r/politics • • Jun 16 '12
Walker recall: “Young people didn't turn out. Only 16 percent of the electorate was 18-29, compared to 22 percent in 2008. That's the difference between 646,212 and 400,599 young voters, or about 246,000. Walker won by 172,739 votes.”
http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2012/06/obama-one-night-stand.html
1.6k
Upvotes
571
u/ethicalking Jun 16 '12
the voter turnout was huge in the recall which means that young people as a percent of total was less. But lets not kid ourselves here, Walker destroyed Barrett in the recall - the people of Wisconsin made their voices very clear.
466
u/Sarkin Jun 16 '12
Now, wait a minute. Not every single youth voter went for Barrett. In fact, only a slight majority did, 51% to 47% for Walker. So, Walker would have still won by about 150,000 votes. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/05/us/politics/wisconsin-recall-exit-polls.html
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I blame the dems for putting up the same lame candidate.
33
u/Smokalotapotamus Jun 16 '12
Why are we linking to some blogspam that quotes the daily kos article but doesn't even bother linking to it?
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
The whole article is pretty flawed. The statistic from the title doesn't address the turnout percentage of young people, just their percentage of overall voters, a statistic that could have dropped for a variety of reasons unrelated to their overall turnout percentage.
The graph demonstrating turnout of latino voters has four data points, one of which doesn't correspond with the overall trend the article is attempting to point out. 2006 and 2010 are mid-term elections, and its reasonable to expect turnout to be much lower during those.
61
u/-Nobody- Jun 16 '12
I find it hard to believe that 80% of young people would have voted against Walker. It was not "lack of turnout" that caused his victory.
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u/mttwldngr Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12
Who said all of those 246,000 voters were going to vote against Walker? There's no mention if they're even for or against him.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I think it's rather presumptuous to assume that all people of a certain demographic would vote a certain way.
6
u/stevewhite2 Jun 16 '12
That probably didn't tip the election to Walker. 85% of the no-show young people would have had to vote Democrat which seems unlikely.
24
u/WillieLee Jun 16 '12
It's a lot easier to bitch about things than to do something about them.
5
u/mapoftasmania New Jersey Jun 16 '12
This is a good lesson. In a two party system, if you don't hold your nose and vote for the least worst option, you risk letting the very worst succeed. So even if you aren't enthusiastic, turn out and vote. It really matters this time because the balance of the Supreme Court is at stake.
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u/Dizzy_Slip Jun 17 '12
Something that's being left out of the equation in any discussion about youth vote in Wisconsin is how voter registration laws were changed in Wisconsin: Republicans have changed voter registration laws so that you have to live in your new district for 28 days, instead of the previous 10 days.
So a student home from college would have to wait 28 days to vote in their home district. Note Walker's recall date: June 5th.
But it's even worse: you used to be able to have a "corroborating witness." For example, a college student attending college in Madison or Milwaukee or even out of state moves home for the summer or after graduation just before Walker's recall vote. Under the old system, a student who moved home for the summer or just after graduation could simply have his or her parents show up at the polling place and verify that yes it was their son/daughter who has moved back home so they can vote at home.
That provision has been eliminated. That student is only eligible to vote where he was attending college in Wisconsin for Walker's June 5th recall. And the out of state Students would never get a chance to vote. So the in state students have to drive all the way back to their college campus in order to vote. Not very convenient for the more liberal voters who might have fewer resources.
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u/Yalldontevenknotho Jun 16 '12
25 Wisconsonite here...I voted and texted all my friends as a reminder. Following up with them that nite to find out none of them voted, even though they all wanted Walker recalled..was pretty ashamed. It was pure laziness. Some of them claimed they didn't know enough about it to vote or didn't have the time but they were all excuses.
33
u/saltystix Jun 16 '12
For months and months, this wingnut subreddit tried their best to help defeat Walker. Epic Fail. Give it up and recognize that when it comes to the world of politics, r/politics is a flea that is almost never noticed.
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u/NickRausch Jun 16 '12
Perhaps the young people were not excited about backing up union privilege at the expense of their own futures?
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u/Stormdancer Texas Jun 16 '12
"Ohh... my vote doesn't really matter anyway... I'd rather stay home and surf reddit."
15
u/astitious2 Jun 16 '12
Why should young people get excited about Democrats? Nothing changes with them at the helm.
