Posted on 03/25/2011 6:28:01 PM PDT by neverdem
Forty years ago this week, the House of Representatives, on an overwhelming bipartisan vote, sent a proposed constitutional amendment to the states to lower the voting age in this country to 18. It was a time of war - a war in which tens of thousands of young men younger than 21 were conscripted into military service and sent into combat - and the amendment carried both moral authority and a grim logic.
Two weeks earlier, the Senate passed it 94-0; and the measure that became the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified by the states in record time. By Independence Day, it was the law of the land, and at a July 5, 1971 White House signing ceremony, President Nixon gazed on a sea of handpicked young faces and proclaimed, "The reason I believe that your generation, the 11 million new voters, will do so much for America at home is that you will infuse into this nation some idealism, some courage, some stamina, some high moral purpose that this country always needs."
In the ensuing four decades, the 26th Amendment has changed nothing. Or perhaps, it changed everything, but one had to look closely to notice -- and be patient.
For starters, lowering the voting age helped shape young Americans' expectations of their country and themselves. Paradoxically, it may have helped both Richard Nixon and his 1972 opponent, George McGovern. It boosted the Republican Party in the era of Ronald Reagan, although Reagan won so big it was easy to miss. It certainly gave a shot in the arm to Barack Obama, and may do so again.
The youth vote played a role in Iowa in 1972 - and in many states in 2008. In the current campaign cycle, as candidates' and their armies of loyalists start...
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
LOL! My kids all voted for Obama. Mention his name today and I have to trot-out Navy language just to keep up with them. They loathe him now.
Let’s go back to the original and have only land owners vote, whatever their age.
The worst mistake this country made was ditching the form of government given us by the Founders, a Republic, and installing a democracy, something they warned against. They were right, of course, as the USA drowns in debt piled up by politicians buying votes with other people’s money, and when that was gone, borrowing from our enemies. Stupid and crazy way to run a country.
I was a direct beneficiary of the passage of the 26th Amendment, and promptly squandered my very first vote on George McGovern.
Now that I’m much older and wiser, I’m for raising the voting age to 35.
My kids all voted for Palin, but they were home schooled. Give the state your kids, and the state will screw up their minds.
‘It was a time of war - a war in which tens of thousands of young men younger than 21 were conscripted into military service and sent into combat.”
Oh, bullshit! We had one guy in my Marine Corps platoon who was a draftee. It wasn’t “thousands.” And he was a good Marine. He did his duty. I’m proud to be associated with him.
You should not be allowed to vote if you are a full-time college student. They are still dependents.
Voters should hold land or be 35 years or older.
Without the young and stupid, the DemocRATS couldn’t get elected. They count on the young and stupid “know it alls” to keep them in office.
I’d go for they have to pay at least 10% of their income in taxes...
Nah. Around here RAT imbeciles (especially academic type imbeciles) loudly proclaim their eager desire to pay more taxes for the utopia just around the corner.
This comes up a lot, and it’s flawed. A good idea in an agrarian economy the founders had, but things have changed. Renting is becoming more common amongst professionals. I could show you $30,000 shacks in South Dallas that are “owned” by somebody, but they don’t have the same stake in the country or the economy as the guy who rents the $8k a month luxury apartment.
“Let’s go back to the original and have only land owners vote, whatever their age. The worst mistake this country made was ditching the form of government given us by the Founders, a Republic, and installing a democracy, something they warned against.”
You left out suffrage, the right of women to vote.
That may have been the lynch pin that has doomed the American experiment.
Yeah, but they DO NOT pay any more taxes, do they?
“You left out suffrage, the right of women to vote.”
People that know me here know that I’m a RACIST, BIGOT, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBE (or at least that’s how they see me when I challenge their media-constructed world).
But even so, in the past few months, I have been attacked without mercy from male foggies, who want nothing other than to keep getting THEIR CHECKS from the government (aka, Social Security), even if that money had already been spent DECADES AGO and they only place to get THEIR MONEY is from my kids and grand kids. And beyond that, our dollar is about to COLLAPSE (due to our debt) and when that happens, we become THIRD WORLD overnight. But even with that future...they still want (what they consider to be) THEIR MONEY.
So, no, I don’t blame women for all our problems...at least not today, I blame a lot of FReepers who seem intent on driving this country into the GUTTER (or Qatar, depending on how you pronounce it)...and I blame many, many, times more non-FReepers who feel the same.
Academics must - they’re paid by the state. However, their generous paychecks and well-heeled benefits allow for such displays of patrician largess.
I was really ticked off at the time, because they passed that law the year I turned 21.
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