Drudge: Young Voters Said To Be Trending Toward Bush

[RamboLiberal]

I'm posting Drudge cause this is a Roll Call article from Kondrake for which you need a subscription. Would someone mention the word Draft to these idiot kids. Or give them enlistment forms!

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash4.htm

"Here's a harrowing pair of facts for Democrats: In 60 years, no Democrat has ever won the presidency without carrying the youth vote. And right now President Bush's approval rating among 18- to 29-year-olds is 62 percent, higher than his nationwide rating. Top Republican strategists admit that the youth vote is fluid, but right now the trends are all in their direction, which they hope is a harbinger not only for 2004, but also a possible longer-term party realignment."

A Bush campaign official said, "It's called the theory of political socialization. Who are the most Democratic people in America? It's the over-65 age group. Why? Because the two presidents they knew best were Franklin Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover. And who are the most Republican? People in their 40s, who came of age in the last two years of Jimmy Carter and the first two years of Ronald Reagan. If your politics were being formed during the last two years of Bill Clinton and the first two years of George Bush, there's a fairly good chance that we'll have your support."

[Ilsa]

1. I bet they change their minds

about Bush if he is re-selected and he reinstates the draft.

[aquart]

4. Okay, that would be too late, right?

[Silverhair]

17. Problem with that. All the draft enabling legislation has

been introduced by Democrats. There are NO republican signatures on those bills. So if we start yelling, "Draft" at them, the Reps just say, "Hey, It's the Dems that are trying to bring it back. Not us. Look at the names on the legislation." Given that HUGE fact, who will be believed on the draft question?

[Skittles]

20. they'll change their minds

when they need to look for a job

[papau]

2. Kondrake is a GOP whore -who knows approval isn't "re-elect"

The Dems always win the youth VOTE - and will do that again -

and the "youths" "approval of Bush" will not change that.

[lancdem]

8. Good point about re-elect and approval

BTW, I'll bet that 62 percent was from a single poll done before those sliding numbers for Bush came out this week. Plus, this sentence is crap: "If your politics were being formed during the last two years of Bill Clinton and the first two years of George Bush, there's a fairly good chance that we'll have your support." Clinton left office with an approval rating in the mid-60s, much higher than Bush's is now.

[underpants]

3. He almost sounds like he has convinced himself

Come on Drudge keep telling yourself..........you may just believe it.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

7. Exactly... you also have to consider the source

on this one.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

5. This makes sense...

Given that he's the incumbent. But you'd think that the older end of that age group (i.e., the ones who graduated from college in the worst job market in recent memory and are desperately searching for work) would be less likely to vote for Bush. That's one of the reasons he doesn't have my vote (I of that aforementioned age range).

[kcwayne]

6. Uh, maybe people over 80 years old remember Hoover

since he was President 1929-1933, and most people under 10 don't really care who the president was.

I have just two words for the 18-29 age group.

Jobs, Draft.

You won't have the first, you will have the second.

[Fridays Child]

9. Smoke and mirrors.

Polling the youth vote is very difficult and the results are easily manipulated. And, for the most part, the above-cited past elections cannot be reasonably compared to the situation in which we find ourselves now. Notice how these observations don't include voter sentiment at the close of the Nixon era? And what if your wake-up call to politics happened when Bush sent your friends and siblings to fight a war against non-existent WMDs.

I will agree, though, that the Hoover to FDR transition is instructive. Hoover was the last presidential champion of the robber barons, and FDR was swept into office on a tide of righteous resentment aginst the so-called ruling class.

Edit: grammar and spelling

[lancdem]

10. I agree totally with your last sentence

and I, too, wonder about the source of that poll with the 62 percent approval rating and whether a re-elect question was asked.

[randr]

11. If we are to learn anything from Iowa

it is that the polls are bullshit. Even if you try to conduct a fair cold call poll, you can stop it when it makes your argument.
Polls are a tool to apply conformity to sheep.
We really need to banish pollsters from the process and make the issues the issue.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Now they're pitting the young vs. the old voter

Didn't the Republican party court the senior citizens in the last election and they did so by claiming that the Democrats use the social security lockbox as a scare tactic? And didn't Chris Matthews agree with the Republicans? So now that the Republican party screwed over the seniors, they're courting the young voters so that they can win the next election and do what if they win? Approve a draft?

Question: How long before the mainstream figures out the patterns here? Republicans are only interested in getting elected. They don't have any loyalty to any group. One day they will cut the balls of their Christian Right-wing base if it suits them.

[Sir_Shrek]

13. Flame-proof underwear locked...

Young voters are unreliable.

They switch party affiliations, sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes for the wrong ones. One week, they're all about (candidate's name here), the next week they've completely lost interest. They can be easily swayed at times. They usually don't have the money to contribute to a campaign.

I'm not trying to make a broad generalization, but in my experience these are things you have to be aware of if you're banking on the youth vote. I saw a lot of this in college, and I still see a lot of it now (I'm 25). I went through some of it myself. In fact, I've voted in two Presidential elections, and this is the first time I even paid a modicum of attention to the nomination race.

[radwriter0555]

14. Utter poppycock. This is a total rove plant piece of propaganda and BS

being used to bolster the false allegations BY ROVE that 'dems are leaving the party in droves."

PROVE it I say. This is utter nonsense and patently untrue without one iota of fact or relevence to back it up.

[Cannikin]

15. Aparently, Bush is getting the 'closet case' vote too.

[Demonaut]

16. Sure, and monkeys are flying outta my ass

if he's refering to the kids he reads to then maybe.

[Sannum]

18. ...

Of course....No free thought is allowed in schools anymore. They are being brainwashed.

[AlabamaYankee]

19. Not My Kids!

My two sons are firmly in the progressive camp, even though they think I'm more than a little nuts for getting so worked up about things.

Ya just have to raise 'em properly.

[demgrrrll]

21. I think that if this were a huge trend more than 8 people would have shown

up to "storm" the Dean rally. Think about it. Freeper
events are always poorly attended but get coverage.
They look for that one person to interview to make
a blanket statement. This story is a real load.