Looks like at least one GOP candidate has finally taken my advice. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney told a college student over the weekend that any college student who hopes to have a job upon graduation should vote for him — and against Barack Obama.

As I’ve written repeatedly in the past, more than 16 million kids who weren’t eligible to vote in 2008 will be eligible to vote in 2012. Those potential Obamamaniacs are also potential GOP voters. Romney took the exact right approach here; he focused on the economy — the most likely area of agreement between the Republican Party and pragmatic millennials. Youth voters might be the most likely to support liberal social causes like gay “marriage,” but they have also been disproportionately affected by the slow economy. Unemployment among millennials has consistently been about twice the national average. Millennial independents are particularly apt to grasp the efficacy of free market principles when they’re presented with that message — but the message has to be presented. This is a concept Romney (and all the GOP candidates) should hammer home: Elect me and you’ll get a job. Reelect Obama and you won’t.