Underdog in Egypt race tries to woo young voters

By far the underdog in Egypt's presidential elections, candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, is trying to rally youth behind him as the hope for the country's pro-democracy "revolution" in his race against the former military chief, who some fear will bring back an autocratic rule.
But the deck is heavily stacked against the 59-year-old leftist politician.
His opponent, retired field marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sssi, has a tidal wave of support behind him in a country gripped by jingoistic fervor and adulation for the military after his ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last summer.
TV stations and newspapers are deeply in favor of el-Sissi, treating him with presidential reverence.

El-Sissi posters are everywhere in the streets, while Sabahi's are rarely seen.
Sabahi's strategy is to try to overcome widespread calls for a boycott of the vote by young activists who dismiss the May 26-27 election as a farce. Some among the revolutionary activist groups that led the 2011 mass uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak are skeptical of Sabahi.

But others have rallied to him, arguing that at the least, if he wins enough votes, it will dent el-Sissi and show there is a public undercurrent against him.
"Let's test our strength," Sabahi said recently, appealing to young Egyptians not to boycott. "If the youth are convinced that this is their battle, they will win it."

According to official estimates, around 37 million of Egypt's 53 million voters are between the age of 18-40.
A key activist group in the 2011 uprising, the left-wing Revolutionary Socialists, has spoken out against a boycott and urged a Sabahi vote, saying it would "diminish el-Sissi's legitimacy as a leader and president."
A "decent" showing by Sabahi would constitute "a very small step forward in the revolution's battle in defense of its soul ... And perhaps a starting point for a strong opposition to his rule," it said.
Best-selling novelist and prominent activist Alaa al-Aswany said a boycott would be a blow to the revolution, writing today that it usually "turns into a weapon that hurts the boycotters themselves."

Also largely boycotting the vote are Islamists, who deeply despise el-Sissi because of his removal of Morsi and the ensuing, bloody crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
Far from trying to appeal to them, Sabahi has sought to build his security credentials by vowing to maintain the ban on the Brotherhood and fight Islamic militants.