Posted on 02/21/2008 12:24:11 AM PST by vrwc54
Once again, Senator Barack Obama has won in Wisconsin and Hawaii to push his win streak to 10. Once again, his secret weapon behind all of this that we are not paying attention to are the young people who are voting for him.
Republicans can no longer ignore the fact that this man may be the actual nominee for the Democratic Party. If Sen. Hillary Clinton split with Obama on March 4th between Texas and Ohio she is most likely finished.
Republicans also have to realize that the youth vote has fueled Obama's message with Hollywood, Oprah and Will.i.am. To be honest I have never seen such a youth movement on the Democratic side before. My conservative comrades keep telling me that its all emotional. I keep telling them to come better because we have not done a damn thing to swing young people to vote Republican.
For real, Sen. John McCain is the frontrunner for the GOP. If it comes down to voting for Obama and McCain Obama will make history. I thought a couple of days ago that McCain would beat Obama but looking at the voting trend right now there is no way in hell a 71 year old man will beat a 46 year old man. There is no excitement in the GOP for that we are STILL divided in this party over who is more conservative and who is not. Young people in the GOP are not united and will not vote for McCain in November. This spells doom for the GOP.
Young people are a factor in the political process. While fellow conservatives are talking about how our young people are falling for the okey doke from Obama we are over here attacking his character. For example, I have heard repeatedly from hardcore conservatives that he was (or still is) a Muslim. I thought America was the land of opportunity and progress. Are we in the business of discrimination on this side of the aisle? And I cannot understand how ANY Black conservative would fall for this trick when we know how Black Churches inour community have repeatedly failed our community. Again, when I look at Blacks practicing Islam, African Spirituality or even Judaism Black families tend to stay together. Until Black conservatives show me a sound example of how the Christian church in large urban areas have helped transformed our community we should not even waste our time talking about Christian vs. Muslim. It is the dumbest arugument I have ever heard. If we are that paranoid of Obama then you have no working knowledge of real clear politics.
And why are conservatives attacking this man's wife? He is demonstrating family in this campaign. He is not banging his women on his staff like Mayor Kilpatrick here in Detroit. There is some integrity here and for his wife to be there every step of the way is great. Can we say the same here? I have no wife and I am running for a federal office and with everyone attacking me I would like to have a rock to lean on myself.
Young people are fueling this Obama movement. We cannot take that away from Obama. America are seeking a new first family and this time they are Black folks. I thought Clinton would have wrapped this up a while ago but the trend has drastically changed. Young voters do make a difference and with McCain running on fumes in this race against the Democratic Party we are in serious trouble.
Obama has created an overall surge in Democratic participation — but while overall Democratic turnout jumped 90%, the number of young Democrats participating soared 135%.
A lot of fresh faces are always in those audiences, and many of them left wearing one of his extremely cool t-shirts. But Obama applied lessons learned — re-learned — in recent years about the importance of face-to-face grassroots organizing.
After decades of relying on phone banks and mass-mailings to motivate voters, Republicans began experimenting in 2001, comparing face-to-face contacts to the other methods. They found that having a trusted neighbor or peer make the personal appeal is a far more effective way to get voters to the polls. Obama has keyed into that and built his campus organizations. It's really a return to the way we used to organize in the 19th century heyday of political machines.
In other words he is using our tactics against us.
Moreover, Obama's appeal to young voters fits seamlessly into his larger campaign themes of change and renewal. What does McCain has to offer? The man is a walking corpse for Christsake.
We had Brownback, Tancredo and Huckabee to pick from. We wanted Giulani, Romney and McCain. We fell for the divide and conquer crap and now we are stuck with McOld to go up agianst the Democrats. Obama is trying to include everyone across the board with his baseless speeches.
While I cannot support Obama because of his positions ( he is way too liberal for me) I must admit that he has engaged the youth in voting. That is a good thing for America regardless of political party or position. Now those who understand the game must take those same young people and teach them the facts without emotion to help them understand that logical voting, not emotional speeches, is what makes America great.
