No Hunger for a Culture War (Young voters-economy and foreign policy)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4351833/

Social issues are supposed to set young people on fire. Abortion, the environment, equal rights—in the late 20th century, these issues made young Americans vote, rally and riot in the streets. But that may be changing. In the latest NEWSWEEK GENEXT poll, 18-29 year-olds say they are most concerned about unemployment, the economy and national security this election year. The firebrand issues hardly show up on young voters' radar screens.

That lack of interest in social issues could prove significant in a presidential race where both parties are attempting to frame their opponents' positions on topics like gay marriage as extremist, accenting America’s cultural divide.

On the surface, 18-to-29-year-olds’political interests appear remarkably similar to those of older voters. President Bush’s support in the under-30 set has declined considerably in the past month. Less than half (46 percent) of young voters say they approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, down from 54 percent who approved of the president’s performance only one month ago.

Even more striking is the percentage of young voters who say they would definitely vote for someone else in the November election, which rose 13 points to 47 percent in the past month. Indeed, Bush trailed Democratic frontrunner Sen. John Kerry substantially in a hypothetical match-up, with 56 percent saying they would likely vote for Kerry compared only 41 percent saying they would likely vote for Bush (Kerry’s Democratic rival, Sen. John Edwards, led Bush 53 percent to 44 percent).

[Mari333]

1. These kids didnt live through the 1950's

if they had, they would have definitive culture issues.

[shanti]

we fixed that for them

didn't we;-)?

[shanti]

7. dupe

[fizzana]

2. This is good for the Democrats.

Bush* has screwed up the economy, healthcare, the environment, Iraq and foreign policy so the only cards they have left to play other than attacking the enemy are the cultural issues such as gay marriage, abstinence etc. The less traction they get on those issues , the better for us.

[MrSoundAndVision]

3. is that a lack of support for traditionally "youth" issues as....

the mainstream media would have us believe or just an acknowledgement of the realities of 2004? I mean, I'm 28, I'm a whip-ass Java programmer, I have a degree in mathematics, yet I can't get a job. Is it any wonder that I'm concerned about this, and that it may be the most important issue for me? No. It's not. ut then the Labor Secretary said just the other day that outsourcing is inevitable, and the sign of a health competitive economy, is it any suprise that I'm concerned by that?

So NO it's not YOUNG PEOPLE OF TODAY, it's TODAY'S AMERICA....

[nolabels]

4. notice the footprints as you track them, if they look like................

This, go the other way



http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=s&AnimalwebsiteID=2187

[JohnOneillsMemory]

10. Valuable info. thanks, nolabels. Good info for the Election, ay?

[nolabels]

13. Actually it was kind of thought that escaped me.

I am glad you called me on it. What was I thinking is they can really only can come up with or have seen just a few ways that * and cabal will be able to get reinstalled.

One would be to fix the voting machines, another would be stage another event on the level of 9/11 or lastly wait till the Democratic candidate is chosen and something so ghastly on them that they would have to bow out. At least that's my take.

The thing with the skunk was * is probably not going to get much traction off the record and not wanting to go anywhere near running on the record of the Fraud-AWOL-failure. Running on social and civil rights issues are also a loser for them.

Other than trying to place doubt or trashing the other guy what are they going to run on?

[SoCalDem]

5. Jobs & healthcare trump "culture"

every time..

One of the reasons that teens & young people from "back then" had the "luxury" of trying to imagine a better world, was BECAUSE they were quite comfy.. When people are scraping by with 3 crappy jobs, and always running out of money before they run out of month, they are less likely to "get involved" in social causes..

That's the beauty of the plan that has been set into motion.. A lot of people actually believe that if only they work more hours, or work harder, things will work out..

Very few have much time left over to study what's happening.. Most prefer the mind-numbing "entertainment" that "takes them away" from their troubles.. Most do not even have the energy to try to change it..even if they wanted to :(

[nolabels]

6. I think it could be a matter of having a impact on something

Back in sixties the establishment got real scared of them bearded hippies. They came in solid blocks voting for Dem's only because of the betrayal they felt.

