Posted on 09/22/2004 10:31:05 AM PDT by No Surrender Monkey
Younger voters think the country is heading in the wrong direction and that President Bush does not share their priorities, but they like Bush personally and are unsure about John Kerry.
Overall, Kerry has a substantial lead among voters under thirty, a reversal of the Bush's nine-point advantage among all registered voters. In a head-to-head contest, Kerry is leading Bush by 10 points (51-41), and in a contest that includes Ralph Nader, Kerry is ahead by 6 (46-40-4).
These results came from a new poll of 18-29-year-olds (conducted September 8-13) by CBS News on behalf of MTV and the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE).
Kerry's support, however, could be described as lukewarm. A full two-thirds of his supporters harbor reservations or are voting for Kerry merely out of a greater dislike for the other guy. Less than half of all respondents like Kerry personally.
While those aren't Clintonian numbers, they might be enough, especially given young voters' negative appraisal of Bush's first term. Only 39 percent of the respondents have a favorable impression of the president, only 44 percent approve of the way he is handling his job, and more than half feel he does not share their priorities.
On the other hand, more than half of the respondents like Bush personally (including a fair percentage of Kerry voters) and his supporters are generally more enthusiastic than Kerry's. To muddle the picture even further, when asked to match the candidates to different roles, the respondents chose Bush as the preferred dad, boss and guy to hang out with, while Kerry was tapped as the better teacher and — oh, so crucially — slightly cooler.
Cool or not, the support for both candidates among young voters is more tepid than among voters generally. Forty percent of all Kerry's supporters "strongly favor" him, while only a third of young voters feel the same way. Similarly, nearly two-thirds of Bush's supporters "strongly favor" the president, compared to just over half of his younger supporters.
This does not appear to be a case of youthful political cynicism: 75 percent feel this is one of the most important elections in their lifetime — if not the most — and 85 percent say that it matters who wins. Young voters are following this election closely and nearly 8 in 10 say they definitely plan to vote. The last time voters under 30 were paying as much attention at this stage in the campaign was the 1992 battle between Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and Ross Perot.
As in 1992, the top issues for young voters this year are the economy and jobs. Only 3 percent of respondents rated the economy as "very good," although over half think it is at least "fairly good." Almost two-thirds describe the job prospects for young people as "fair" or "poor."
Other top concerns of survey respondents were terrorism, education and safeguarding civil liberties. A majority expect some terrorist attack in the next few months. Health care, a major issue for older voters, did not appear on the survey.
Feelings about the war in Iraq are mixed, as slightly more of the respondents agreed that invading Iraq was a good thing than disagreed. There is overwhelming opposition to reinstating the military draft to provide additional soldiers to the conflict. Interestingly, young men are slightly less opposed to a draft than young women.
Somewhat surprisingly, the vice-presidential candidates don't appear to have made much of a splash. Despite the Democrats' frequent attacks on Dick Cheney, 42 percent of respondents have no opinion of the current vice president. John Edwards is even more of an unknown: 58 percent of respondents don't know enough about him to render a view.
Perhaps the most interesting numbers in the survey are that 1 in 4 of the respondents were not registered to vote and that 1 in 5 of registered voters were still undecided as to who to vote for. In a race this close, these votes and potential votes could decide the next president.
—
A friend of mine had a brilliant idea: instead of spending a lot of money on political ads, the Republicans should just buy out 18 hours of air time on a cable channel on Election Day and show "Girls Gone Wild" videos all day long. A huge portion of Democratic supporters would never leave the house to vote.
bump for later
You got the quote spot on, and by the way it was originally said by Sir Winston Churchill.
I'm votin for John Kerry, man!
Whoooooooo?
John Kerry, man!
whooooooo?
Hey...you know...dat guy wit da baby blue suit who looks like an umpa-lumpa, man!
whooooooo?
JOHN KERRY, MAN DA' GUY WHO LIES A LOT!
John's not here.......
Yep, John Kerry has the whole MTV crowd. LOL!
On behalf of Americans under thirty, I would like to say the following.
Not all of us are spineless libs. Speaking as a conservative, I have to say that a good portion of my generation p!sses me off.
http://johnkerryquestionfairy.blogspot.com/2004/08/soft-money-and-hard-lies-soros-funds.html
Soft Money and Hard Lies - Soros Funds "Polling" for Kerry
So, the Kerry Camp wants to play hardball regarding what it considers to be soft money, false advertising, or illegal funding? Bloggers, grab your bats - we can hit this one out of the park.
Take a look at this "poll". The "McClatchy Washington Bureau" - via the Bakersfield Californian - says it's "news"; but let's dig a little deeper, shall we?
YOUTH VOTE COULD CARRY KERRY INTO THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON (SMW) - Democrats are sensing that the always-unpredictable youth vote may be swinging their way in the 2004 presidential election.
Four years ago, Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 split their vote roughly evenly between President Bush and Democrat Al Gore. Since then, Republican officials have pointed to surveys showing that young people were taking a growing shine to the president.
But in new polling, the pendulum seems to have swung in the opposition direction. Some surveys show Bush trailing Kerry by up to 20 points in the 18-30 age group.
