Posted on 03/05/2011 10:04:19 AM PST by Wanderer659
I have often said to my mother, who is a baby boomer and liberal, that my generation (Gen X), would have to clean up the mess that her generation left behind. As time wears on, that statement rings more and more true.
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativehideout.com ...
Second, because we do not popularly elect a president, but do so through an electoral college system, your graph is meaningless without a geographic distribution of the age demographics. Some areas of the country are "younger" and may have gone for Obama anyways regardless of the youth vote, in a sense making extreme percentages of those younger votes irrelevant when Obama had a lock there anyways. Your graph doesn't allow for that, and so it's simply not useful for supporting your contention that the younger voters were any more responsible for Obama than older voters.
Having said that, another way to view my prior refutations would be through hyperbole. There were more voters (53%)in the 45 and above demographic...let's call them the "older voters" or OV, and fewer (47%) in the 44 and below that we'll call the "younger voters" or "YV".
Now hypothetically, say that out of a total of 100 voters, there were 92 OV and only 8 YV. If 44 OV voters went Obama and 48 went McCAin and all YV went Obama, Obama still wins 48 - 52. Yes, you can report that "100%" of YV went to Obama, but that still doesn't change the fact that the bulk of Obama's votes came from the OV. Now obviously that's a highly exagerrated illustration, but it seems I need to do that to illustrate my point.
Again, when you weigh the hard percentages(using your data) the single largest demographic segment was the 45 - 64 at 37% of the vote, or 8% greater than the next largest segment of 30-44 year-old voters. That block (45-64) split evenly 49/49, so out of every 100 person sample, that represents 18 Obama voters (49% of 37%). Although 52% of the 30-44 block went Obama, that represents only 15 Obama(52% of 29%) voters in a 100 voter sample, so even though the percentage may have been higher (52 to 49), the number of votes cast was less. When you roll in the two smaller blocks the oldest add another 7 for Obama, and the very youngest add in another 12. That makes the overall split of Obama votes 27% YV and 25% OV, which is not that huge a skew, and while you don't cite the source of your data, I'm guessing it's very well within the margin of error for that poll, ergo my earlier contention that the split between younger and older voters, in terms of raw numbers of votes were roughly 50/50.
My point is, you suggest that the YV went wildy in favor of Obama. My point is, when all the numbers were rolled in together and compared, not so much. The Boomers may have been marginally more so for McCain percentage-wise, but the fact is they turned out his raw numbers. I would further add that much of the youth vote was lost when the GOP selected McCain as their candidate.
We got lucky and the Russians messed things up worse and lost.
#1--As Joe 6-pack pointed out, those breakdowns have to be weighted, and they are much closer than they appear when posted without that weighting.
#2--we don't elect the President based on popular vote. All those young idiots in the cities of liberal states aren't who elected him. It was that Baby Boomer crowd in the swing states (many of whom had been Republicans early in W's Presidency).
Nice try, though.
I think the first Gulf war, 9/11, the war on Terror, Afghanistan, and Iraq have *MORE* than met your call.
Indeed.
And it would be ridiculous to smear those who did and are doing the fighting and dying just because they belong to some arbitrary, advertising agency created "Generation".
People are individuals.
In my post, I didn't mention FDR. I referred to Truman's Fair Deal, Kennedy's New Frontier, and Johnson's Great Society.
It is noteworthy that the Statist Generation was firmly in charge of the country in 1950 when Lionel Trilling wrote,
In the United States at this time Liberalism is not only the dominant but even the sole intellectual tradition. For it is the plain fact that nowadays there are no conservative or reactionary ideas in general circulation.However, it is, indeed, true that too many voters of previous generations have been straying away from the values that made this country great.
Bill Buckley was a Boomer? Who knew?
Any way you slice it, conservatives among the “Boomer” generation are a distinct minority. I, for one, DO blame the “greatest generation” for screwing up on this one. They created the most horrendously entitled bunch ever. And it hasn’t gotten much better with “X” or “Millennials.” Each generation has its conservatives, but the shift began with “Boomers” and the nation has yet to recover.
Thank you, bwc. I love my mom and would do anything for her. The way I see it, she was fed a line of crap that she could "do it all" and "have it all" and I, like so many of my generation, was left in the dust. Way too many of my generation were raised in a broken home without a present parent. I do get frustrated when I hear Boomers talk about how uncivilized my generation is when they're the ones who produced us! "Latch Key Kid" was coined for *my* generation.
But I don't blame her for this. She was swept up in a wave and didn't know any better. Now she does and she's still kicking herself for the choices she made. (But she was no worse than the millions of other Boomers out there who also bought the BS) She now votes more conservatively than I do.
