Slog - Comments on Who Likes the Youth Vote? http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote The conventional wisdom has been that Barack Obama is cleaning up among young voters, partly because they like his idea of turning the page on the old battles and grudge-matches of the 1960s (even if some '60s-era icons don't like Obama trying to turn the page on them). However, a recent poll suggests that it's actually Hillary Clinton who leads among young voters. Interesting. I was at a Clinton campaign organizing event in south Seattle on Saturday morning (more on this in the upcoming Stranger) and heard a young Clinton campaign staffer, keying off the above report, bragging to a... Copyright 2008 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:30:59 -0800 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:39:52 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf I don't know what Iowa is like, but it is true that here in Seattle's liberal precincts the caucuses are dominated by woolly holdovers from the McGovern-Vietnam era, who are unlikely to be swayed by Obama's call. They need to be, though; they're killing the party. Tom Hayden has been dead for twenty years, he just doesn't know it yet.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846831 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846831 2008 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:46:00 -0800 Comment by la What is the definition of "young" voters here? Under 60? Under 30?

]]> la http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846873 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846873 2008 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:14:55 -0800 Comment by herbert browne Interesting... reminds me of the National Socialists' approach in Germany. In liberal, labor-union-friendly Berlin they sucked up to the commies... and in the South, among the conservative old Catholic families of Munich they were supporters of the Right Wingers.
(& remember- they won some elections, until they didn't need to hold them any longer...) ^..^

]]> herbert browne http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846881 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846881 2008 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:29:05 -0800 Comment by Juris I don't think it's too inconsistent, it's just a bit confusing: Hillary has the most support among the young voters, but a large portion of them, like all young voters, won't bother to do anything on polling day. Young people just don't vote. It's that simple. So they can tout their support when it's politically expedient, while attacking Obama for relying / focusing on that same vote elsewhere because - as my favorite political scientist at UW put it last year - 'look for the candidate who is basing their campaign off the 'youth vote'; that person will lose'. There aren't enough dedicated young voters to influence the general election, yet alone the Iowa freaking Caucus.

]]> Juris http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846925 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846925 2008 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:11:26 -0800 Comment by Mahtli 69 I'm not a "young voter", but my problem with Obama is that he strikes me as a bit immature and of average intelligence. He's said some stupid things about Iran and Pakistan, and I have a hard time imagining what he would actually be like as President (I don't spend too much time trying to imagine this, because he is not going to win).

When Obama gets into one-on-one arguments with Clinton, she mops the floor with him. His responses to her have invariably been flustered and overly simplistic, whereas Clinton's responses reflect the complexity of issues. Obama then attempts to use that against her by saying she didn't answer the question, when she actually did (just not with a True or False answer).

I'm a Kucinich guy myself, but Clinton will win the nomination and the Presidency.

]]> Mahtli 69 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846958 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/who_likes_the_youth_vote#c846958 2008 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:39:52 -0800