Iraq appears to be one of the explanations.
William Galston, director of the Center for Information and Research at the University of Maryland, said there was evidence that youth were retreating from Bush in response to the "stream of bad news" from the war in Iraq.
"It is a mirror-image reversal of the run-up to the Iraq war when the young were supportive," he said. "They are now disillusioned and confused with a situation where there is continuing carnage and no end in sight." ---SNIP---
Don your fedoras, cyber-detectives: it's time to see whom the "researchers" are working for...
Center for Information and Research "Since 2001, CIRCLE has conducted, collected, and funded research on the civic and political participation of young Americans. CIRCLE is based in the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy and is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Carnegie Corporation of New York."
Sounds good, eh? But a little further googling takes you to The Democracy Collaborative, and you see CIRCLE is connected to -
"The Democracy Collaborative: About the Collaborative" ---SNIP--- "Founding Principals"
"The principal initiators of The Democracy Collaborative include: ---SNIP--- Benjamin R. Barber Distinguished University Professor, Gershon and Carol Kekst Professor of Civil Society and the Maryland System-wide Wilson H. Elkins Professor at the University of Maryland, and author of Jihad vs. McWorld, Strong Democracy, and other works.
---SNIP---
William A. Galston, "Saul I. Stern Professor" of Civic Engagement in the Maryland School of Public Affairs, Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, Director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) and a founder of the National Alliance for Civic Education.
---SNIP---
And what is their mission, pray tell? Well, a Global Society, according to their own website:
"The Civworld Campaign" The Democracy Collaborativebelieves it is is vital that "preventive war" strategiesbe supplemented and/or replaced by "preventive democracy" strategies. Our CivWorld initiative is now promoting the "Declaration of Interdependence" and an "Interdependence Day" celebration scheduled for September 12, 2003 as a positive alternative program of international cooperation. The first annual Interdependence Day will be launched at the American Philosophical Societyin Philadelphia and on the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park. For more information, visit www.civworld.org.
"CIRCLE/Democracy Collaborative" is also very aggressive in pushing for a "transnational society", meaning: no national boundaries. Ahhhh, this is no objective polling organization; rather, it is a "non-profit" with an agenda. An agenda that supports John Kerry's campaign...
And who might be behind this "Democracy Collaborative"? Why, none other than George Soros himself.
Soros Foundations Network Minidirectory 2003
---SNIP---
Democracy Collaborative
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019 USA
Phone: (212) 548 0600
E-mail: bbarber@sorosny.org
Principal: Dr. Benjamin Barber
---SNIP---
Why, look! There's Benjamin Barber, one of the Founding Principals of CIRCLE!
Let's go over the evidence one more time, shall we?
-Center for Information and Research at the University of Maryland =CIRCLE
-CIRCLE = Democracy Collaborative
-Democracy Collaborative = George Soros
-George Soros = illegal funding of fake Kerry Campaign "polls" via Soft Money.
-Fake Kerry Campaign "Polls" = free advertising by McClatchy News Co.
So, the Kerry Camp wants to play campaign finance hardball, do they? Well, I believe WE just scored a Home Run...
Are they polling young people who watch MTV? Who are they sampling?
It sounds like panic time to me.
It warms my heart to know there are young people like you. May you live long and prosper.
Um, they've only been alive for 4 elections.
well, you're asking the wrong guy. I never bothered with MTV when I was younger. but the under 30 demographic would certainly be effected by the draft lie, irrespective of where they heard it.
You're right, maybe 6 altogether. Only ONE knew without hesitation that John Edwards is the VP candidate, and that Kerry is a senator.
For those who didn't hear it, at the RNC convention Hannity had one of his staff grab a bunch of 20-something protestors for interview via cellphone.
Hannity asked them what they liked about the Dem candidate "John Kearny" and the VP candidate "Stu Ped."
With only one exception, they were all easily convinced that "Kearny" was running for President, and only a couple less that "Stu Ped" was VP.
None of them could name a single thing that "Kearney" had done, or that he is a senator, nor did they have any clue about "Stu".
It was pathetic, and even Hannity was amazed and disappointed by the utter stupidity of these people.
NO, it's not.
I'll tell you what that makes you. It makes you SMART. Plus you'll probably have a happy and successful life.
I've got 4 kids---unfortunately, all 4 aren't old enough to vote. Ages: 16,15,13,12
They are avid Republicans, nonetheless. They will be voting Republican from the time they come of age (18) for the rest of their lives. They will not be swayed otherwise because they have learned to spot media/Dem lies. Their political shrewdness is beyond their current ages.
It should be pointed out that the Baby Boomers as a whole are about as liberal as Generation X.
Actually, I think a 10-point lead for Kerry in a poll of drug-raddled, brian dead, pierced-gential losers (a/k/a MTV viewers) is good news for President Bush.
I plan on passing leaving some presents there. One about Gretchen Whitmer(D -State rep there) introducing the booze tax. The other about Rangel and the draft.
As well as John Kerry's picture catching a football.
So I guess Bush's 11-point lead in certain polls is a "monstrous lead".
That would be a series hugh lead.
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