Young Obama Backers Twist Parents' Arms

[Erin Elizabeth]

Great article!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/us/politics/08kids.html?em&ex=1207800000&en=8476359ef6746168&ei=5087

Megan Simpson, a Penn State senior, had not been able to budge her father, a Republican. But the day before the deadline for registering for the coming Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, she handed him the forms and threw in a deal-sweetener as well. “I said, ‘Dad, if you change your party affiliation in time to vote for Obama,’ ” recalled Ms. Simpson, 22, an Obama campus volunteer, “ ‘I will get you the paperwork the day after the primary if you want to switch back to being a Republican.’ ”

Thus did Ralph E. Simpson Jr., 50, construction company owner, become a newly minted Democrat. “I probably will switch my affiliation back,” Mr. Simpson said, “but I haven’t decided who I will vote for in the general election. If Meg keeps working on me, who knows?”

SNIP

But even politicians are mentioning the persuasiveness of their children, either in earnest or as political cover, as a factor in their Obama endorsements.

That list of Democrats includes Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

[David__77]

1. Yay!

I'm so glad to see young people taking an active political role.

[Arkana]

2. Countdown to angry Hillary supporters storming in and spewing faux outrage

about those "con-sarned YOUNG people with their hula-hoops and their Chee-tos and their iPods and their skateboards and theirInternets and their baggy pantaloons and their yo-yos and their card games and their video games" not "respecting their elders".

Until then, enjoy this absolutely delightful Something Awful article: the Hillary Clinton Tall-Tale Generator.

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/clinton-stories-yarns.php

EDIT: Added more things that old people bitch about.

[Erin Elizabeth]

6. Pantaloons. LOL.

And don't forget their marbles and jacks! And jump ropes!

[Dr Fate]

9. LOL! And I guess they are latte sippers too.

With their rock and or roll.

GIT OUTTA MAH YARD YOU YOUNG-UNS!!!

[Erin Elizabeth]

11. GIT OUTTA MAH YARD WIT YOUR CRAZY HOPE

AND OPTIMISM AND SHIT!

:rofl:

[Arkana]

12. BAH GAWD DON'T YALL YOUNG PEOPLE KNOW

THAT YER SUPPOSED TO VOTE FOR TH' LESSER OF TWO EVILS? LIKING POLITICIANS IS NOT ALLOWED!

[Erin Elizabeth]

15. AH CAN SEE AH'M GONNA HAVE TO BEAT

SOME GOOD OL' FASHIONED CYNICISM INTO THESE LITTLE BRATS!!!

[Arkana]

16. IN MY DAY, WE VOTED FOR POLITICIANS WE HATED

AND WE LIKED IT, DAMMIT!

[Divernan]

30. And we walked 5 miles up hill to AND from the polling place! In a blizzard.

[SwampG8r]

33. me too

when i voted as a child i had to walk 15 miles through a blizzard uphill
to and from the polls
my mother ,god rest her,would bake potatoes for us to carry to keep our hands warm
and after voting,
all we had for lunch,
were those cold baked potatoes

[murielm99]

25. Are the Obama supporters trying to see how many times

they can work the words "faux outrage" into their posts today?

:rofl:

[Arkana]

27. No, just predicting accurately

what the Hillary Strike Force will do to this thread.

[stellanoir]

3. and Maria Shriver

[Erin Elizabeth]

4. Really? Cool!

[stellanoir]

14. yeah

I don't have a link but when Oprah appeared at a rally with Michelle in CA, Maria had been horseback riding and funnily apologized for her appearance and lack of make up. She looked perfectly fine.

Her kids convinced her that she had to attend and she said something like, "there is no where else I want to be."

It was cool.

Our kids are smarter than we. Or at least smarter than her kid's dad. LOL

[GarbagemanLB]

5. haha, I love that first quote. Good work Megan!

[FrenchieCat]

7. These are some persuasive children!

And remember that Caroline Kennedy and her Cousin Maria Shriver both said something similar!

The Young people know that we are messing their shit up and that it has got to change. :)

[Erin Elizabeth]

10. I convinced my dad, stepmother,

mother and stepfather to all vote for Obama in the primary. It was a fairly easy sell with my dad and stepdad, but my stepmother had always leaned Republican and my mother is so apolitical it's pathetic, so I had to kind of talk them into it.

I'm in my late 30s, though, I don't think I'm in the demographic the article is talking about, LOL!