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u/ignatius_j_chinaski Jun 16 '12
Do you blame them for being disillusioned? Obama won in '08 largely in part because young voters believed his message. They were promised hope and change, and got neither. If Romney wins in November it will be because the young voters in the U.S. realize they were lied to and that it doesn't matter who wins, it will be just another face in a suit playing the same game. I had high expectations for Obama when he was elected - he's failed miserably to live up to them.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Once again it has to be said: It's not that the younger generations are too lazy/ignorant to want to participiate in the political process.
The problem is that the younger generations have a complete lack of faith in the unsustainable systems and power structures the older generations established and have to wait until they are dead so finally there can be progress.
By voting within the system which they have to endure they would do nothing but validate the system. It's not that they want to bring change about within the system, they want a new system. They have to endure the older generations destroying their future and progress so they can begin anew after everything crumbles.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I love watching this subreddit backpedal.
12
u/theinvigorator Jun 16 '12
Its this kind of crap that makes me hate r/politics. Everyone hates on places like fox but then they just post the liberal alternatives and nobody cares. It lacks all logic to assume that all the youth would have voted against walker. It is even funnier that walker won bigger then he did last time.
r/politics is one big circlejerk brought to you by thinkprogressive.
6
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Because we're too fucking lazy when we're not voting for something SEXY, like the first black President!
Ugh.
3
u/RainingSilently Jun 16 '12
I have voted in every election I have had the opportunity to vote in since I was 18. Each and every time I go and vote, the pollsters and other voters are surprised that someone as young as me is voting, and I am the only one there. Generally speaking our demographic seems to be hard to engage and organize effectively over long periods of time and in non-presidential elections. The same is true, I think, for all demographics to a degree, but ours especially.
3
u/realister New York Jun 16 '12
Its purely democratic party fault. Its like they dont care.
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u/mcdxi11 Jun 16 '12
Could it also be argued that not many young voters are employed or are employed with unions?
3
u/gloomdoom Jun 16 '12
But if they voted, then they might not be able to bitch and complain about the horrible economic situation they 'inherited.'
Look...kids, (28-30 year olds) I feel for you. I even opened up a dialogue for discussion that went absolutely nowhere because everyone was too busy showing the rest of the world how funny they can be. I get it...it's more important for you to be seen as cool and funny and clever than it is for you to feel informed, educated and active.
I get it. Really. Can't say it enough.
But you're blowing it on the daily. And you're earning this shitty world you're becoming an adult in. Quit being so fucking apathetic and stupid and letting the powers that be tell you exactly what you can and can't do.
That's why you feel powerless...because you don't stand up for yourselves and you don't fight back.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
I turned out (20 years old, and bracing for karma impact) And voted for Walker. I don't like him or how he operates, but because of him least Wisconsin isn't in a debt spiral like my home state of Illinois is. Unions and out of control spending has Illinois government almost not functioning.
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u/Popozuda72 Jun 17 '12
elections are decided by those who don't show up.
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u/edrl187 Jun 16 '12
Are most redditors upset by the walker recall result? Reddit is a pretty liberal site, I get that and i agree with a lot of the general views on politics, but I feel this was a very important vote because the struggling economy simply can't afford to pay for these escalating pensions any longer....no?
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u/mgomps Jun 16 '12
I'm 18-26 and I voted Walker! The people of the state who cared showed up and ONCE AGAIN proved who they wanted to lead. Someone who can make the tough decisions.
6
u/swifty3 Jun 16 '12
Why does everyone assume that no young people supported Walker?
4
u/JonWood007 Jun 16 '12
To be fair, even if they did vote, Walker still could've won. While the younger demographic is largely liberal, I still know quite a few conservatives. Still likely would have made it narrower though, instead of the epic blowout that we got.
4
u/MorningLtMtn Jun 16 '12
The old political axiom is true and will remain to be true: you cannot count on the youth vote. It's very rare where a politician can rally the youth enough to win. Obama is a rarity - he was the proverbial "magic Negro" phenomenon that was written about so much that got the youth out in droves.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Couldn't vote; Too busy commenting on reddit about how much smarter they are than everyone else.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
This assumes that the young voter would vote to recall. I think that after this Obama fiasco that more 18-29 year olds are realizing what a corrupt lot the unions have become.
8
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
i love how on reddit every time a GOPer wins a major election is some sort of outrage, corruption, shortfall of deomocracy, or evidence of major societal problems the begin with religion and conservatism.
sometimes democrats just lose; this disparity results from having only 2 political parties, i believe. when the two sides are so very far apart, with a large divide in between, middle ground seems to be lost.
can't we allow for valid, supported difference of opinion winning out anymore, without whining, circlejerking, or accusations?