Having many issues and seeing none of them being addressed by the establishment turned them sixties folks even more radical. When them new young folks finally get pissed and see that they can have an effect, watch out :hippie:


http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june04/youthvote_2-11.html
Cycle of neglect

Experts have attributed this decline to several factors. One of which is a "cycle of mutual neglect," according to Ivan Frishberg at the New Voters Project, a grassroots youth voter mobilization campaign. Candidates don't speak directly to young people, and as a result young people don't think their vote matters.
Reading and Discussion Questions

A study recently concluded at the Harvard Institute of Politics supports Frishberg's claim. Out of the nearly 1,200 students surveyed, two-thirds said they were likely to participate in a political rally if asked by a friend, and half said they would volunteer if asked. The study suggested that there is a potential for 9 million campaign volunteers and voters to become politically engaged, if targeted.

Inspired young people


What does this mean for candidates who want to appeal to young voters? Former Gov. Howard Dean has targeted younger voters, who have in turn responded with a campaign known as Generation Dean.

Michael Whitney, a 19-year-old college student, founded the organization after listening to Dean speak.

"Many young people don't vote, because in the past they have felt as though politicians don't speak to them," Whitney said. "But Howard Dean offers young people a chance to get involved."
(snip)

[loftycity]

8. Miss Manners has taken over...No politics in public...Oh no ...

We cannot talk about that!
Plenty of it is self centered and they are in complete denial.
I have friends that will not respond to anything political...you get silence. The right has instilled in people that you don't talk about politics in public...Oh, That is such bad manners.

You go overseas,Canada and politics is the topic of public conversation!

I think they just don't want to even think about it and really don't care. They do believe that the people in charge will take care of them. So, they can keep buying more junk and not think about what is really going on.

Don't they care that their Kids are going to be the ones dumped with all this hell?

[JohnOneillsMemory]

9. Pych.'s call this detachment 'Learned Helplessness'. The tactic works.

From an article in the 7/13/03 Seattle Post-Intelligencer by psychologist Renana Brooks who analyzed the power of abusive language in W's 2003 State of the Union Address:

"Bush's most frequently used linguistic technique: negative framework. A negative framework is a pessimistic image of the world. Bush creates and maintains negative frameworks in his listeners' minds with a number of linguistic techniques borrowed from advertising and hypnosis to instill the image of a dark and evil world around us.
Catastrophic words and phrases are repeatedly drilled into the listener's head until the opposition feels such a high level of anxiety that it appears pointless to do anything other than cower.

Psychologist Martin Seligman, in his extensive studies of "learned helplessness," showed that people's motivation to respond to outside threats and problems is undermined by a belief that they have no control over their environment. Learned helplessness is exacerbated by beliefs that problems caused by negative events are permanent; and when the underlying causes are perceived to apply to many other events, the condition becomes pervasive and paralyzing.

Bush is a master at inducing learned helplessness in the electorate. He uses pessimistic language that creates fear and disables people from feeling they can solve their problems."

[nolabels]

15. Spare the rod, spoil the child

I do enjoy knowing my buddies and I, going trough our childhood, were of that faction of middle income class. As a group I guess we made it a point picking out them little rich snots and in no short terms letting them figure out where they needed to head in at. The best thing was the football games during high school.

A lot of the rich folks lived up on the slopes of the mountains, they also had their own little school district. We all called them the weenies on hill. The football games had more skirmishes in the stands than on the field. The animosity generated by some of them snots came in spurts and was nothing one really focuses on, just something that kind of comes instinctively.

