We are here to discuss U.S. presidential election issues through the lens of the youth vote. Five USC Annenberg journalism students have committed to this blog for one semester.
"This is a pull quote." -- Meriah Doty, USC Adjunct Professor
So check this out guys. Here is another blog written by Annenberg students about the elections. It's for a class, and I've heard they will be blogging all day next Tuesday. I just figured it might be interesting to see what some of our peers have to say about current political events.
Hi there, USC student. So really, what do you think about all of this? Last August I set out on watching the first Democratic YouTube debate with a group of Trojans. Enlightening? Embarassing? Either way, here's the transcript.
A group of five twenty-something college kids— Anam, Ashley, Josh, Nik, Sarah— gather around the television for an evening of debauchery, Disney Princess fruit snacks and Democrats.
Close up: Perfectly coiffed Anderson Cooper in full silver fox glory.
ANDERSON COOPER: Our first question tonight is from Zach Kempf in Provo, Utah.
ANAM: Oh my god, Anderson, you’re the heart of my ocean.
ASHLEY: Anderson you’re so dreamy.
SARAH: I’d vote for you Coop-y.
COOPER: Sen. Dodd, you’ve served in Congress for more than thirty years. Can you honestly say you’re any different than the rest of the Beltway crowd?
SEN. DODD: Well, I think so.
NIK: Really you think so? Why does his hair look like a croissant?
ANAM: (sighs) Oh man he’s so full of himself (reaches for fruit snacks). “Oh look at me, I’m old and white with fluffy hair like a dove.”
SARAH: (fixated on Cooper) Anderson you’re so dreamy. Come to my window.
COOPER: Mrs. Clinton, how would you define the word liberal?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: I prefer the word “progressive,” which has a real American meaning, going back to the progressive era at the beginning of the 20th century.
SARAH: Thanks for the history lesson Hil. Can you give me the low-down on muckraking and moonshine now?
ASHLEY: Yeah and maybe a brief synopsis on the causes of World War I?
SEN. MIKE GRAVEL: I want to take on Barack Obama for a minute, who said he doesn’t take money from lobbyists. Well, he has 134 bundlers. Now, what does he think that is? Besides that, he has received money from a Robert Wolf, the head of the USB…
COOPER: Sorry, your time is up, senator.
GRAVEL: …and it’s a foreign-owned bank!
JOSH: Doesn’t Gravel remind you of a grandpa who was haphazardly pulled from his rocking chair and just thrown onto the stage?
SARAH: C’mon Gramps! We got a debate to go to!
ANAM: But but but… I have to finish my Werther’s originals!
A five-minute conversation continues on possible Grampa Gravel scenarios just pre-debate, ie., taking a nap, drinking Metamucil, watering his plants. Everyone in the room comes to the consensus that since Gravel is 1) the former senator from Alaska 2) very old and 3) looks like he knows how to make good toffee, that he will now lovingly be referred to as Gramps.
YouTube Debate video submission of Sen. Dodd begins.
VIDEO QUESTION: Senator, how did you get the white hair?
DODD: Hard work, I suppose. For example, it took me seven years to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, and I helped to end wars in Central America and bring peace to Northern Ireland. I’m ready to be president.
VIDEO QUESTION: Well, how many white hairs do you have?
DODD: Hundreds, thousands, I presume.
VIDEO QUESTION: Really?
DODD: I’m Chris Dodd, and we approved this message.
The group is silent for about 10 seconds.
SARAH: That was one of the worst videos I’ve ever seen.
ANAM: “I got white hairs from ending wars in Central America?” Whaa?!
ASHLEY: Fidel Castro still has black hair. He was involved in more wars than freakin’ Dodd.
JOSH: That’s cuz Castro dyes his hair…while smoking cigars.
NIK: So does Dodd.
SARAH: You can’t buy white hair color.
JOSH: You’re right… White hair doesn’t come out of a bottle. You can only get it by ending wars!
COOPER: Is anyone on the stage in favor of reparations for African-American descendants of slaves?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: I am.
Everyone in the room awws at Kucinich’s meager height and elfish smile.
ANAM: I LOVE YOU KUCINICH!
COOPER: Gov. Richardson, the Democrats talk a lot about the failure of the president to deal with Hurricane Katrina. The governor of Louisiana was a Democrat. The mayor of New Orleans was a Democrat as well.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, there were politics… This is what I would do. The response of our government to Katrina, before, during and after, was inexcusable. We have got to eliminate in the future any red tape that helps families– er, that helps the devastation.
