Wooing millennials can be high-risk, high-reward strategy for 2016 hopefuls

Presidential hopefuls are making clear in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses they're fighting for every single vote, but none may prove more difficult to get than those of the elusive youth - the so-called millennial generation.

Millennials can be hard to pin down, even as campaigns work to micro-target every demographic.

They're often defined, in terms of elections, as ages 18 to 30, though sometimes as anyone born after 1980. They are independent and less likely to affiliate with one of the major political parties, but often lean liberal. They are politically active, but not necessarily inclined to vote.

And yet the high-risk strategy of securing their vote can lead to success on caucus night, most notably with the 2008 caucus win for eventual Democratic President Barack Obama.

'We have seen instances where younger voters do get excited about a particular candidate,” said University of Iowa political science professor Tim Hagle. 'The problem, though, is that still it takes a lot of work.”

And University of Northern Iowa political science department head Donna Hoffman said it's a strategy that doesn't always pay off, pointing to 2004 Democratic contender Howard Dean.

'He was the anti-Iraq War position in the Democratic caucuses and really wanted to reach out to younger voters, and they didn't turn out materializing for him,” Hoffman said.

Despite the risks, it's not hard to find evidence of the 2016 contenders making their pitch to millennials.

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has made no secret that key to his potential victory over Hillary Clinton would be to turn out the youth who frequently favor him in polls. His campaign has launched a website (provethemwrongandcaucus.com) that aims to draw those who aren't expected to show up.

Wooing the youth has certainly paid off in turnout at events. Sanders drew 1,250 to UNI's West Gym on a recent Sunday night, and he regularly draws large turnouts across the state.

'He sort of tapped into that particular strain of voters, the younger voters for Democrats that are more interested in the progressive side of things,” Hagle said.

Hagle said being seen as having an 'authentic voice” is one of the few commonalities among past hopefuls who have done a good job of exciting younger people. But he added, 'The key to relying on them is being sufficiently well organized that you get them to turn out.”

While Sanders' name has become almost synonymous with millennials this cycle, he's far from the only one working to get their vote.

Democratic contenders Clinton and Martin O'Malley also have spent their share of time speaking on college campuses and talking about issues that appeal to youth - climate change, marriage equality, college affordability and the economy.

On the Republican side, hopefuls Marco Rubio and Rand Paul have made the strongest appeal to young voters. Paul did a campus tour across Iowa. Rubio makes the case he understands their economic woes.

But both Republican leaders Ted Cruz and Donald Trump tend to lead in polls among Republican youths, mirroring their overall poll numbers, though neither makes particular pitches.

Trump, however, taps into concerns of those who are disaffected with politics as usual. And when Cruz was asked about millennials at a stop in Oelwein, he said appealing to youth is 'critical.”

'On substance, what we're doing to our kids and grandkids is immoral, but the second piece of it is style. You know, would it kill Republicans to crack a joke? Actually, I think some of them, it might,” Cruz said.

Neither the candidates nor the experts have found a silver bullet to draw young people with predictability.

As more mobile and less partisan voters, they may not be registered to vote or inclined to join a political party to caucus. Plus, showing up at a particular time, as with caucuses, may be difficult for work or class schedules.

But there's an irony in the lack of participation, because millennials are one of the more tuned in and politically active generations.

'We know they volunteer at pretty high rates, but they're involved in those issue-specific things, and they don't always connect them then to politics,” Hoffman said. 'They've grown up in an atmosphere in which politics has become backbiting and nasty and partisanship has grown … They want to do things, but they don't necessarily see politics as the avenue to get things done.”