I wouldn't go as easy on Obama as Akindele does, nor would I go as hard on McCain.
I agree that the Muslim issue is a non-issue. Obama is more marxist than Muslim.
thanks. that was almost an interesting article.
Not surprising the MTV generation would go wild for this utterly vapid, empty suit. “Hello, does anyone have a brain cell?”
True, Che’ Obama has roots in the Internatole then the Madrsas, but Islam can have a strong Communist element in it at times.
What I have read about the typical Obama backer is that they do not know very much about were he stands on any issue, they merely “like him”.
“Obama’s Secret Weapon: Idiots!”
I don’t buy that the youth vote will be enough to put Obama over the top in November. Obama has received about 10 million votes in the primaries. Bush received 62 million votes in 2004. His primary voters today are no doubt energized and excited, but they are a small, idealistic group that do not represent the general populace at large. I don’t believe he has another 52 million voters in him, which is what he’ll need to win in November.
Have to agree with your “almost” comment. What does this guy’s analysis consist of? “Ooooooh, the young people like Obama.” “Crap, w’e’ve got candidate McOld.” “We’re doomed. Doomed, I tell you!”
Meanwhile, in the real world, the young people have been going to sweep Democratic presidential candidates into office since forever. They were going to change the world and elect McGovern. They were going to nominate Howard Dean and change American politics. They were going to Rock the Vote thanks to MTV and elect Gore and Kerry. Yawn. Call me when it actually happens.
Ya well at this point the only thing I get out of this article is that McCain is going to get his ass kicked. Something else I missed? (Something important?)
Calling them "Adults" is a HUGE leap.
What, never seen a ANSWER, CODE-PINK, TAKE BACK THE STREETS, RESIST anti-USA protest before?
"...take those same young people and teach them the facts"
Wait until those young people leave mommy's basement and feel the pinch of payroll taxes for "free" healthcare!
Old people ALWAYS vote so much more than younger ones. Every election cycle: “THIS will be the year of the youth vote!” but every year it’s always the geezers voting.
I always notice it at my polling place—wow, who knew so many old people lived in my neighborhood. It’s like they come out of the woodwork to vote.
That’s why McCain has a chance—there are a LOT of voting geezers around!
IIRC, historically that youth vote never, or rarely, actually materializes on election day.
This is just another "talking heads chattering among themselves" piece.
I don’t think he’ll need that much. I’ll be surprised if McCain can break 35% in a general, after the MSM is through with him. Whatever McCain gains in crossover, he’ll lose three times over from base voters too repulsed to vote for him.
I think the ‘youth vote’ needs some redefinition - thanks for boomers now drawing on SS, the ‘youth vote’ is anyone now born after 1964. Wouldn’t surprise me to see another 10 million votes against McCain due to his age alone, to kick the least virtuous generation in American history out of the office once and for all.
I agree completely. My personal memory is that this pattern goes back to McGovern, Mondale, Hartpence/Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry. I don't remember '68, but the "youth candidate" that year got taken out by a palestinian with a pistol.
Raise the voting age to 40.
Yep, you are on to something on raising that voting age!!!
We’d probably do better overall if we revoked the franchise at 40. Older people voting tax dollars into their own pockets is a prime reason why government is so screwed up these days.
“I always notice it at my polling place—wow, who knew so many old people lived in my neighborhood. It’s like they come out of the woodwork to vote..”
They show up in droves to vote themselves new entitlements.
It is called the Grand Old Party for a good reason.
John McCain is the best the GOP could find. The GOP stands for Grand Old Party.
Ronald Reagan may have put the C in Conservative, but John McCain will put the O in Grand Old Party.
[If Obama is the nominee]
The Grand Old Party has nominated a candidate from the past; the Democratic Party has nominated a candidate who looks to the future.
The O in Obama stands for Optimism. The O in GOP stands for Grand Old Party.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.