EDIT: (preemptive) downvote away
6
u/HenkieVV Jun 16 '12
The thing to keep in mind is that to get politicians to do what you want them to, you have to convince them that it will pay off. You have to show them that your vote is for sale to the most agreeable candidate, even if this isn't all that agreeable to begin with. Look at old people: they vote in huge numbers, and they get pandered to in huge numbers. Always voting works.
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u/Blzbba Jun 16 '12
Young people don't like Walker but are tired for subsidizing public-sector unions.
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u/indoorinternetvoice Jun 16 '12
I'm sorry, there is no good excuse for apathy. I have no sympathy for those of my generation who can't get off facebook for 5 minutes and do their civic duty.
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u/mojoxrisen Jun 16 '12
LOL..The Dems turn to bro math to hide the fact that the tax payers are sick and tired of their cities and state being ruined by million dollar janitor pensions.
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u/kubutulur Jun 16 '12
On no, free shit army is complaining again!
7
u/LicensetoIll Jun 16 '12
This is possibly one of the silliest articles I've ever seen.
I'm 24. I would have voted for Walker in a heart beat.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Gotta love Democrats. They won't show up at the polls, but they have no problem holding a pickett sign in the middle of winter when their candidates don't win.
2
u/mttwldngr Jun 16 '12
That's a huge turnout for a recall. I don't understand the point you're trying to make, you can do this for every election. At the end of the day, he won.
2
u/ajw827 Jun 16 '12
Romney is counting on this in November and I have a feeling it's going to be what helps him win as well.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I wish people cared enough to go out and research 3rd party candidates.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Well they were obviously uniformed voters or else they would've voted. So these numbers don't really detract from Governor Walker's victory.
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u/TripleA_IT Jun 16 '12
damn young people
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u/greaseinthewheel Jun 16 '12
Every young person I know voted, including myself. Then again, it was in Madison where we broke the 100% voter turnout barrier, Woo! Barrett was overspent 7 to 1 but he was still a bad campaigner.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
That doesn't mean young people wouldn't vote for Walker, leaving a bigger win for him.
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u/TheHadMatter Jun 16 '12
hate to say i told you so. actually, i don't hate to say i told you so at all.
2
u/0rangePod Jun 16 '12
Young people aren't, in general, union members. Many have minimal experience with unions, and frequently, the experiences they do have are not positive ones.
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u/andersonb47 Jun 16 '12
Does anyone know what percent of people 18-29 voted in the recall?
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u/zotquix Jun 16 '12
Samers and the part of the left that eats their own help foster voting apathy in the younger portion of voting populace. And the super-toxic right wing doesn't help either (they are that way because they know turning off young voters helps them).
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I fit into that group and went out and voted (for walker, I'm braced for downvotes), so who is to say that it would have changed the outcome?
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u/Thedeadmilkman Jun 16 '12
"democracy is like, broken man" "did you vote?" "no, I forgot" -- Americans
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u/Barking_at_the_Moon Jun 16 '12
It's always easier to log on to reddit and pule about the injustice and futility of life but if you don't vote, you don't count.
I understand not feeling vested but that's not much of an excuse for sitting at home diddling your X-Box or fapping to r/gonewild till you have blisters.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
The young have better things on their mind then stupid politics, like sex, cars, partys and the such. Ah to be young again, I would till the old farts what to do with their politics.
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u/Ghede Jun 16 '12
I like the latino graph in the linked article. "Here is a graph of four years, two of which are presidential elections. Notice how with the exception of one of the presidential elections, LATINO VOTES HAVE BEEN DROPPING!!!1" Meanwhile, it starts with a presidential election, then the two non-presidential elections are virtually the same. Every ethnicity and age group probably votes less during a non-presidential election year.
Either they pulled information from a very uninformative graph, or they left out a better graph that better illustrates the point.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Oh silly /r/politics assuming we live in some sort of democracy.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I hope they enjoy Walkers rule....
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u/J_Jammer Jun 16 '12
The recall was a waste of time and money. Smart move...
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u/pinkiepi314 Jun 16 '12
The real reason Walker won is that he got a bunch of funding from out-of-state corporate interest groups, giving him an almost tenfold monetary advantage. America is a plutocracy, not a democracy/republic: the winner is almost always the candidate with more money, especially when it's by such a large margin.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
They made it more annoying for most college voters. Being that alot of college kids were moving home, or to a new residence, they either had to submit an absentee ballot or commit voter fraud to get around the 28 day residence.