ANAM: Geez, what’s devastating is your face.
NIK: Yeah…So if you’re running for president, wouldn’t you at least try to lose some weight and attempt to look ruggedly handsome? Isn’t that in the playbook, a prerequisite, to be telegenic?
SARAH: He has no chance against dreamboat Edwards. I mean look at the guy— he’s a contemporary JFK, I tell you, a JFK!
Group starts throwing fruit snacks at Josh.
CLINTON: I couldn’t run as anything other than a woman.
ANAM: Um, because I thought you were going to run as a man?
SARAH: Or as Invader Zim?
COOPER: On sending troops to Darfur… You say U.N. troops. Does that mean American troops?
RICHARDSON: United Nations peacekeeping troops— and that would be primarily Muslim troops. Enough of our troops are in Iraq.
ANAM: Yeah, I guess he means troops from Arab countries, because there are no Muslim troops that are also American troops!
NIK: That’s a lovely coral pantsuit you’re wearing, Hil, I thought they didn’t wear color in New York?
KUCINICH: …now if people want to send that message to Congress, Anderson…
COOPER: Okay. Senator…
KUCINICH: …they can text “Peace,” 73223.
Everyone awws at Kucinich and then yells “Text peace! Text peace!”
GRAVEL: George Bush does not have the boots on the ground to invade Iran.
ANAM: You want some Werther’s Original, America? Edwards: While the Iraqi parliament is on vacation, is George Bush going to be on vacation in Crawford, Texas? What we need to do is turn up the heat on George Bush and hold him responsible and make this president change course.
NIK: Oh my god, if I was a housewife in Arkansas named Rose-Claire, I’d totally be in love with him… what a stallion!
SARAH: I think he’s performing the best. He’s so suave.
ASHLEY: And coiffed.
JOSH: Like Dodd’s hair.
COOPER: Gov. Richardson, you have had to implement No Child Left Behind in your state. Would you scrap it? Revise it?
In all the hours of presidental race coverage I've watched over the last several weeks, one canidate has completely been left off the radar. Republican canidate Ron Paul isn't even included in the reported cuacus counts. Some call him cooky, others call him radical, and then there are some that call him a genius. No matter what people call him or how many like him, I still think every canidate should get coverage.
Ron Paul is the only republican running that did not vote for the war. I think that is a pretty substantial difference between him, McCain, and Romney, yet the only attention I've seen him get is a handmade sign on the freeway that says "YouTube Ron Paul." Few people I've talked to know what he stands for (myself included), so I decided to follow the signs advice. Among videos claiming that Paul actualy won in the New Hampshire caucuses over McCain (click here to see one of those), there was another which I though communicated his ideas pretty well. If you're interested, check it out.
With this morning's news of John Edwards' withdrawl from the democratic presidential races, the question of the day becomes who will he endorse? He's worked alongside Obama and Clinton for over a year, heard their bickering and knows their policies. Where they stand on key issues will oviously be a big factor in who he choses to support. So do you know where they stand? Click on the following issues to compare Obama, Clinton, and Edward's stances on healthcare, Iraq, immigration, social security, taxes, same sex marriage, abortion, gun control and stem cell research. Make sure to compare them to the oppinions of republican front-runner John McCain too. Obama and Clinton't ideas on national security and Iraq will be a key topic of discussion with McCain who strongly supports military control in the Middle East.
Courtesy of cnn.com John McCain addressing Floridian voters after his win in the Sunshine State.
John McCain wins Florida.
That also means he obtained 57 delegates, and has been boosted past Mitt Romney into the Republican frontrunner seat with 95 total delegates.
Had the Democrats awarded their winner 57 delegates as well, Hillary Clinton would have hopped past Barack Obama to take the lead in the Democratic race.
But that's not the story of the day.
Instead, let's talk about McCain. He took Florida with 36 percent of the vote...the man who can be considered the furthest candidate from being connected with the youth vote. Now, is it possible that not only did McCain not get the youth vote from Florida, but that appealing to the elder community actually helped his campaign?
With all the attention paid to the youth voter, it is easy to forget about the other end of the spectrum. The Wall Street Journalreported that McCain's 71 years of age might have given him the edge in Florida, a state where the senior citizen population accounts for 16.8 percent of the total, compared with 12.4 percent nationwide.
