California lawmakers propose lowering voting age to 14

AP ^ | 3/8/04 | Jim Wasserman

[RightWhale]

I remember what I was like at 14.

At 8 I was worried that Stevenson would win and it was a great relief when Ike won. I had to ask what 'I like Ike' meant while out trick 'r treating in the neighborhood. Guess the neighbors thought it was cute I would ask about Eisenhower. I couldn't believe that so many didn't seem to know there was an election coming up or that Truman wasn't on the ballot.

[G Larry]

Shouldn't come as a surprise.
Most liberal's ability to reason and apply logic was arrested in development at about 14.
That period when you're most likely to be full of idealism, with no appreciation for reality and the complexities of life.

[ServesURight]

You gotta be fecesing me....

[DumpsterDiver]

We need to seriously rethink the 19th Amendment too. Women voters elected Clinton and they almost got us President Gore. ;-)

But it was male voters who passed the 19th amendment. What were they thinking? (I have my own theories, but I'll keep 'em to myself.)

[ExpatCanuck]

This is good news, provided it does not pass. It's a sign of abject terror. The California democrats are afraid they can't win without votes from the 14-17 year set, who are typically left leaning by default (even though many of them become slatwart conservatives later in life).

[tom h]

Don't forget everyone that it was this same moron, John Vasconcellos, who promoted "Self-esteem" education in the early 1980s as a cure to teenage problems in California. The idiot still hasn't left state government and is still out peddling moronic ideas. Ignore him. This proposal has no possibility of passing. And of course he's only doing this because he thinks it will cement already large Democratic majorities in the state.

[Amerigomag]

This is a joke? Right?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I was more aware of politics than most of my peers at 14 but looking back gives me this. As a fourteen year old, any candidate with a funny name may have got my vote. Also anyone named Dick.

What possible purpose could this serve the public other than helping Democrats get elected easier? At 14, most teenagers still don't have the knowledge to "filter" the issues. Their opinions are still directly formed by others (teachers, mainstream media, and their parents ), most with their own agenda.

[Dinsdale]

Tell em they are getting votes.

But count the 14 year old votes as negative half a vote.

16 year olds as negative a quarter vote.

Anything that sounds good to a 14 year old has got to be a bad idea.

[Destructor]

"Coming on the heels of an expected record low turnout among adults in the March 2 election, Vasconcellos would give 16-year-olds a half vote and 14-year-old a quarter vote in state elections beginning in 2006. "

This would make it much easier for liberals to buy elections. I can see it now: Vote for me-- get a CD!

[SandRat]

If it's NAMBLA it's not Sugardaddies but another word that would get us banned from FR.

Wouldn't be surprised to find Larry Flynt's finger prints on this either.

[Feiny]

I can see the vote pandering now. We'll decrease the school week, lower the driving age and free candy for everyone.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Sure, just adjust the driving,drinking,tobacco, military service ages accordingly.

What a maroon!!

[Destructor]

"We need to seriously rethink the 19th Amendment too. Women voters elected Clinton and they almost got us President Gore. ;-)"

All because Gore kept kissing Tipper at every opportunity, and the women thought it was "SO sweet!" I couldn't agree with you more.

[B-bone]

That reminds me of the old saying (often times attributed to Churchill):

If you are not a liberal at 20, you have no heart.
If you are not conservative at 40, you have no brain.

As a McGovern voting 18 year old, this proposal should never see the light of day.

[tertiary01]

All it would do would enable the teachers to vote through their students. And the politicians would be spending most of their campaigns talking to the students at assemblies.
Yeah WE really need this.

[Doc On The Bay]

With the Exception of Military Service--& Considering the ABYSMAL LEVEL of "Education" of the "Products of our Current 'Public Education System,'"--I Can ONLY Conclude that there are FEW "Citizens" capable of casting an "Intelligent Vote" who are LESS THAN 30 years Old!!

Because of a "Deeply Flawed" "Educational "Liberal Paradigm,"" we are "Faced With" a Generation of "Propagandized Students" who have NEVER been taught "Critical Thinking!"

We have a Generation of "Students" who have been Taught to "Parrot" a Particular POV;--YET, have NOT been taught to "Question Authority!"

HMnnn!

"Question Authority" is the "Sine-qua-Non" of ANY "Generation!"

If our "Current Generation" of "Young Intellects" accept our "Current Wisdom," then we have LOST a Generation.

WHAT a Tragedy!!

Doc

[squidly]

When I was 14, I'd have voted for Reagan against Mondale. It wasn't until my late teens that I became a liberal and supported Paul Tsongas. Rebelling against my conservative upbringing, I think. By my early/mid twenties, I'd gotten over my liberal phase and formed a political identity. I think Churchill was right.

[SelmaLee]

My 14-year-old would like her opinion on this matter to be heard:

"Most 14-year-olds couldn't vote their way out of a paper bag. They don't have any political opinion unless it has been fed to them by MTV."

[okie01]

"I remember what I was like when I was 14. I was much better informed than my peers..."

Hell, if you were like most 14-yr olds, you thought you were better informed than your parents. Your peers, of course, were all better informed than their parents.

And had matters of state been left to those of us who knew it all when we were 14, the President of the United States would've been Elvis Presley.

Now that I think about it, Elvis might've been an improvement on LBJ...