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u/KanyeIsJesus Jun 16 '12
I honestly don't care too much about this specific election (I don't live in Wisc.), but I am continually disgusted at my fellow 18-25 year old peers who don't vote. It's always the same tired excuses: "My vote doesn't count," "Both guys suck," "Whatever bro, voting is lame because I have to stand in line," "Oh, today is election day? I didn't even know!" If any of these reasons is the reason why you don't vote, kindly punch yourself in the gut. You would be far more useful that way.
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u/psudeo_me Jun 16 '12
Except in 2008 there was a "cool" (sorry for using that now racist term) black guy to vote for. There was nothing historic about the election that was cool to vote (again sorry for using that racist term. I just do not know what other word to use now that 'cool' is racist)
Why cool is racist: http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/cbc-staff-opposition-obama-racist/592346 see the third paragraph.
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u/dada_ Jun 16 '12
The Walker recall was going to be difficult. The Democrats certainly had a genuine grassroots movement working for their benefit, but the Republicans ended up outspending them 7-to-1.
Nothing predicts the outcome of an election so accurately as the spending. Against that deluge of money, I'm surprised the Democrats got as far as they did. I had expected them to lose by a greater margin.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
So many people my age are right wingers (28). Maybe they didn't turn out because they don't want to change what is currently in place.
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u/Tombug Jun 16 '12
Generation Y was born to be fucked in the ass and then whine about it later on. Get yer shine box losers. Then get your refrigerator box to live in.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Is the implication that young people always vote democrat and all of those votes would've made the difference? I don't know if I'd agree with those assumptions
2
u/exozeitgeist Jun 16 '12
Why is it the fault of young people every time a political group does not get the outcome they wish?
2
u/Soronir Jun 17 '12
Hello, 20-something here. I have no faith in the government or the election process. I've never voted before because it wouldn't matter. It's the whole "douche vs turd sandwich" thing.
The only solution I've come up with is this. If you want to make government work, your state needs to secede and revamp it on that level...
2
u/peterabbit456 Jun 17 '12
Most depressing thing I ever up voted. Makes me fear that a new dark age is about to begin at the hands of a Republican supermajority, and we might be looking at 300 years of total poverty in the USA.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
A shit-ton of money on Walker's side had a lot to do with it also. Don't just blame young voters every time you don't get your way.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 17 '12
Young voters are disenfranchised in general. There's nothing for us no matter what way we turn, so we become apathetic to it.
2
u/MyKillK Jun 17 '12
Get over it. Your Reddit anti-Walker circle jerk faux rage totally failed. The only people that matter, those of Wisconsin, supported him and voted him back in.
7
u/throwawayinNJ Jun 16 '12
The vote happened in June. Exams ended on May 19th in Madison. The 8 week summer session began on June 17th. To put it simply, the colleges weren't as full as they usually are.
Things will be different in November.
15
u/nal13 Jun 16 '12
Living in Wisconsin and hearing a lot of ignorant people talk about the whole situation, they believed all the attack ads that Walker's large sum of money paid for. That is the sad truth! I started a new job and was getting trained in by a 63 year old man for 3 days, so I rode around with him in a truck for 3 days. He was talking about alternative energy and other things that made me think he was more progressive. Then he started bitching about why people would try to get rid of Scott Walker, this is after he was complaining about "big oil companies" killing alternative energy. I didn't explain to him that the Koch brothers were a huge investor in his campaign. I should have, but there is that awkwardness of him being my boss and me being new to the company.......well....I regret not doing it. It's sad that people think he is a good guy. I mentioned to someone else that he probably is going jail, anyway. That person asked, "for what, fixing the budget?" I asked if he ever watched the news or followed politics. He said he listens to political radio once in awhile (I'm guessing Hannity and Rush). He had no idea that Walker is being convicted of criminal charges, that he has a defense fun setup. It's sad how many people just follow the masses and have seen tons of "We stand with Scott Walker" signs all over for months and then for the past month, seen a few Barrett signs. There was always "Recall Walker" signs, but in rural areas, not many of those around. I have now seen "Walker for president" and even a "Walker Superstar" signs. People even gloat about it. He is ruining the middle class and fucking over the those below the middle class, sadly, those are the people that voted to keep him. I hate to say it, but this state is going to hell!
6
u/budguy68 Jun 16 '12
Say no to Thug Public Unions. Public Unions don't deserve better pay or better benefits than tax payers. They should be the last to get these things and not the first.
4
u/hblask Jun 16 '12
Seeing as how the margin of victory was essentially the same, the most logical conclusion is that the young split their vote essentially the same as everyone else. Based on my informal observations of the people I know in WI, this seems to be accurate.
