Young Gingrich Supporter Explains Her Political Conversion

'I don't think that Barack Obama is really looking out for my interests as he said he would,' 26-year-old law student tells MTV News.
By Becca Frucht

Newt Gingrich campaigns in Georgia
Photo: Getty Images

ATLANTA — When we showed up at the pseudo-ritzy Renaissance Hotel in suburban Atlanta last night for Newt Gingrich's victory party — looking like a hot mess after 12 hours of Super Tuesday shenanigans at Georgia Tech and Georgia State — we were planning to chat with die-hard young Republicans who'd been reppin' their party since they were in Reagan-themed diapers.

And sure, there were plenty of GOP geeks in full Newt regalia spittin' campaign lines like whoa — but then I met 26-year-old law student Kimberly Roholt and I learned there's way more to Gingrich's young voter base than many people think.

That's because Roholt is a civic convert. "Well, I actually voted for President Obama in the last election but I voted for Newt Gingrich today," she told me.

That is pretty much a full-on political 180. I clearly had to know more, so I asked her to explain her "transformation," and she quickly pointed out that wasn't exactly what happened:

"I wouldn't call it a transformation so much as a realization," Roholt said. "I voted for Barack Obama last time. I was very hopeful. I gave a lot of credence to hope and change. However, I was very young and in the past few years since I've graduated, the economy's difficult, getting jobs is difficult. I'm in law school, I'm living off student loans at the moment until I graduate and I'm very concerned about what the outlook is for me. And I don't think that Barack Obama is really looking out for my interests as he said he would."

Ironically echoing the same sentiment of broken trust that fueled the liberal Occupy Wall Street movement, Roholt went on to detail how Obama's failure to keep some of his campaign promises ultimately led to her Democratic defection:

"So I switched to Newt Gingrich," she said. "I think he's extremely intelligent. While there are some things we differ on in some of our policies, I think he could lead this nation in the right direction, so I voted for him today."

When I pressed her to reveal where she disagreed with her new GOP BFF — asking if the differences were based in economic or social policies — she was understandably a bit reticent to talk cons on a night that was all about Newt's comeback:

"Social, not all of them and not greatly, but there are a few things that we differ socially on. Some of that might be generational, and some of it might be my own ideas," she said.

The question is: Are there more young people like Roholt who are kicking Obama to the curb after four years of recession, unemployment, rising tuition and jacked-up student loan payments?

MTV had Super Tuesday covered, with reporters on the scene in Georgia, Ohio and Massachusetts! Stick with Power Of 12 throughout the presidential election season for more from the ground.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680667/newt-gingrich-georgia.jhtml

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