And these voters bring something to the table the youth vote cannot...guaranteed support with a guaranteed vote.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the over-60 demographic played a large part in Mr. McCain’s win in South Carolina, where the U.S. senator from Arizona won 42 percent of the votes in that age group.
With all that said, there is a place for the youth vote, as it has played a huge part in this year's Democratic race. But when it comes to the conservative voters in this country, maybe America's past is just as important as America's future.
Click here to get video of McCain addressing his supporters after the big win today.
I’m young. Now wait, I’m not bragging. And don’t get scared, I’m no “To Catch a Predator” decoy, I swear. If I ever saw Chris Hansen, I’d give him a swift kick between the nuts; not because I think his show victimizes pedophiles or gives pedophilia an unfair rep. I just don’t like the guy. He’s a slick opportunist, constantly flossin’ and flaunting like he’s the NBC peacock. Do you know who I am, peder guy? I’m the NBC peacock! Get over yourself, Chris. But I digress. My point is that I can do all the things any healthy 21-year-old can do: drink heavily without worrying about a hangover, smoke like Kurt Vonnegut without worrying about cancer (because young people are invincible!), and have nightly Roman orgies that would make Caligula blush a bit. (I’m just being ironic; healthy people don’t do these things. And don’t you think it’s interesting that the word “romantic” has the word “roman” in it?) But I digress. My point is that as a 21-year-old I am in a very sought after age group. Because not only can I watch primetime television, I can also vote. With analysts predicting record voter turnout for the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries—especially among the 18-25-year olds—that kids my age wield an electoral power the likes of which haven’t been seen since the first “American Idol.” Hot damn, it’s a great time to be young and registered! The rest of this entry will be directed at you young voters because I’m sure the mature voters, Romans, and pedophiles have already gone to their MySpace pages by now. So that leaves you. This will also only address the democrats in the crowd. Let’s face it proud Elephants, your nominee is as good as chosen. Mitt Romney has been shredded during debates about the economy and is too wealthy to compete with John McCain’s war record; Rudy Giuliani’s pro-gay-marriage-and-stem-cell-research platform is too moderate for Republicans trying to forget about neo-conservatism; Mike Huckabee has been quick-witted during the debates but is completely broke; Ron Paul, bless him for trying, is too good to be true; and Fred Thompson? Well, you can’t be called an “Appalachian catfish wrestler” by Stephen Colbert and expect to become the most powerful man in the Western world. Republicans, McCain is your man. Back to the Donkey devotees. This is very important. In 51 weeks, if you want a Democrat to be living in the White House, do NOT vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton on Super Tuesday. My reasons have nothing to do with her qualifications as a politician, as a wife, as a mother, or as a human being. It stems from the fact that I don’t think she can beat John McCain head-to-head. He has absolutely bulldozed her up to this point. Look at it this way: the key to her campaign against Barack Obama has been her superior experience. She says she is ready to take office on day one unlike her rival the junior senator. But her experience is going to be mean absolutely nothing up against McCain’s “I was in the Hanoi Hilton while you were sipping Cosmos at Yale” routine. The scrutiny could suffocate the Clintons. According to Frank Rich’s latest New York Times column, the New York Post uncovered evidence that the Clinton Library was partly funded by Saudi Arabian contributors. I can see the commercials now: (Spoken in the voice of one of those gruff movie trailer announcers): What does a Clinton supporter look like? The Clintons won’t reveal who contributed to their library. It’s no wonder. (Pan into a picture of a grinning Saudi holding an AK-47 and a barrel of oil; show how much money the Saudis contributed along the bottom) What does a Clinton supporter look like? See for yourself. You don’t think the common voter will believe that? The same voters who thought a Purple Heart winner was less of a war hero than a man who railed lines of china all day on an air force base in the States? The same voters who twice elected a man who asked wondered aloud whether humans and fish could coexist peacefully? You get my point. And let’s not forget that the only thing Republicans hate more than the Clintons are Osama Bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Sean Penn. What better way to reunite the party than with Bill Clinton-is-a-cheerleader-for-his-wife jokes? I can see the flash animations already—Bill in a frilly tutu wearing a blue dress and a cigar hanging out of his mouth. The horror. But I digress. My point is that it is not a slam-dunk for Democrats this election, regardless of how poorly the previous president wielded his power. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a romantic orgy to attend.
