Quit blaming the young people!

I worked the polls yesterday in my precinct. Most of the people who cast the 658 ballots yesterday were in their 20s. The ladies I was working with (who had done this before) said it was a bigger turnout than in 2000. They'd never seen so many voters who were telling them it was there first time to vote. Granted I live in a college town (Lawrence, KS), but there are also a great number of elderly here as well. The young people voting in my precinct WAY outnumbered them.

And we only had a small fraction of those that were provisional votes too. Not even enough to make a difference.

Please don't smack these young men and women any further. I'm sure many of them are already feeling like shit today.

86% of the young vote went to kerry in my state.

instead of voting. And Air America made some snide remark too. It's not their fault. They did their part.

They are gonna feel bad enough when they show up at the draft board, swallow their pride and say "Um love to help, but I'm gay".

They bust their ass to make calls, put signs, populate rallies, etc. Their work at the grassroots level outweighs any lame voting attempts.

Thanks for your work.

I just heard Sen. DeWine (R-Ohio) rave about Bush's "organization"
and then described a unique new trend, "whole families, kids of all
ages, engaged in knocking on doors, running phone banks for Bush".

I bet their "organization" BEGAN in tax-exempt churches where an
enflamed religious fervor sent out these small "c" christians into
the streets to spread the word for their "savior, the Bush".
Somebody here at DU reminded all that the AntiChrist in the Bible would have a 7 year reign, but would be the "great deceiver"! Almost
makes me, an atheist, become a believer again! NOT!

they will die off soon enough and our generation will be next up to lead. It's okay, all we have to do is keep working, but this time, start from the bottom up.

The youth vote was solid for Kerry and at least here in Madison they did show up.

Earlier today I saw a thread blaming the youth and minority (!) voters for not showing up. THEY DID. They did what they could.

People need to stop underestimating the voting power of the religious right in this country. They do so at their own peril.



2004 Not a Breakout for Youth After All

By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- This was not the breakout year for young voters that some had anticipated. Fewer than one in 10 voters Tuesday were 18 to 24, about the same proportion of the electorate as in 2000, exit polls indicated. **Still, with voter turnout expected to be higher overall, more young people appeared to have come out.**

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/ELN_YOUNG_VOTERS...

Of course there are more people in our growing population so 17% does mean more young voters this time. But think what a 50% turnout (still sorry for a democracy) would have done! Those anecdotes from those in college towns don't carry much weight...it is to be expected.

I am not sure that registering voters at rock concerts is such a good idea. The kids may think it is just "something else to do" like jumping into a mosh pit. Let's admit it, we have raised a pampered generation. I have neighbors who always mow their lawns becuase they laugh, "they can't get their kids away from their video games, computer chat rooms!" Why stand in line for a couple of hours to vote when a friend just calls on a cell phone and says "meet me at the mall!"

I know I am "old school", but I remember my generation so wanted to reach age 21 so we could BOTH drink AND VOTE (voting at age 18 wasn't allowed until Vietnam era). We had John F. Kennedy to give us much inspiration, too. I haven't missed an election ever since. I even go in "off years" to vote for drainage comissioners.

Before getting to comments on last night's election, I want to make a correction about last evening's comments about the youth vote, comments which were incomplete and partly misleading. Young voters showed up at a far higher level than they did four years ago. But everyone else did too. And so the proportion of the electorate made up by the youth vote did not increase. At least not dramatically -- look at the specific numbers for details. For the Democrats, this was clearly not a good thing. But that doesn't mean that young voters didn't turn out in record proportions.

-- Josh Marshall
Copyright 2004 Joshua Micah Marshall
This document is available online at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_10_31.php#003929