My Generation Sucks!!!!

[Bigdaddydvo]

This post is a tribute to the "youth" of America that were supposed to sweep John Kerry and his Billion-heiress wife into the White House.

18-29 year olds voted at 17% in 2000. 2004 also projects 17% voting participation rate. So, the Youth that have cell phones, are terrified about a draft, can't seem to find a job, etc, didn't bother to vote. Why did pollsters actually stress about this group? We suck. You can see the same youth-driven implosion of Howard Dean in the Primary with Kerry tonight. Looks like the Bush family will be 2-0 against Massachusetts Liberals in Presidential Contests.

[W00lygimp]

Im part of this "youth", i voted for Bush.

[vulturesrow]

[ QUOTE ]
Im part of this "youth", i voted for Bush.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto.

[Bigdaddydvo]

That's two of us brother, I voted Bush as well. I just wanted to make the point that the Youth Vote always is hyped up and never fails to disappoint.

[Dynasty]

Since voter turnout is up this year, that means more young people voted. But, their % didn't go up because other age groups voted in greater numbers too.

[namknils]

I guess that makes 4 of us so far in this thread. I voted for Bush and I am 22 years old. I also voted for Bush 4 years ago when I was 18.

(The only problem is I live in Illinois /images/graemlins/frown.gif)

[ThaSaltCracka]

I think it depends on the state. most 18-29 year olds I know are voting in WA.

[Schneids]

[ QUOTE ]
This post is a tribute to the "youth" of America that were supposed to sweep John Kerry and his Billion-heiress wife into the White House.

18-29 year olds voted at 17% in 2000. 2004 also projects 17% voting participation rate. So, the Youth that have cell phones, are terrified about a draft, can't seem to find a job, etc, didn't bother to vote. Why did pollsters actually stress about this group? We suck. You can see the same youth-driven implosion of Howard Dean in the Primary with Kerry tonight. Looks like the Bush family will be 2-0 against Massachusetts Liberals in Presidential Contests.

[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/frown.gif

20-year-old Kerry voter here. Looking bleak. Need Ohio and Florida to turn it around. Wisconsin too. Glad to see Minnesota is voting how it typically does because some polls the past few days had Bush gaining ground here.

[Cubswin]

I think it depends on the state. most 18-29 year olds I know are voting in WA.

Your sample is not random... most 18-29 years wont vote this year in EVERY state... including WA. We simply have too much else going on in our lives and there are so few issues that concern us. I have said it many times over... you can get young people registered to vote but you cant get us to show up on election day... them are the facts.

cubs

[ThaSaltCracka]

true, but I forgot to add, that every single one I spoke to said they either voted(absentee) or were votng today.

[Non_Comformist]

[ QUOTE ]
I think it depends on the state. most 18-29 year olds I know are voting in WA.

Your sample is not random... most 18-29 years wont vote this year in EVERY state... including WA. We simply have too much else going on in our lives and there are so few issues that concern us. I have said it many times over... you can get young people registered to vote but you cant get us to show up on election day... them are the facts.

cubs

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not hard to figure out either. At every campus every time you turn around there is someone registering voters. Hell they even came to my classes. Voting requires you to actually do something.

[Cubswin]

again.. not a random sample

[imitation]

It makes me cringe that the US doesn't have compulsory voting. I was watching a BBC report and the general apathetic attitude of the people they interviewed was unbelievable, yeh I know Australia by no means has a perfectly informed voting public, but still we don't vote in bowling alleys were people are being served beer.....

[InchoateHand]

Indeed it does.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
again.. not a random sample

[/ QUOTE ]
I know, just my small observation. I don't think I was trying to pass it off as a "random sample".

[Cubswin]

It makes me cringe that the US doesn't have compulsory voting.

how democratic is compulsory voting?

[benfranklin]

[ QUOTE ]

how democratic is compulsory voting?

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe we should vote on it /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[lorinda]

It makes me cringe that the US doesn't have compulsory voting. I was watching a BBC report and the general apathetic attitude of the people they interviewed was unbelievable,

There's nobody worth voting for in the UK, hence the apathy.

