Posted on 11/01/2004 2:54:42 PM PST by crushelits
The Myth of Joe Trippi's ''Raging Youth''
Every time we are forced to watch MSNBC inevitably the architect of the Howard Dean disaster, Joe Trippi, will come on and start blathering about how "young voters" who have been energized by the web, who pollsters miss because of thier cell phones etc. are going to make the difference in this election. Of course, he says, they are going to vote for Kerry, and always says "if they turn out".
Well pardon us Mr. Trippi, but we think you're either deluding yourself or simply full of it. Taking advice from you about youth turnout and swinging an election is a bit akin to taking advice from the Los Angeles Clippers on how to win NBA titles.
Every year we hear the same refrain from the MSM "If young people turnout this year they could change the election". Of course the "change" they're talking about is a Democratic win. And yet, like death and taxes the under 30 crowd never comes to polls in any different proportion to the time before, and really don't make a difference one way or another. Why is they wrong on both counts? We'll let you know below.
Let's first dispel the myth that just because young voters seem to be energized by internet activism and the sham that is the "Vote or Die" campaign. First of all, how ironic is it that P.Diddy, who was in the middle of the East Coast/West Coast Hip Hop wars, to which his buddy Biggy Smalls was pumped full of hot lead is leading a campaign called "Vote Or Die"? One would think he would be leading a campaign called "Rap and Die".
Anyhow, to see the utter failure of this strategy one need look no further than the Howard Dean for President campaign. The youth of America flocked to volunteer for Howard Dean. They made phone calls, sent out emails, compiled electronic databases, had "meet-ups" etc. The MSM was orgasmic about the "energy" in the Dean campaign, largely from America-hating youth responding to the "Take Back Your Country" routine.
But what also attracted these youth - and having been youth ourselves we can't blame them for this - was the opportunity to meet members of the opposite sex, party, and if possible get laid. And yes, while we're trying to be sarcastic, we're not entirely kidding either.
Listen to any hardcore Dean volunteer, either in chat rooms or on the Howard Stern show and you start to figure out that being a volunteer on the Dean campaign was a bit like being at the "Bunny Ranch" on a stolen credit card.
Further, people who were on the ground in New Hampshire, such as and our buddy Shawn Macomber, who covered Howard Dean for a year, and our own Patrick Hynes tell the real tale of those "energized youth" Trippi speaks about, which is basically that the majority of these youth were unorganized, ideological driven hippies who knew nothing of how to turn out votes.
Their whole world came crashing down when they realized that most people, even those who have individual problems with it, actually like their country, and find no need to have to "take it back". Like those few that are still flower children, those Dean supporters will be sitting back in 20 years lamenting that "things could have been different if they would just have elected Howard Dean."
What the MSM and people like Trippi fail to realize is that "on the ground" organization, and the cultivating of volunteers over long periods of time, with a "blitz" before the election (like the "72 Hour Project") is what drives turnout, not like minded, head-in-the-cloud, youth. These folks think that everyone thinks the way they do, thus they really don't need to work at actually getting people out to the polls. As they found out in Iowa and New Hampshire, enthusiasm among a core group of idealistic neophytes does not even come close to equaling turnout or victory for your candidate.
So we give this final "memo" to Joe Trippi - you and Howard lost big. Those "youth" you were counting on did nothing for you. Live with it and stop telling us how much they'll make a difference.
Another factor the MSM and people like Trippie don't take into account is that the youth of today are not as idealistic as their parents. Think about it, this generation of young people are not shaped by idealistic "flower-power" generation of the 60's.
These are people for whom the defining moment in their life was 9/11, and the murder of thousands of Americans. Unlike their parents and peers for whom the Vietnam war forever shaped their political views, this generation sees what can happen when evil is not confronted. Is the concern about the draft driving some to the Democrats? Yes, some. But such stupidity would make them a Kerry voter anyway.
Most importantly they have grown up knowing that nothing will be given to them (most think social security will not be there for them), and that to get anything, it will have to be earned on their own. There's a name for people who think that way. They are called "conservatives". And there's more young people out there who are conservative than the MSM thinks. Thus, even if they do turnout it won't be the bonanza Kerry and his buddies in the press are hoping for.
A big "trump card" for Dean was supposed to be the younger voters who had only cellphones. They were a hidden block that would catapult Dean to the top. They did not show up, in fact they never existed. I hear the same thing trumpeted by Terry MACauliff and Paul Begalla. I sense they will are in for a rude awakening about this Nov. 3rd.
This "youth" who has only a cell phone is VOTING BUSH!
On a side note most of the people I know that are my age are conservative too, or at least lean that way.
My biggest passion is sportbikes. I love to ride them and I love to race them. I am on two huge sportbike sites and by a 2-1 margin, sportbike riders are voting for Bush. Sportbikes cover almost all age demograghics from 18 y/o on up and most of the younger riders (who are cellphone only) are going for Bush.
Joe Trippi: over-rated, self-appointed (with the help of Chris Matthews) expert of the Internet, Web, blogs, etc.
Me knot no. Y iz they rong?
Our family of four only have cell phones. We're all Bush supporters (and QWEST haters).
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