Let’s begin by pointing out some facts:
A) In 2008, people under the age of 30 voted for Obama over McCain by a <a href=”http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2008/11/09/20081109vip-hindman1109.html”> 2:1 margin. </a>
B) Young voters are increasingly identifying themselves as Democrats, even more than in <a href=”http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_youth_vote_the_culture_wars_and_barack_obama”> previous years.</a>
C) Congress only lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971 because Nixon felt like he had to throw the Dems a bone – the result was complete anarchy at the Dem convention in ’72.
D) <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_age#Voting_ages_around_the_world”>Many countries</a> have voting ages above 18.
I propose Conservatives try to raise the voting age from 18 to something more reasonable, like 25. Here are the benefits:
1) Voters should have an economic interest in the future of the country. 18-year-olds have no independent economic interest in the nation, which is why they often vote based on trivial single issues such as which candidate has the nicest body or which one was spotted partying with some rapper.
2) Since Boomers are the biggest age demographic by far, right now will be our best chance to get this bill passed. If another Boomer-like increase in the population comes along (which is unlikely thanks to abortion), it’ll be infinitely harder to raise the age.
3) If we pair this voting age rise with a decrease in the age to buy alcohol, most of the young voters wouldn’t notice the difference or whole-heartedly embrace the trade.
4) If those under 25 can’t vote, they’ll see what a sham social security is even more because now they can’t even vote, so they’ll vote in conservatives to end the program once they get the right to vote.
5) It’ll put an end to all those stupid get out the vote and vote or die concerts that the hollywood elite are always doing.
I know what many of you are thinking: what about members of the military? Shouldn’t a 19-year-old fighting the good fight in Iraq be entitled to a vote? The answer, of course, is yes, so we can make one benefit of serving the ability to vote regardless of age.
I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Good thing I didn't waste my time responding to this nonsense from a moby
civil truth (Diary) Friday, July 17th at 3:26AM EST (link)…who is now a ghost.
The greatest evil…is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the offices of a thoroughly nasty business concern. -C.S. Lewis
http://www.gmsplace.com/
Hm.
rechief (Diary) Friday, July 17th at 4:22AM EST (link)I suppose I should preface this by saying that I’m a voter under 25, and I was 19 when I voted in my first election (for McCain, mind you).
1. Your first point seems like something we’d have to worry about more if the voting age were, say thirteen or fourteen, though even then I knew enough about politics to make a mostly-reasonable decision about who to vote for. While “I was once young and stupid” seems to be a valid excuse in and out of politics, everyone I know who voted in the ’08 election was more than capable of listing off plenty of ostensibly good reasons to vote for his or her candidate — and they were certainly more valid than “Barack Obama has a great body.” It seems to me that you’re underestimating the youngest voters’ intelligence.
2. Since I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to be raising the voting age at all, I won’t work with this one.
3. Assuming that you’re talking about putting raising the voting age and lowering the drinking age into the same bill, isn’t that just a form of pork-barrel tactics? I thought we (conservatives, that is) were against that sort of thing.
4. I’m guessing that what you mean here is that, with your plan in effect, new voters will have had more time to discover the flaws in social security firsthand. Considering the sheer number of liberals over 25 who support social security, let alone liberals over 25, period, it doesn’t seem to me that it would be that big of a boost in numbers.
5. I’ll admit I’m a bit annoyed about them as well, but this is hardly enough of a reason to support such a radical change in voting law. At least in my view.
All in all, it seems to me that your overarching goal here would be to shut out the young, liberal voting demographic that seemingly came out of nowhere when President Obama started campaigning. What it looks like to me is a mere attempt to restrict personal and political freedom to advance the conservative agenda — and while I’m for advancing the agenda, I’m not so much for restricting freedom and all that.
“If we want responsibility in our society and thrift in our government, we’ve got to live by those values ourselves.”
–David Cameron.
A young conservative's view.
jhavard Friday, July 17th at 12:50PM EST (link)I think you are confusing ignorance with intelligence. I don’t think the problem is that young voters lack the capacity to make a good decision; the problem is that they are ignorant of the facts.
If we take an honest look at the campaign efforts leading up to the last election, it is undeniable that the Democrats dominated the age group you are talking about. Young voters were bombarded with liberal propaganda from every angle. The left wing lies were spread using tools like MSM, Facebook, and, my personal favorite, those captivating Rock the Vote cocerts. Their efforts all but drowned out the conservative voice.
In fact, I would even go so far as to say the average young voter is no more ignorant than the average middle age voter. They probably know more about many of the issues that face this country than people twice their age…the only problem is what they know isn’t true.
I think the best way I have heard this explained was by my favorite President: “The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” – RR
I’ll stop rambling and get to my point. I don’t think our failure to reach the young voters is a reason to take away one of the greatest honors we have as Americans. Instead of pursuing what would essentially amount to an extreme form of gerrymandering, why don’t we dedicate ourselves to reaching new audiences with the conservative message. While many young people do get starry-eyed when they hear “Imagine,” there are plenty of young adults that are capable of grasping reality.
The liberal voice is loud; let’s be louder.
“Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.”
- Ronald Reagan