Does it make good political sense to target the youth (under 25s) vote?

[JohnT]

Dems face off in 'Rock the Vote'

Topics range from using marijuana to racial divisiveness
Wednesday, November 5, 2003 Posted: 7:34 AM EST (1234 GMT)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- With a year to go to the 2004 general elections, Democratic presidential nomination candidates faced young voters Tuesday night during a 90-minute forum aired live and sponsored by CNN and Rock the Vote at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.

Early on, the forum provided light moments when the audience learned that most of the presidential candidates prefer PCs over Macintosh computers and that Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts would have taken out his tiring pitcher if he had been manager of the Boston Red Sox in Game Seven of the American League Championship series.

Dubbed "America Rocks the Vote" and moderated by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, the forum was designed with a town-hall format. Candidates answered live questions from the audience.

In contrast to the many lighter moments and laugh lines, the candidates tackled more substantive questions, too.

A heated exchange between the candidates erupted when Cooper asked former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean to clarify his recent remark that he wanted to be the candidate for "guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks."

"Martin Luther King said that it was his dream that the sons of slaveholders and the sons of slaves sit down around a table and make common good," Dean said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said, "First of all, Martin Luther King said, 'Come to the table of brotherhood.' You can't bring a Confederate flag to the table of brotherhood."

Sharpton went on to address Dean: "You are not a bigot, but you appear to be too arrogant to say, 'I'm wrong,' and go on."

Dean did not back down: "We're not going to win this country, and even worse, Democrats, if we don't have a big tent."

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina later said, "Unless I missed something, Governor Dean still has not said he was wrong. Were you wrong, Howard?"

"No, I wasn't, John Edwards, because people who vote who fly the Confederate flag, I think they are wrong because I think the Confederate flag is a racist symbol," Dean said.

"But I think there are lot of poor people who fly that flag because the Republicans have been dividing us by race since 1968 with their Southern race strategy."

Of the nine candidates, only Rep. **** Gephardt of Missouri did not participate, choosing instead to campaign in Iowa, the first caucus state.

Those who were there left the usual topics of war in Iraq and the economy mostly to the side and addressed a host of issues important to younger voters.

For example, the candidates were asked if they had ever used marijuana.

Edwards, Dean and Kerry said they had used the illegal drug in the past. Sharpton, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said they had not, Kucinich adding that using the drug should be decriminalized. Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois declined to answer.

Past presidential campaign events sponsored by Rock the Vote have provided some unconventional moments, as in 1992 when candidate Bill Clinton, when asked, told an MTV audience he prefers boxer shorts to briefs.

Before his first presidential election, Clinton also acknowledged that he once smoked marijuana but famously insisted he "didn't inhale."

Thousands of questions were also submitted via wireless devices and the Internet.

Clark, in answering a question from an audience member, said he would revisit the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that excludes openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military, although he stopped short of calling for its outright abolition.

"I think everybody deserves the right to serve," he said. "The policy needs to be reviewed because there are so many indications that it's not working.

"I think you start a review with the presumption that it isn't, and let the armed forces leadership go back through it and give us a better policy."

After he was elected president, Clinton put the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place in 1993 under pressure from the military brass who opposed his attempt to eliminate the military's prohibition against homosexuals.

Under the policy, gay men and lesbians can serve in the military only if they do not publicly disclose their sexual orientation.

Lieberman was asked his reaction to last week's news that the gross domestic product grew 7.2 percent in the third quarter. That figure, marking the most robust quarterly growth in nearly 20 years, was hailed by Bush as a sign the economy is improving under his stewardship.

Lieberman said he thought the GDP figure was "good news, encouraging news, but not enough to say that it's a recovery."

"The economists may think it looks like the beginning of a recovery, but until middle-class Americans and those working hard to get into the middle class get their jobs back -- the 3.5 million that they lost under George Bush -- then we don't have an economic recovery," Lieberman said.

Sharpton was asked what would be the first thing going through his head on the first morning he wakes up in the White House.

"I think the first thing going through my head would be to make sure that Bush has all of his stuff out," he said. "And that we changed the locks on the door, so none of his crowd can come back."

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released last week showed that potential voters under age 30 who were surveyed said they're not as interested in politics as their older counterparts say they are when polled.

While 69 percent of respondents between 18 and 29 said they follow politics, 81 percent 30 and older said they do. (Full story)

As James Glaser, associate political science professor at Tufts University, put it: "College students are the worst voters that are out there, mostly because they are highly mobile and they're new to the communities that they live in."

A nonprofit organization, Rock the Vote wants to change that image by bringing younger voters into the political process.

It was founded in 1990 by members of the recording industry "in response to a wave of attacks of freedom of speech and artistic expression," according to its Web site.

Both Republicans and Democrats appear to be following youth trends in an effort to reach younger voters.

All nine Democratic hopefuls are running active campaigns on the Internet and many are using their Web sites to target young voters.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said in a statement posted Saturday that his party has 1,000 student coordinators working to register students at college campuses around the country.

It is unclear whether such appeals will be enough to get young voters to the polls.

In the 2000 election, just 29 percent of eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 cast ballots for president, compared to 55 percent of all eligible voters, according to The Associated Press.

But many young Americans insist that they do want to get involved.

