February 5, 2008 - 4:10am

Teen angst and presidential politics

Seventeen-year-old Dave Landstrom lives in Flemington, the county seat of one of New Jersey's most Republican leaning counties. He was a 10-year-old when George W. Bush was elected President, and he turns 18 this October 26th, making him eligible to vote on Election Day in November.

Dave has got a lot going on in his life--school, getting ready for college, nurturing a singing career, and then of course, there are girls. He's hectic but he is absolutely clear about two things--that he will exercise his right to vote in November and that he really wants to vote for Barack Obama.

"I know each candidates' position on health care and on most of the other issues. Without question, I think Obama is the strongest candidate", Dave said proudly. As a labor leader, I'm excited and impressed just to hear 17-year olds talk about health care as an issue.

Apparently, Dave is not alone in his focus on health care. According to a recent poll reported in Time magazine, the top three issues that 18-to-29 year olds 'worry a great deal about' are the ability to afford health care (62%), followed by the way the Iraq war is being conducted (59%) and the ability to find a stable, well-paying job (58%).*

Like a growing number of young people, Dave is both passionate and knowledgeable about the Presidential candidates and the progress of the primary race. However, he is not going to blindly vote for any Democrat for President. He told me that if Hillary Clinton is the ultimate Democratic nominee, he intends to vote for John McCain (if he's the Republican choice of course). Even though Dave is against the war in Iraq, which McCain supports, he believes that McCain has been "honest" and "consistent" on the war issue, while Clinton has not.

That kind of political independence seems to be emblematic of this Presidential race. Passions and opinions are strong and party loyalty is weak.

Extraordinarily, since November 2007, more than 48,500 additional New Jersey voters have been registered most of which are unaffiliated with any political party. While New Jersey doesn't keep those records by age, all of the primary elections thus far this year have evidenced that voter registration amongst young people went way up and young voters turned out in record numbers (www.newvotersproject.org).

One thing that is clear, young voters are engaged in a way we have not seen in decades. More than 74% of 18-to-29 year old are paying attention to the presidential campaigns this year, compared to only 42% in 2004 and a mere 13% in 2000.* While Barack Obama's youthful energy and talk of changing the dynamics of political gridlock are partly responsible for the new trend, Clinton and McCain seem to be inspiring their own share of young voters also but for other reasons.

The trend is one of energized young voters, hungry for a different kind of politics, becoming an important force in the national political discussion. Dave echoed that sentiment when he said, "All of my friends and all of their friends are motivated to have a change from the Bush regime and to have a voice. We feel like we can make a difference and we're ready to stand up and take our places in political history."

*Time Magazine Poll conducted Jan. 18-21 among 503 randomly selected Americans from 18-29 years old by SRBI Public Affairs. Full results can be found at www.srbi.com.

Comments

Will you marry me?


I absolutely think you are the sexiest, most intelligent, balls to the wall woman in NJ.  Besides the same political ideologies, you are our Ann Coulter.  Tell it like it is. 

02/05/08 2:24 pm

Ann Coulter.......


Ann Coulter is supporting Hillary Clinton, believe it........ She stated that fact on one of the FAKE NEWS shows on FOX......... She floored the host and then said she would work for Hillary if she ran against John McCain...... It is an unusual election season, isn't it........!!!!

02/05/08 2:28 pm

Ann Coulter Part deux.....


Yes, but when push comes to shove, I don't think they will be able to swallow that bitter pill of another 8 years of the Clinton and Clinton show.  There will be a mea culpa with McCain.  And why not like him - he's a breath of fresh air and is young enough to be Lautneberg's son.

 

02/06/08 12:13 pm

Ann Coulter Part deux.....


Yes, but when push comes to shove, I don't think they will be able to swallow that bitter pill of another 8 years of the Clinton and Clinton show.  There will be a mea culpa with McCain.  And why not like him - he's a breath of fresh air and is young enough to be Lautneberg's son.