Ten years ago I could have named the 20 most important polititians and their position on either bench, now I can't name 10 in total, let alone what they do.

The reason there is so much interest in your election here is that we are the 51st state of the USA but with 0ECVs.

The two major parties here stand for the same thing.

I wouldn't vote for either party if it were compulsary, I'd just go and check every box and then write "I am a fish" on the ballot paper.

Lori

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Im part of this "youth", i voted for Bush.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto.

[/ QUOTE ]

And ditto

[daryn]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In risposta di:</font><hr />
It makes me cringe that the US doesn't have compulsory voting. I was watching a BBC report and the general apathetic attitude of the people they interviewed was unbelievable, yeh I know Australia by no means has a perfectly informed voting public, but still we don't vote in bowling alleys were people are being served beer.....

[/ QUOTE ]

compulsory voting is the dumbest idea in history. there are some people out there who just SHOULD NOT BE VOTING. (insert dumb joke here about Democrats or Republicans)

[wacki]

agreed

[lorinda]

Dammit, you all voted to keep the collapsed economy.

Do you know how much that buggers up my cashouts with the pitiful exchange rate /images/graemlins/mad.gif

We have one of the worst economies in the world and the pound is still beating the life out of the dollar.
Election was worth a 15% pay-rise to me if Kerry won /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Ah well, at least it looks like it will be a majority decision this time, can't ask for more than that in all fairness.

Lori

[daryn]

don't blame me, i didn't vote!

[Cubswin]

as a political scientist i can confirm that voting is not rational. this is this first election i didnt vote in since 1996... the bible belt is so predictable /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Abednego]

Has a group you don't have the wisdom to vote anyway ..... they should raise the voting age to 30.

[InchoateHand]

See your post.

[lorinda]

they should raise the voting age to 30.

I'm 33 and have to disagree, most things that shape our lives happen between 20 and 30, surely those people are entitled to attempt to make a difference to their own lives.

Lori

[Abednego]

I mean As ...... I stand corrected ..... thanks

[imitation]

From my experience your country still has a huge number of morons voting. Compulsory voting is important because most often it is disadvantaged minority groups which don't vote therefore political parties have no incentive to influence these peoples vote. In turn the policy they implent will not reflect the full part of your society, governing for the entire society is the KEY to a democracy.

Also perhaps compulsory voting would encourage uninformed votes to become more active in understanding their political landscape, though i'd say the general lack of voter education in your country could be blamed more squarely at your totally substandard media services (and you can blame an Australian for a large part of that).

[Abednego]

I think you make my point here ...... most of the things that shape our lives do happen between 20 and 30 ...... this is the process of acquiring wisdom ...... and wisdom is lost on youth ...... As a group they just don't have enough life experience to vote with wisdom.

[lorinda]

As a group they just don't have enough life experience to vote with wisdom.

But they have the ambition to know where they want to be.

Lori

[Cubswin]

though i'd say the general lack of voter education in your country could be blamed more squarely at your totally substandard media services

dont equate low voter turnout with low voter education. the low turnout in the US and the UK has everything to do with the mechanical effect of the first-past-the-post or winner take all system and very little to do with uneducated voters.

compulsory voting is not democractic... i have, and choose to use, my right to abstain.

cubs

[lorinda]

dont equate low voter turnout with low voter education. the low turnout in the US and the UK has everything to do with the mechanical effect of the first-past-the-post or winner take all system and very little to do with uneducated voters

Actually here it's both, with a great big dollop of apathy thrown in.

I sincerely doubt that 50% of people in this country could name the leader of the conservative (republican) party.

Lori

[Cubswin]

The voter apathy in the UK is a product of the first-past-the-post electoral system. Trust me on this one... i dont want to explain Duverger's law at this late hour /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[BottlesOf]

This message is directed at no one specificially:

If you're a liberal leaning youth who lives in Ohio and didn't vote, you're basically worthless.

[Your Mom]

I'm 22 and voted for W

[InchoateHand]

Because we could have a whole lot of fun in the next four years. I'm really imaginative.

[sfer]

Is that 17% of registered or eligible? Either way it's really goddamn sad.