"I think the real message here is that the youth vote is up for grabs, and that we're not apathetic. We're not disengaged like everyone thinks we are," said Betsy Sykes, a senior at Harvard University.

Given that 2/3rds of all people in the US under the age of 25 does not even vote in Presidential election cycles, does it make sense to base a national or statewide campaign on issues that appeal to this demographic, especially if it will piss off their more-likely-to-vote parents?

Oh, I know it's early and you don't want to miss a demographic in the pre-campaign campaign, but later on in the election cycle I always wonder why candidates spend so much time cultivating an audience that just doesn't care.

[JohnT]

Fwiw, I am thinking more along the lines of short term strategy. All-in-all, it does make good sense from a long-term point of view, but when spending campaign funds it seems that the point of diminishing returns is a lot closer with students as opposed to old men.

[chequita guevara]

The idea is to try and get them to vote, especially as younger people tend to lean towards the liberal end of the spectrum.

[Q Classic]

unfortunately, younger people also tend to be idealistic, and so despise most politicians.

[Shogun Gunner]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
unfortunately, younger people also tend to be idealistic, and so despise most politicians.

That's not limited to younger people.

[Arrian]

Not at all. The old people hate the pols too, because they remember that every one they've seen has lied to them.

I was getting a haircut today and the old guy who was waiting behind me had this to say "they're all a bunch of crooks!"

Youth can be naive. Age usually brings cynicism. And conservatism.

-Arrian

[GhengisFarb™]

Just a further example of the complete incompetence of Democratic candidates (not Democrats just the candidates, there are a lot of competent Democrats out there).

If a Republican wanted the under 25 vote, he'd just pop a Viagra and do Britney Spears. Better results in the polls and a lot less hassle.

[Sava]

If someone can motivate my age group, they will have success. The problem is, none of these people really connect with the core group of my age group. I happen to care about politics, but most people my age don't. They're very ignorant and apathetic.

[JohnT]

Amazing: there are appx. twice as many people between 18-25 than there are 75+ (27mil vs 15mil) , but in absolute terms the old people outvote the youngsters by over a million votes (9.7 million votes cast vs. 8.6 million).

Solution for the Democrats? Stop Rocking the vote and start Jitterbugging it.

[Sava]

Solution for the Democrats? Stop Rocking the vote and start Jitterbugging it.

[mrmitchell]

Of the nine candidates, only Rep. **** Gephardt of Missouri did not participate, choosing instead to campaign in Iowa, the first caucus state.

What a ****.

One of the issues with the youth vote is that you can't run for President until you're 35--thus, any person of ~20 years age has a difficult time relating with someone 15 years (or usually much more) older than him.

Another is that people just don't give a ****.

I don't care about who people vote for, but that they're informed and they are voting.

[JohnT]

"One of the issues with the youth vote is that you can't run for President until you're 35--thus, any person of ~20 years age has a difficult time relating with someone 15 years (or usually much more) older than him."

That's an issue? Hell, nobody complained about it when the avg lifespan in this country was 42, why are they complaining now?

[Arrian]

but that they're informed and they are voting.

The "informed" part is key. And that's a big problem. It is why, incidently, I did not end up voting in yesterday's local elections. I don't know a damn thing about Middletown politics. This is my fault, of course. I intend to rectify this before the next election so I can go ahead and vote.

There was no way I was gonna walk in there and just start pulling levers. To me, voting without having at least a general idea of the issues & the candidates positions on them is worse than not voting at all. Both are bad, of course, and I'm annoyed at myself for not doing a little research last week. Too busy playing Civ Priorities, man, priorities.

Anyway, I'd have to say that the <25 age group typically spends very little time/effort reading up on politics. At that age, there are often other things on your mind. Since I'm 26, I certainly remember.

-Arrian

[mrmitchell]

"That's an issue? Hell, nobody complained about it when the avg lifespan in this country was 42, why are they complaining now? "
Youth would probably vote for fellow youth more than for their grandpas.

Whether this is good or not, is up to you.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
The idea is to try and get them to vote, especially as younger people tend to lean towards the liberal end of the spectrum.

This is the conventional wisdom, but it is questionable whether it is correct. Newer research has seemed to indicate Younger People being more conservative then Older Voters, including on some social issues such as abortion. (Gay rights is a bit of an exception though, which Younger people are far more likely to support then older voters)

Obviously because young people tend not to vote, it is unwise to court them by supporting policies that older people will not support. However, in elections that are likely to be close, it is well worth it to try to encourage turnout among younger voters who are sympathetic to your policies.

[Ben Kenobi]

Why being idealistic, would young people want to vote Democrat?



I agree with Shi, I know many young conservatives. If we get more conservative as we get older, just imagine!

[Theben]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
I agree with Shi, I know many young conservatives. If we get more conservative as we get older, just imagine!

You'll be fascists!

[Nubclear]

"Rock the Vote"

[Q Classic]

Why being idealistic, would young people want to vote Democrat?

not necessarily democrat. more that they don't think the politicians are going to do what they want, so they avoid voting in the first place.

[axi]

The greatest difference between younger and older voters is economic: the young have in general much smaller wallets than the older and they are less likely to be on the employer side in the work market. Plus they usually tend to work their asses out and have the older people reap the benefits. This adds a flavor of class struggle into the generation gap.