So yeah yeah, we all know Barack Obama is the king of the youth vote. The reasons behind it are obvious - a young new face, a promise for change, a passion that can be heard behind each and every word of his speeches. We get it. But let's break it down into specifics now, shall we?
Each presidential issue can be discussed at length - health care, immigration, the economy, etc. But for this blog post, let's focus on the war in Iraq. Why that topic specifically? It's simple. The youth care about the U.S. involvement in Iraq. The youth care about the men and women fighting abroad. The youth care about the lives of potential soldiers, who may risk their lives in the line of duty.
What youth care about
I'm not saying adults don't care about our armed forces. Of course any patriotic American will support our troops, regardless of their stance on the war itself. But let's make this comparison for a second. The war in Iraq has spawned the first overarching anti-war movement from the young demographic since Vietnam. That means this group would clearly support a leader who is also against the war in Iraq, right? Right.
And just so you know, I'm not saying every single young person agrees or supports this anti-war sentiment. But the vast majority have risen up against the George W. Bush administration and its handling of the war. Don't believe me? According to a Rockthevote poll, out of 668 people people within the ages of 18 and 29, 68% thought the U.S. is on the wrong track. Only a quarter believed it to be on the right track.
According to the same poll, 12% believed the war in Iraq to be the most important issue facing any potential president. It was the second most important issue, closely following jobs and the economy at 17%.
Where Barack Obama fits in
So we said that it would only make sense if this particular anti-war, youth demographic supported a leader who was also against the war. That removes John McCain from the list immediately. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. After all, according to cnn.com, McCain:
"Voted for use of military force in Iraq. Supported Bush veto of war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March 2008. Was an early proponent of sending additional American troops to Iraq."
That's not the kind of guy that the 69% of youth who want to withdraw at least some troops from Iraq will want as their president.
With McCain pretty much a shoe-in for the Republican candidate, that leaves the Democrats - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If you listen to any debate these two have, you will hear both candidates' opposition to the war in Iraq. But keep one thing in mind. It wasn't always that way.
According to cnn.com, Clinton initially voted for military force in Iraq although she says now that she would have voted differently "if we knew then what we know now."
Barack Obama has been the one face in the crowd that has always opposed military force in Iraq from the beginning. Not only did he vote against it at the start, he also once called for troop withdrawal to begin by the end of 2006.
Here's a video of Obama speaking in 2002 against the war.
Obama vs. McCain
Yesterday Obama and McCain exchanged some words with each other about the situation in Iraq. McCain referenced one of Obama's debate answers and questioned his knowledge of an al Qaeda presence in Iraq.
According to CNN's report, McCain said: "I understand that Sen. Obama said that if al Qaeda established a base in Iraq that he would send troops back in militarily. Al Qaeda already has a base in Iraq. It's called al Qaeda in Iraq. It's a remarkable statement to say that you would send troops back to a place where al Qaeda has established a base -- where they have already established a base."
Obama answered back to the comments by saying there was a misinterpretation and that he was answering the question hypothetically. "McCain thought that he could make a clever point by saying ,'Well let me give you some news Barack, al Qaeda is in Iraq,' like I wasn't reading the papers, like I didn't know what was going on." Obama continued to say: "Well first of all, I do know that al Qaeda is in Iraq. That's why I've said we should continue to strike al Qaeda targets. But I have some news for John McCain, and that is that there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq."
The speech where Obama makes those statements is below.
Each presidential issue can be discussed at length - health care, immigration, the economy, etc. But for this blog post, let's focus on the war in Iraq. Why that topic specifically? It's simple. The youth care about the U.S. involvement in Iraq. The youth care about the men and women fighting abroad. The youth care about the lives of potential soldiers, who may risk their lives in the line of duty.
What youth care about
I'm not saying adults don't care about our armed forces. Of course any patriotic American will support our troops, regardless of their stance on the war itself. But let's make this comparison for a second. The war in Iraq has spawned the first overarching anti-war movement from the young demographic since Vietnam. That means this group would clearly support a leader who is also against the war in Iraq, right? Right.
And just so you know, I'm not saying every single young person agrees or supports this anti-war sentiment. But the vast majority have risen up against the George W. Bush administration and its handling of the war. Don't believe me? According to a Rockthevote poll, out of 668 people people within the ages of 18 and 29, 68% thought the U.S. is on the wrong track. Only a quarter believed it to be on the right track.
According to the same poll, 12% believed the war in Iraq to be the most important issue facing any potential president. It was the second most important issue, closely following jobs and the economy at 17%.
Where Barack Obama fits in
So we said that it would only make sense if this particular anti-war, youth demographic supported a leader who was also against the war. That removes John McCain from the list immediately. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. After all, according to cnn.com, McCain:
"Voted for use of military force in Iraq. Supported Bush veto of war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March 2008. Was an early proponent of sending additional American troops to Iraq."
That's not the kind of guy that the 69% of youth who want to withdraw at least some troops from Iraq will want as their president.
With McCain pretty much a shoe-in for the Republican candidate, that leaves the Democrats - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If you listen to any debate these two have, you will hear both candidates' opposition to the war in Iraq. But keep one thing in mind. It wasn't always that way.
According to cnn.com, Clinton initially voted for military force in Iraq although she says now that she would have voted differently "if we knew then what we know now."
Barack Obama has been the one face in the crowd that has always opposed military force in Iraq from the beginning. Not only did he vote against it at the start, he also once called for troop withdrawal to begin by the end of 2006.
Here's a video of Obama speaking in 2002 against the war.
Obama vs. McCain
Yesterday Obama and McCain exchanged some words with each other about the situation in Iraq. McCain referenced one of Obama's debate answers and questioned his knowledge of an al Qaeda presence in Iraq.
According to CNN's report, McCain said: "I understand that Sen. Obama said that if al Qaeda established a base in Iraq that he would send troops back in militarily. Al Qaeda already has a base in Iraq. It's called al Qaeda in Iraq. It's a remarkable statement to say that you would send troops back to a place where al Qaeda has established a base -- where they have already established a base."
Obama answered back to the comments by saying there was a misinterpretation and that he was answering the question hypothetically. "McCain thought that he could make a clever point by saying ,'Well let me give you some news Barack, al Qaeda is in Iraq,' like I wasn't reading the papers, like I didn't know what was going on." Obama continued to say: "Well first of all, I do know that al Qaeda is in Iraq. That's why I've said we should continue to strike al Qaeda targets. But I have some news for John McCain, and that is that there was no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq."
The speech where Obama makes those statements is below.
In this past week McCain has confessed that his stance on the war may affect his chances for the presidency. I am not sure the answer to that question, but I can tell you this. When it comes to the youth, anyone FOR the war in Iraq is NOT the candidate for them. Case is point - Barack Obama.
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