Huh. I get it “wet behind the ears.” Us youngsters can’t help but note the irony (because irony is our weapon of choice),that it was the boomers that sent their kids to war. Yes, the same boomers who protested the Vietnam War. Yep you got it, have sent their sons and daughters to participate in an unsanctioned war in Iraq, and a quagmire in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the economy is collapsing, the housing market has burst, Social Security will be expended by 2038, if not sooner, and the jobless rate continues to plummet. Yep. You boomers really did change the world! Lets’s celebrate with drugs and some “indiscriminate fucking.”
I’m not a boomer. I know from history that there is a deep division between Boomer’s on the Right, and Boomer’s on the Left. I just want to ease your mind, and tell you that the younger generation’s will fix the problems your generation (all inclusive)have created. Now, I noticed you use the word “whine” to denigrate the younger generations. Well, I just want you to know that this particular word usage has no affect on us. Why? Because we have no respect for your vacuous generation, and we never have. So, feel free to enjoy the life you have left; maybe even get another face-lift or two. I know how much you hate to admit that your getting old. Sit back and enjoy retirement. Hey, you guys have been in power for the last 40 years, and just look at what you have done. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama. You guys really did change the world! Thanks too you I’ll never have to worry about my retirement portfolio! I and millions of other Americans will be working till the day we die. Oh, wait you’ve outsourced all the jobs. Never mind!
No. It’s the fault of both the libtard’s and the repulequizards that caused this, dabnabit, sweet tarnation, good godly mess! If not them, then it’s dem damn kids in the Mystery Machine, and that dog Scooby.
That’s wrong. People are defined by their birthday and what time they were born. Don’t you get it? Our whole society is predicated on mass consumerism and labeling. We put labels on foods, buildings, bus stops, high school lockers, laptops, notebooks, book bags, buses, cars, etc. etc. We are all part of the collective. To be an individual is to invite destruction. Come with me child. Come back to the garden where we can rejoice in the musical stylings of Joan Baez and Cat Stevens. Come back to the garden.
Not nearly as much as Bush (the sequel) or Clinton. Iraq, Afghanistan, outsourcing American jobs for cheaper labor. Ask this question. Who has been in power the last thirty to forty years? Answer: Boomers. Boomers control politics, business, media, education, basically every aspect of modern day American society.
I’m not religious, so spare me you’re religious sermon.
Who’s going to take care of you when your diapers need to be changed? The kids your generation neglected, because they were too inconvenient to raise? The children that birth control was designed for? Hey, good luck with that!
Lets see. Aids, Iraq, Afghanistan, worst economy since the Great Depression, drugs, unwarranted wire tapping, teen pregnancy, a failing education system, just to name a few. Oh, yeah while you were crouching under a desk waiting for armageddon, kids today have to worry about the very possible reality of getting shot in their classroom. Communists? Okay. How about nameless, faceless, terrorist cells operating in the United States, willing to use planes as missiles to kill Americans. Better now? Home foreclosures, 13 million unemployment rate, selling off all our assets to foreign countries, outsourcing all our jobs overseas. We no longer manufacture (make things to export). Boomers are the figureheads of every major institution in the United States. It has been this way for at least the last three to four decades. So,you tell me if things are better today? Or would the younger generations have been better off, if they were raised by the greatest generation?
Are you suggesting there is a hidden socialist agenda afoot in this country? Today? At this time? Shhh... Dude be quiet the’ll hear you!
I agree with you. Boomer’s saw their kids as inconveniences to be swept aside. They were more concerned with scoring blow and going to see The Fix in concert during the 80’s. The pill was specifically designed for us in mind, fortunately we survived.
I was a latch key kid, but I don’t blame my Mom. She did the best she could under the circumstances. Boomers denigrate us through name calling examples: lazy, slackers, dumb, unmotivated and useless. I have some names for them narcissistic, self-aggrandizing, vacuous, self-absorbed, assholes.
chaka123
Since Mar 26, 2011
welcome to FR
new to the world too?
it was a lot worse in 1960 to 1975. terrorists flying planes into buildings are not an existential threat to this nation. nuclear war with the Soviet Union was. case closed.
however, i may have to agree with you soon. if the idiots in charge (is 0 a “boomer?” and his entourage? not sure. i think they missed the cut) continue to pursue their fantasies we may find a new, very dangerous reality which will bring us to parity with the terror of the doctrine of “Mutual Assured Destruction” that directed policy for so many years.
“boomers” might miss this new festival of mayhem but you will probably get to decide if it is worse than what we knew.
You should reread my post becuase you completely missed the point.
I am not a boomer either and I called them the “First Worst” generation because they and every generation after them has chased after materialism while claiming to hold the moral high ground over the generation before them.
I won’t have to worry about my retirement either, for the same reasons as you (retirement is 20 years away for me and I know that there will be nothing left by then).
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