ROCK THE VOTE
Posted on 10/08/2014 8:28:11 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It is possible to count on two hands the number of politically active celebrities who demonstrate thoughtfulness and substance in their activism. The rest, a great horde of marginally famous mediocrities, can be counted on to reduce politics to the parochial frivolities that capture only their relatively constrained imaginations. The youth voter advocacy group Rock the Vote can be counted on every two years to put the trivial concerns of those celebrities on parade.
Rock the Vote’s latest effort to patronize young voters was released this week in the form of a music video featuring luminaries ranging from Whoopi Goldberg, to Fred Armisen, to Lena Dunham, to the rapper Lil John.
The context of this cringe-inducing monument to self-flattery is the fact that virtually no young voters are even remotely interested in the midterm elections which will determine whether President Barack Obama’s waning presidency will be marked by any forthcoming accomplishments. Really, it’s quantifiable.
On Monday, the Pew Research Center released the results of a poll which showed what news items Americans were following most closely over the last week. Ranking just above the ebbing anti-government protests in Hong Kong were the looming midterm elections. With just 28 days to go before voters cast their ballots, Pew found that only 5 percent of voters aged 18-29 were following news relating to the midterm elections closely.
Pew did not release this sampling error for this subgroup, but it is reasonable to presume that this might even be a high end estimate.
But what is more offensive than the arrhythmic gyrations of the terminally self-absorbed are the issues the creators of this video think may generate some enthusiasm among prospective young voters. Each of the young people who were asked what they were turning out for said that their primary concerns were limited to social issues; “education,” “marriage equality,” “prison reform,” “reproductive rights,” “human rights,” “women’s rights,” “deforestation,” and “the legalization of marijuana.”
The video is peppered with evocative images which reflect the concerns of MSNBC’s core viewing audience; guns with padlocks on the trigger, a ball and chain branded with the words “student loans,” and a globe with an ice pack atop the North Pole, which presumably indicates that the earth is ill and needs your vote to feel better.
The creators of this video apparently never considered that such images and issues (and the manner in which they are presented to the viewer) were cartoonish, insular, and offensively juvenile. Moreover, Rock the Vote unwittingly promoted the fact that they believe young voters are perfectly unmoved by the issues which are motivating much of the anxious electorate to head to the polls.
An AP-GfK poll of 1,845 voters taken September 25 – 29 revealed that the priorities of likely midterm voters are relatively predictable; the economy, immigration, health care (and the Affordable Care Act), and the threat of terrorism all rank well above any social issue.
Most surprising has been the return of the threat of terrorism as a motivating issue for voters. 83 percent of self-described Republicans and 72 percent of self-identified Democrats in that poll agreed that terrorism is a matter of grave concern. Similarly, 87 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Democrats regard the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East to be an issue of paramount importance. The GOP, however, maintains a 16-point advantage over their Democratic counterparts regarding the issue of terrorism, which may explain why this issue was so far from the minds of Rock the Vote’s perky celebrities and vain youth.
“Heading toward the midterm elections, Democrats hold their strongest advantages on issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage, yet these same issues land near the bottom of voters’ priority lists, according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll,” read a post on the center-left blog One Community. “Asked in an open-ended question to name the most important issue currently facing the U.S., neither issue scored even 1 percent of responses.”
In what was perhaps the only bit of honesty throughout this ham-fisted Democratic GOTV effort on the part of an ostensibly non-partisan organization, Armisen revealed his own reason for heading to the polls in November: “I’m turning out because I want to impress my friends,” he said with mock self-deprecation. “That’s the only reason to ever do anything.”
He spoke a dark truth. Those young people who see this video and are susceptible to peer pressure will be moved to talk up the importance of voting in the midterms. The majority of those young people who are concerned most about global warming and weed, however, will forget to vote on November 4. Those issues are simply not on the ballot. Much to the Democratic Party’s dismay, however, those young voters who are deeply concerned about grander issues of relevance to the broader electorate will turn out along with their older, more conservative counterparts.
"Why did you do that?"
Rock the Vote still exists?
Wasn’t this an MTV operation back when Martha Quinn was still introducing videos?
Celebrities embarrass themselves
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is that possible ???
“luminaries ranging from Whoopi Goldberg,”
and that’s how you know the country is in the crapper
At least she’s not naked.
Ice on top of the globe is for cooling....you kow...they are still touting global warming...need to keep the ice caps cool....IMHP...
The rest of it is that these idots that put this stuff together actually believe what they say is more important and everyone should listen...they forget about most are too concerned with their own Facebook page and Tweet status to care!!!
OMG! That is like watching a car accident run into a train run into nursery and exploding and catching a kennel full of puppies on fire...Or, maybe I have no clue what FUGLY is anymore...
Is it just me, or does Lena Dunham get fatter every year.
Fact is when the living god isn’t on the ballot anymore these ass hats will crawl back under their rock!!
Those are "luminaries"? Dim, very dim, bulbs seems more appropriate.
Who is Lena Dunham? Really.
Consider yourself very fortunate that you don’t know who she is.
she’s most famous for taking her clothes off
Really
Wasn’t this an MTV operation back when Martha Quinn was still introducing videos?*
Remember back in the 1600’s when it was “Rocketh the Vote”?
What MTV is really saying is:
“Hey, you dumb kids are SO stupid that we have the dregs of humanity here that only made it because they have some talent that is totally unrelated to intelligence in the field of politics, Science, or Reality.
Come on, you want to be a useful idiot, yes? Nod your heads yes or we won't play anymore soul destroying “music”!
‘Whose fighting and what for? Come on people we don't want to fight. Like every other scene has been cool...
...Look man! If you guys don't vote the way we Socialists want you to, we're not gonna play!’”
All you need to know about the "Rock The Vote" voter.
Glad I missed that
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