suspect there are young Americans going to university in Halifax that are involved in the kind of politics that we act on. We certainly welcome youth," says the former Dalhousie professor.

"I don't know if it's so much they're not interested," says Zaun. "Part of it is it's just not a priority with our busy schedules...I mean myself, I work two jobs, go to school full time and I try to do volunteer work. It was damn near impossible for me to come here, much less a meeting every couple of months. It's just not a big priority. It's hard to get people out to vote much less to be active."

The State of the Union is an annual event in which presidents reflect on their accomplishments of the past year, and lay out an agenda for the coming year ahead.

Obama discussed the economy, investing in cleaner energy, a commitment to double exports, health insurance reform, making post-secondary education more accessible and revoking anti gay marriage legislation.

"He's moving in the right direction, I wasn't one of these people saying ‘oh he's going to change the world,' but he's taking steps in the right direction," says Zaun.

The Democrats Abroad is an international group that has chapters about 50 countries. There over 20 groups across Canada. The Nova Scotia chapter is now working on a video series aiming to counter-act lies about socialized medicine.

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