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David Floyd
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The bottom of a large bottle of beer
Jan 1970
time: 05:20
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quote:
Fine by me. You do realize however, that half or more of the adult population would be disenfranchised. |
I still really don't see what the problem is. Hell, I'd support NO voting age, so long as the voter can pass the requirements. A super-intelligent 9 year old can vote, if he meets the requirements, whereas a retarded 29 year old can't. *shrug*
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Wiglaf
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Cambridge
Dec 2000
time: 23:20
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quote:
Should welfare recipients be denied the vote? |
Easily the dumbest argument of this thread.
To include people who are at least trying to make a living out of crap circumstances, however pathetically, with the average brat kid living off his parents' salary is like comparing apples and oranges only without the taste.
One of the biggest problems of this movement is that most kids don't particularly WANT the right to vote in the first place. They don't feel wronged, etc. because they'd rather chase girls, hang out, party, etc. Getting involved in the political environment is about rock bottom on any kid's priorities.
On the flip-side, you'd have parents/communities influencing their kids, who are about 10 times more docile and more willing than women were back in the suffrage movement. You'd have the largest increase in incompetent votes ever - MOST 16-18 year olds barely do anything, much less work. To give them the power to pick the leader of the free world when they don't want it and probably won't use it properly is just dumb.
For the kids who do want the vote, sorry. When you realize how big the world is your mind might change.
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OzzyKP
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Rockville, MD
Oct 1999
time: 00:20
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quote:
Originally posted by JohnT
Cite, Gepap? |
Not that it'll make any difference, since people are so entrenched in their biggotry they have no care for reason or facts. But here are some facts for y'all.
A survey by the Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvary University interviewed 1,514 adults in November/December 1995.
2/3rds did not know their US Representative
Half didn't even know whether their US Rep was a Republican or Democrat
2/5ths did not know the Vice President
2/3rds did not know the majority leader of the Senate (Bob Dole, who was running for President)
46 percent did not know the speaker of the House (Newt Gingrich, who Time magazine just named "Man of the Year")
Nearly half didn't know the Supreme Court had the final responsibility for deciding whether a law is constitutional.
3/4ths did not know that US Senators are elected to 6 year terms
2/5ths did not know Republicans controlled both chambers of congress.
3/10 did not know which party favored making greater reductions in the grown of Medicare spending, a pivotal issue in the ongoing budget debate.
3/5ths incorrectly believed the government spends more on foreign aid than on Medicare.
On average, they guess the government spent 26% of the budget on foreign aid (really it was around 2%)
"Overall, the survey found that men know more about politics than women, a gender gap that persists even among college-educated twentysomethings interviewed in the poll. Whites know more facts about politics and government than do blacks. Rich people are more informed than the poor. Republicans are better informed than Democrats. And better educated Americans know far more than those with less formal schooling."
Overall, surveys indicate that Americans know about as much about politics and government today as they did during the 1940s.
According to surveys, rich white men know more about politics than anyone else. So were our founders right in limiting the franchise to them only?
If not, then doesn't the matter of how much one knows about politics become irrelevant? Why shouldn't youth have the right to vote for the exact same reasons women, blacks, and the poor do?
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Shi Huangdi
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Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 1999
time: 00:20
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I now agree with OzzyKP on the need for youth rights:
quote:
Forget the swing states: It's the swing set that counts
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY
Pundits come and pundits go, but one group has quietly predicted the winner of the presidential election every four years since the Eisenhower administration: kids.
Polling experts say kids' votes reflect their parents' views, but a Gallup official says the results are irrelevant because the poll was not random.
By Tim Dillon, USA TODAY
Most political junkies won't give it the time of day, but the Weekly Reader presidential poll of schoolchildren has pegged every winner since 1956.
This year's winner? George W. Bush — in a landslide.
Most polls of adults put Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry neck-and-neck. But this one wasn't even close: Bush got 65% of kids' votes, while Kerry got just over 33%, says Weekly Reader editor Mia Toschi.
She says Bush's emphasis on terrorism and security won votes. That sentiment was echoed by Patty Spiers, a second-grade teacher in Tarpon Springs, Fla., who says the GOP's security message resonated with her 7-year-olds. "From what I heard from my children, the kids who are for Bush, their parents say, 'Well, Bush will keep us safe.' " The wee Kerry voters tell her, "We'll get better health insurance."
Polling experts say kids' political views often reflect those of their parents. "You would expect the results of a poll of children to look just like the poll of adults," says Cary Funk of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Voting was open to kids in first through 12th grade. Students could vote in class, via the Internet or by dialing an 800 number. Toschi says 327,707 kids in all 50 states cast ballots.
But even a sample size of more than a quarter-million students is "irrelevant," says Frank Newport of the Gallup Poll. He says polls must be truly random to be accurate.
Other kids' polls have picked Bush — one by children's publisher Scholastic sees a 52% victory. Channel One, the in-school TV network, gave 55%. |
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Caligastia
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Good for you OzzyKP. Did you get a chance to talk much about what the standard for voting should be?
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26-10-2004 02:33
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