[Edge34]

As a 20-year-old voter (for W, by the way), I take great offense to this blanket statement. To claim that the youth of the nation lacks the general faculties to make an informed vote is so short-sighted and unfair as to be laughable. I wonder what makes you so jaded as to say something as clearly foolish as this...

Edit: Having seen your response to lorinda, I still don't feel that your statement has any credibility. Its precisely this kind of thinking by the older generation that drives many of us, including myself, to make sure we are MORE informed and MORE involved. We may be young, and sure, we didn't live through 'Nam, but we still have the right to vote, and many of us (on both sides) have taken this power responsibly.

-Edge

[toby]

age 20, voted for Bush. Four More Years!

[toby]

Winston Churchill once said the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.

Funny, but possibly true /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Abednego]

Well .... time will tell if you think the same way say when you're 30, 35 or so. Fair enough?

[Edge34]

Simply because one thinks DIFFERENTLY in 10 years, that's like saying, you're 40, we'll see how you think when you're 50. Of COURSE things are going to change, in any period of time. But to make the blanket statement that young people lack the wisdom to vote is thoroughly unfair and baseless.

The youth vote this year was 17% of the total, which is the same as it was in 2000...but SO many more people came out this year, I think the total is somewhere around 120 million votes. That must show you something, and that something should be that young people do care, and we're doing our damnedest, whichever way we vote, to refute your precise line of thinking.

So no, not QUITE fair enough, I guess...

-Edge

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
It makes me cringe that the US doesn't have compulsory voting.

[/ QUOTE ]
I think you're living in the wrong place. There are plenty of countries around that you'd probably prefer. They round up the populace and force them to vote at gunpoint. Of course there's usually only one name on the ballot in those places.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
From my experience your country still has a huge number of morons voting. Compulsory voting is important because most often it is disadvantaged minority groups which don't vote therefore political parties have no incentive to influence these peoples vote. In turn the policy they implent will not reflect the full part of your society, governing for the entire society is the KEY to a democracy.

Also perhaps compulsory voting would encourage uninformed votes to become more active in understanding their political landscape, though i'd say the general lack of voter education in your country could be blamed more squarely at your totally substandard media services (and you can blame an Australian for a large part of that).

[/ QUOTE ]
This post is so ignorant and outright stupid it's tough to know where to begin. First, those who don't care shouldn't vote because they won't spend the requisite time educating themselves. That's right it's up to each citizen to educate HIM or HERSELF! It's not up to the media or anyone else to educate you. And we certainly don't need the "disadvantaged" (read unproductive) to all turn out to vote for more benefits than they already undeservedly receive, thereby turning us even further collectivist than we already are.

[Abednego]

FWIW ..... I think the current generation of young Americans (by that I mean 18-29 year olds) will prove to be the greatest in our country's history. Why? Because this generation comprises those who will make the supreme sacrifice, prevail in the war on terror, and make the world safe for all freedom loving peoples. For this reason alone they should not be denied the right to vote.

My own generation (the baby boomers) was/is pathetic and the lack of selflessness and grown-up maturity exhibited by many of its members I attribute many of our country's problems.

I voted for McGovern in the first election I could vote in. I was an idealist. I lacked wisdom. As a whole I think this is true of most young people and why I said what I did about being 30 before being allowed to vote.

In the final analysis I am heartened by the number of young posters who have indicated they supported Bush in this election leading me to believe I might be wrong. (shhh ... don't tell anybody). When one considers the poor turnout by this demographic it really is a mute point ...... as has historically been the case.

[Cashcow]

Same Here

Although today is my 30th B-day so I only passed as youth by one day I guess.

[MaxPower]

Here is the voter turnout by age in past elections.

http://www.fec.gov/pages/agedemog.htm

For those less than 25 the turnout is pitiful. If young people were to turn out in large numbers it would change the electoral landscape. I don't think larger turnout would swing elections to one party or another, but young people would be a powerfull voting block and would be pandered to as much as senior citizens.

Neither party really wants your vote. Its much easier to get elected without you. Then the old farts get to create the world that you will have to live in.