>>> and we're back with decision 2012 and a possible opening for mitt romney when it comes to the youth vote as president obama dominated back in 2008 . our latest nbc news " wall street journal " poll shows interest in the election among voters between the ages of 18 and 34 is down 17 points from 2008 . the headline in the "new york times" reads "stung by recession, young voters shed image as obama brigade." let's bring in mark murray . mark, this is certainly not what the obama campaign wants to see in the "new york times."
>> that's right, craig . there are two voting blocks where president obama and democrats have their work cut out for them. one is latino voters, they're not as enthusiastic as they were in 2008 . and the same holds true for young voters. and as that "new york times" article mentioned where this is really actually hurting the obama campaign or was actually the first time voters, people 18 to 24, those who didn't vote in 2008 . and, craig , one thing worth noting is this presidential cycle is completely different than in 2008 . four years ago, you had that historic hillary versus obama primary season that went through all 50 states , the obama campaign targeted all these college campuses to be able to beat hillary clinton . this time around, of course, president obama wasn't challenged in the primaries and so they haven't been able to get these young voters fired up yet.
>> you mentioned 18 and 19-year-olds, the unemployment rate for that particular group more than 23%, nearly 13% between 20 and 24. is for them, is it just about not having a job and blaming the sitting president? or is it more to it than that?
>> i think the economy is one part of it. but i also think the fact that the youth vote really hasn't been engaged just now. now i know the obama campaign has a big ground game. they want to really reach out to young voters, that's why president obama had his kickoff rallies in virginia and in ohio at college campuses. but because there really weren't a lot of enthusiastic primary campaigns and contests, these people really haven't been mobilized yet. and i guess this is the $64,000 question , craig , is do these people come out and vote in november? there still is four months to go. but right now if i'm the obama campaign , i have to be a little bit worried about getting these folks to the polls.
>> one of the other things that caught my attention in this article is we're going to put it on the screen here. it talks about what could be a paradigm shift of sorts. "we're also seeing these young members of this generation are beginning to show some more conservative traits. it doesn't mean that they're republican, it means that republicans have an opportunity. obviously some good news here potentially for mitt romney . but the question now, i guess, mark, is how can candidate romney take advantage of this perhaps opening?
>> well, candidate romney has more of an opening than john mccain did four years ago. so i think that is the good news. to be able to win a few more of these people over on issues on the economy. but really the bigger question is the obama campaign being able to mobilize this. craig , i can't make -- this is a very important point that the part of president obama 's base with minorities, young voters, upscale college-educated folks, they need all those folks to be able to be able to win a presidential contest. and right now with some of them lagging in enthusiasm, that has to be a warning sign.
>> time now for our hourly installment of veepstakes here on msnbc. we have perhaps new clues today. going to march with romney at a fourth of july parade, also with several rumored short listers, new jersey governor chris christie also talking about the veepstakes, as well. in fact, let's play here really quickly what christie said this morning. take a listen.
>> this is an election with one voter, mitt romney . and he gets to decide who he thinks will be the best vice president of the united states . the fact is if governor romney picks up a phone and calls, then you have to answer the call and listen, at least.
>> he's picking up the phone, mark murray . he's picking up the phone.
>> well, and that's not too different than what he said in the past few months. chris christie certainly said if he is the guy who is selected, he can't say no to that. but you look at all the activity right now. and the romney campaign, they're not tipping their hand romney might go. but you do see people like kelly ayotte , rob portman making a lot of campaign visits with mitt romney in ohio and other states, you look at tim pawlenty and his surrogate work. those kind of moves give a better indication of a top tier list than a chris christie who hasn't appeared with mitt romney on the campaign trail. those are your clues, but the big important thing to note is this pick is going to be coming pretty soon. either this month or next month with the republican convention in the latter part of august.
>> can we scratch bob mcdonnell off the list after the announcement of his new role at the gop convention?
>> i don't think we can cross him off the list, but i do think the people who are a little bit higher right now are the tim pawlentys, even bobby jindal of louisiana. certainly bob mcdonnell is in the mix. the one problem he has is he's been touting the virginia economy and how things are moving in the right direction for the commonwealth of virginia which really isn't the message that the romney campaign wants to be making right now.
>> mark murray , always a pleasure, sir, thank you.
>> thanks, craig .
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