Peer pressure often steers one in ways they might not otherwise go in or think of (but dang it was fun to watch them little brats go bawling home to their mommas ;-) )

P.s. I really have nothing against people with lots of money per say, but trying to use it as tool bring about animosity in others can bring about detrimental effects on others that feel as if they may have slighted

[artistforpeace]

11. What I want to know is......

What the heck happened to my generation? I’m 31 middle of the pack Gen-Xer. Doesn’t anyone from my generation remember how it felt in 1992-1997? I understand we grew up and have job issues and possibly children and other responsibilities. But really, try to think back to those days. I know it’s idealistic crap maybe but we were on the right path. Now I feel we’ve just became a squashed bug around 1998. We were supposed to lead the next young group to continue carrying the torch. But it seems most (not all ok) didn’t seem to want it, did we not offer it right? Then it seems everyone my age just forgot the fire. I’ve seen the spark coming back in the last year. Like when I talk to people my age 2-3 years ago, no one believe me when I told of issues like Roe being overturned possibly, and liberties disappearing and this incredible assault on Political Correctness. Just about every social issue that was important to my generation got a backlash and labeled PC (which is now a bad thing). I know and understand societal ebbs and flows and pendulum swinging, etc. but for some reason I really thought my generation was going to break through that. What happen to the bridge to the 21 century? I can’t be all blamed on this administration. You know actually on election night 2000 I was sort of happy that * had won. That was before all that has happen since the day after the election. It’s not that I wanted a republican in office. It’s just that I thought that once the public saw republicans destroying everything that had been built in the last 8 years before 2000, people would be outraged and we’d get back on track in four years. But then 9/11 happened…..anyways, sorry for the rant.

I just want younger people to feel what I felt in the early 90’s. And I’m starting to realize that things are setting themselves up for that same situation hopefully. Crappy mainstream music and entertainment, crappy jobs, crappy administration. I see a new 90’s about to happen. I just hope the 16-19 age group sparks!!!

[yella_dawg]

12. Welcome to DU

Interesting... I have wondered exactly the same things. Except that I "came of age" in the sixties. We thought we'd whipped sexual repression, race discrimination, and on and on. I look around now and figure I must have dreamed it all.

[artistforpeace]

14. when I was 18

There seemed to arise this instant appreciation for the 60’s. I know it was a marketable thing and “fun” for some to play “hippy” my age. But really look what happened after Gulf War I. Musicians came out with some protest music, Rock the Vote (pre-Viacom MTV), music started to have meaningful lyrics. Then (this might sound really stupid to some but I’ve decided this was a turning point for my generation) all these movies about the 60’s came out. They were all idealized versions of that time, but for some reason people my age really identified with it all. This I believe lead to how my generation acted once Clinton came in to office. Oh and that's another thing VERY IMPORTANT IN CASE DNC PEOPLE READ THIS, don't ignore the youth vote. Go to campuses, talk about things the youth wants. I was never in to politics until I saw Candidate Clinton at OSU campus. It really changed my life and I still don't consider myself very political. But that's what he did. The Democratic candidate HAS to do this!!! But then my generation got lazy, we thought we won after the landslide of Clinton’s second term election.

Right now there seems to be no outlets for the current young generation. Entertainment and art are almost 100% controlled by corporations that seem to be conservative biased but see money in pre-fabricated “counter culture”. Most will say my generation was the beginning of this. It’s true but in the beginning it wasn’t. I truly believe for a younger generation to spark about social issues, it needs to be told to them by their peers. I don’t see it happening. I see Britney Spears posters up in college dorms and her now reaffirming her Christian beliefs. I see young people listening what is supposed to be “counter culture music” with band members that auditioned for big record industries that puts bands together now. And don’t even get me started on American Idol. Long story short, until a REAL voice(s) enter the youth culture, things will remain the same.

By the way thanks for the welcome. I’m actually a long time reader and one time poster but stopped posting awhile ago and have decided to start fresh.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi artistforpeace!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[yellowcanine]

16. Only problem is getting them to vote in large numbers

Hopefully the Deanie babies will stay in for the general election and bring others of their cohort with them.

[blindpig]

17. well & good, lets see if they turn out in November

I remember how the youth vote was supposed to carry McGovern to the WH.