 

02/06/08 12:13 pm

Where's Health Care?


I am very sure that Dave knows about the so-called health-care issue.

But I wonder if Dave has ever read the U.S. Constitution, especially Articles I and II.  I'm betting he hasn't because if he had, he would have noticed that neither the POTUS nor the U.S. Congress have any legitimate, delegated enumerated power to legislate in the area of health care.

Given that the President is required under Article II to " . . . protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" as a requisite to taking and holding the office, Dave should know that any candidate suggesting federal involvement in the area of health care is violating the doctrine of enumerated powers and is therefore unable to take the requisite oath and thereafter to hold the office.  Obama is, quite literally, unqualified in the strictest, most literal sense of the term.

It appears that poor Dave has been miseducated.  Pity he's going on to college without learning the basic rudiments of American Government and Civics.    

02/08/08 4:30 pm

Pretty low standards


Wow, just how low do your standards go? 

"The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything."
                --Theodore Roosevelt--

02/09/08 11:30 am

teens and healthcare - ignorant bliss


Dave and his generation don't have the slightest clue when it comes to affordable healthcare.  Many of them have been covered by their parents' policy since birth and will continue on that policy until their mid twenties if not later considering the compassionate drive to extend dependent coverage well past undergraduate years.  Dave will also most likely receive some level of free medical attention while in college at the campus clinic.  He will obtain free contraception there  and if prevention wasn't foremost in his mind on any particular occasion, he can also get something for that itch which may come afterward.   In Dave's inexperienced world being healthy is free and always has been.  He has no clue everyone else is paying in part for his designer drugs overly-prescribed to keep him docile but attentive in class, or to unnecessarily ward off the earliest sign of sniffles.  It makes perfect sense to Dave when someone slick and clever comes along and offers to continue the handouts for the rest of his useful (that is tax pay capable) adulthood.  Ms. Katz you should intreview Dave again when he is in his thirties or forties, married and a father. Ask him then what he thinks of universal/affordable healthcare because by then, if everyone else voted in 2008 the way Dave thinks he might, the deductions column of his hard-earned paycheck will remind him on a regular basis just how free universal healthcare is.

02/09/08 8:29 pm

Another uninformed voter


Wow, an 18 year old that is willing to support someone who will keep us in Iraq for 100 years because he is honest.  Wonderful, I hope Dave is the first one drafted.  If Dave had read up on his candidates, and spent less time playing Halo, he would have found that Texas Congressman Ron Paul is the best candidate for the presidency.  Too bad most people 18-24 (my age group) have decided not to research all the candidates, read the constitution, and then make an informed decision about the ability of any candidate to do what the constitution prescribes of them.  Healthcare is not one of the duties of the president.  Enough said.

02/11/08 1:38 am

Classic liberal arrogance


This woman is one of the most arrogant and destructive forces in state politics.

She is responsible for using tax dollars against taxpayers to put forth an agenda so radical that we now have millionaire public employees!

You have an individual who has worked the system to receive millions in "gifts" from her boyfriend the governor while going to law school courtesy of taxpayers.

She symbolizes everything that is wrong with public employment in which most of them would never be missed if fired tomorrow.

This is the scam she's promoted for years that has translated New Jersey to be the most expensive state in the country to live while she's morphed into a millionaire in a luxury estate.

Where's the outrage?

Where's the accountability from the media that such a thing

02/20/08 6:10 pm

presidential politics


Ron Paul's a "Wack Job" and the world except you Morons know it.

02/21/08 8:22 pm

empty vessels make the most noise


between clueless 17 year olds and the Barack room socialist no wonder why Americas youth are in a mess.
Health Care yes we all want Health care and a Merc too. Unfortunatly we dont manufacture anything anymore. Who is going to pay for it
the Chinese ?

02/22/08 1:17 pm

RE: Classic liberal arrogance by Demsanddonts


BRAVO!!! 

02/29/08 7:12 am