Los Angeles- Barack Obama doesn’t have a lot of experience; Hillary Clinton is an uptight control-freak; John Edwards has been called derogatory names by a number of political pundits painting him, at best, a soft-liberal; John McCain is too old, sick, and probably senile; Mitt Romney is devoutly Mormon and Mike Huckabee a religious nut; Rudy Giuliani is a one-hit wonder.
If they’ve watched or read any news at all in the past few months, residents of the 23 states hosting primaries and caucuses next Tuesday will undoubtedly bring these media-generated narratives with them to the polls.
As so many past presidential campaigns and elections have proven, we have a tendency to quickly link candidates to a certain character trait or policy stance that sticks with them throughout their race for office. Such defining narratives prove unforgiving historically, both in the media’s coverage and at the polls.
In the same way Al Gore was cast as a “liar” in his election cycle and President George W. Bush a “dope” in his, a number of presidential hopefuls have already fallen victims to such categorizations, many of them grossly exaggerated. History shows that as we near November, it’s only going to get worse.
Sometimes it seems as if our media outlets believe no one is fit to lead the country for the next four years.
Fueled by late night talk shows, comedy sketches and 24-hour televised political analysis, the stories that “sell,” according to many journalists, are the ones that fall within the context of whatever we already think to be true about a candidate, true or not. And stories that “sell” make up the majority of stories that “run.”
NYT, TXA and GCI are the ticker symbols of three of the most influential news-media outlets: the New York Times Company, Tribune Company and Gannett Company; They are companies with investors, and are accountable for how much revenue they generate, and in turn, how much they sell. This helps shape their coverage.
But all hope is not lost. The most recent political environment has given us a new hope for some legitimate social discourse and an informed voting demographic. There is a distinctly different aspect unique to this election and none other so far. In a word: access, and lots of it.
The average voter has more access than ever to engage in discussion and learn about the candidates. Every major news outlet has an election site and recent Google search yields 3,440,000 results to the query “2008 presidential election.” There is a new group of players in this game coming out in full force for this election cycle and they will either prove to compound and add to this damaging tradition or will, contrarily, weaken and break it.
Many of them have no quotas to fill, investors to please or agendas to set; a lot of them just want to have a say, and some have proven to be wildly talented and popular. They’ve taken to the Internet and made films, written articles, created pod-casts and taken pictures.
Wonder who it is? It’s you.
The American population is a “part” of the process more than it’s ever been before and with citizen journalism on the rise and thousand of blogs popping up every day, the average voter has the ability to revolutionize the process by utilizing their newly-found access.
What we do with the access will determine how this new reporting niche will act for years to come. Will the individual bloggers become obsessed with beating the news media conglomerates and report the same stories and chase the same broken narratives like the “real” media has done for years?
The power and affordability of blogging and the Internet takes away a lot of the constraints mainstream media companies have to pay attention to, and simultaneously sacrifice the integrity of their coverage for. Most blogs can be launched for free and are easy to set up and update.
Hopefully this election acts as a springboard for a new and different type of political reporting. While there is some truth to the characteristics first mentioned about the candidates as this article opened, that should only be one part of the story, not the filter through which the voting population must look if they want to learn about the candidates and election.
In 2006, Time Magazine said “You” were the person of the year. More than ever, you can make a difference and have a hand in shaping the future of the country in ways far more powerful that solely punching a card in a voting booth.
So the Florida primaries are underway...and should definitely not be overlooked. As we all know, Florida has long been key in the general election. According to cnn.com's election site, Republicans have not won the White House without Florida since 1924. And moving the Florida primaries up to January could potentially play a key role in the 2008 primaries.
As of this very second, according to yahoonews.com's election site approximations, John McCain is barely edging out Mitt Romney for the Republican party in Florida, while Hillary Clinton has a hefty lead over the rest of the Democratic pack.
The results in Florida could boost momentum for either McCain or Romney come Super Tuesday, just a week from today.
Obama made it extremely clear at the South Carolina debates that he doesn't appreciate the tactics Bill and Hillary Clinton have used to distort and falsely report his record. He fired back and emphasized what issues really need to be talked about - healthcare, the economy, and Iraq. He got the chance to set the record straight on his vote against the war, his comments about Regan Conservatism, and a bill he pushed to help protect victims of sexual crime that Hillary claimed he didn't support. The debate seemed to help. Obama won by a landslide with 55 percent of the votes. If you didn't watch the debate, watch this video to get a taste of what you missed.