[FrenchieCat]

18. Kids are always kids in the parents eyes. You know that!

:)

[Barack_America]

8. And Caroline Kennedy!

And, FWIW, my parents are on board for Barack...and neither are Democrats!

[JimGinPA]

13. K&R For The Smart Kids

[Zachstar]

17. This is good news

The young ones will be the ones inheriting the problems we leave them. It is in their interests to be involved now rather than when the problems hit them hard later!

K&R!

[saracat]

19. And this is why Obama won't win the GE. They all switch after the primary.

And this is typical of the idiots who let their uniformed children decide for them. This is absolutely stupid. But hey , next they'll nominate American Idol.

[nichomachus]

22. Sez who?

Hillary people need to stop making up shit like this. When you have a campaign with a serious credibility problem, this really isn't helping.

[saracat]

37. Would you like the list of Obama lies? What about his parents being inspired by Selma?What about his

inspiration for politics being an Ebony article that doesn't exist? What about his taking credit for legislation that he didn't write ? What about taking credit for legislation that he didn't write? What about taking credit for legislation that didn't pass and stating it did? There are more than enough "credibility problems to go around and Obama is not sancrospect.

[nichomachus]

38. Take a deep breath

you're hyperventilating. All I asked is who said that these people would do something different after the primary. That was a totally unsupported claim.

You responded with a hysterical rant totally unrelated to what I asked.

I'll repeat -- Clinton's supporters are on the verge of hysteria and are making her look really really bad. If you want to do your candidate a favor, you need to get a grip.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

23. And what makes them uniformed? Because they prefer Obama?

Don't you think that's a little judgmental? And before you say something along the lines of "well Obama supporters are judgmental assholes" I don't speak for all Obama supporters. I can only speak for myself and you can only speak for yourself. I have never said anything of the kind about Clinton supporters, and I never would. Further, I don't think there's any clearer indicator of maturity than one's willingness to accept "well they did it first" as an excuse.

I have spoken extensively with my mom about both of our candidates. She is leaning Obama *not* because her "uninformed child" told her too, but because we talked out all of the issues and she came to her own conclusions.

[Erin Elizabeth]

29. Wow.

You'd think as Americans we'd be happy that so many people in their 20s are so involved in the political process. And that they are Democrats, no less!

You don't know that they'll switch back after their primary.

So I guess in being for Clinton you have to be against things like this, right? Then I absolutely know it's a good thing I'm not for Clinton, because I'd hate to have to feel like I had to put down things like this!

[ms liberty]

31. What about the people who have kids that aren't in uniforms?

Or for that matter, what about those of us that don't have kids at all?

:P

Sorry - please don't be mad! I couldn't help it - the typo just struck my funny bone.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

34. We should leave the important decisions to adults.

Like voting for the IWR.

[ClassWarrior]

40. Snap.

NGU.

[nichomachus]

20. Are you saying that Obama wants kids to torture their parents. OMG?

***satire***

[HockeyMom]

21. My daughter and future son-in-law

brought me to Obama. Both my daughters convinced me last year to register as a Democrat and end the 30 year charade of being an Independent.

I am very proud of my girls, and SIL.

[sniffa]

24. This is exactly why caucuses are undemocratic

Oh wait, never mind.

[depakid]

32. Actually, it is

People behave differently on secret ballots than they do when their choices are made in front of neighbors, peers and colleagues.

[quantass]

26. Change is coming!

[ellisonz]

28. I worked my family over.

I got my Father to go from Edwards to Obama, my mother to go Obama (decision in the voting booth), and my aunt to vote Obama.

I also took my little brother to the Hawaii caucus where he promptly got my fathers car keys and drove home because of the 3 hour line (Phil Jackson's endorsement (Laker's head coach) was the motivating factor.)

[Cha]

35. You go kids! If I were younger

and in that potential situation I would certainly work on my parents at this crucial point in time..

[QC]

36. Doesn't sound like pop will be with us in the fall.

“ ‘I will get you the paperwork the day after the primary if you want to switch back to being a Republican.’ ”

[ClassWarrior]

39. Yeah, but daughter has gotten him to take the first step. There's always...

...a chance he won't switch back once he's given real American values a good look.

:patriot:

NGU.

[cooolandrew]

41. I guess because they believe the children are the future. Enthusiasm conquers all.