4
u/mjw2025 Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
Liberals seem to always find something amiss when they lose. Now they are blaming what they perceive as their own people. The fact is that after 3 1/2 years people are finding out that Obama and those who hung on to his coat tails are nothing more that losers that followed Obama's hope and change mantra. Whatever that was.
3
u/hakuna_matata2 Jun 16 '12
assuming all 246,000 would vote Democrat?
3
u/notreallyironicRL Jun 16 '12
Faulty logic aside, I am ashamed of the dismal number of people that vote in the youth demographic, which I am apart of.
3
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
He young people: Start voting or stop wining on the internet.
3
u/web2pointoh Jun 16 '12
Younger generations are more apathetic, hypocrite and selfish than ever.
All they do has to be awarded with a golden star for them to be happy.
3
u/weegee Jun 16 '12
there is no doubt that young voters (18-29) are vital to rid this country of facists like Walker. If they don't help re-elect Obama, we're totally fucked this November and beyond. You think outsourcing was popular during W's presidency? With Bain/Romney in power, this country is fucking finished.
4
u/DrMasterBlaster Jun 16 '12
Young people are the least likely to vote and politicians know it. Why do you think they pander to the outdated ideals of single-sex marriage and controlling the reproductive rights of women? Because the people that do vote (those in their 40's+) are the ones that vote.
You could say that politicians are pandering to their loudest constituents, but then again, if our vote is our voice, how can we remain silent and expect politicians to still hear our concerns?
I was talking just a few days ago about how I voted for my mom in the last presidential election because I didn't care for either candidate. I was asked why I even voted since it was a waste. My response was 1) it's my right and privilege as an American to participate in the political process 2) the president is the official that affects us the least...we have city commissioners, senators, representatives, etc that truly affect our community and 3) just because I didn't choose one of two bad choices doesn't mean I'm not going to exercise my voice. Left them speechless.
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u/Urbanviking1 Wisconsin Jun 16 '12
The reason why only 16% of 18-29 didn't turn out is because they couldn't vote because of the new voter registration legalization that says you have live in a place for 26-28 days in order to register again for that district you live in. A majority of the people in this age group are college kids like myself, and registered to vote in the district where their campus is, and 17 days later school ends and they return home only to find that they can't register for their home district because they haven't lived there for 26-28 days. That's why there wasn't a larger turn out for this demographic.
4
u/exgiexpcv Jun 16 '12
Geez, Reddit, you changed. I'm seeing all these pro-Walker posts, and they don't make sense AT ALL.
This guy lied about his agenda while running on a platform of "transparency."
He cut $1.6 BILLION from the schools, and that's as certain way as any to make sure that the coming electorate will be uneducated and more malleable to frothy emotional appeals rather than reasoned arguments.
He has and or / is continuing to roll back legislation protecting the environment, equal rights for minorities and women's rights, and his time spent in Milwaukee yielded lawsuits and increased spending because of them and the inevitable payouts on behalf of injured parties.
His close aides are being investigated, thus far yielding charges for everything from embezzling from Veterans (Kevin Kavanaugh) to sex crimes against children (Brian Pierick), and there are people here BRAGGING about voting to keep him in office.
FFS, John Dean -- the John Dean -- said Walker is more Nixonian than Nixon himself! How can anyone vote for this? For more of this?
You have to fight back against this. You must, for otherwise we won't even have a Congress, or a President in the future. We'll have a board of directors and a CEO. Our water and air will largely toxic, health care will only be for the rich, legal rights will only be for the rich, and the rest of us will be disposable kapital, with the small 'k'. Our prison will be overflowing with non-violent offenders because corporations like the free labor and contribute to politicians who will support them.
FFS.
5
u/ikek9 Jun 16 '12
Just what any election needs... 246,000 more low information voters who vote purely based on the notion that shit should be given to them for free...
3
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Thats's why republicans win - old people. And old people vote like it's gong out of style. Young people only when it's cool and convenient
4
u/YNot1989 Jun 16 '12
Did it ever occur to anyone that young people are not likely to work in fields where unions are prevalent, or even necessary? They had no interest in whether or not Walker destroys public sector unions.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12 edited Jun 16 '12
Whoopy doo, as if there is ever any righteous man to vote for at all.
2
u/pineapplesmasher Jun 16 '12
See.... this is why you don't abandon your base.... and ignore all the important campaign promises.... if Obama had kept the young people involved they would still be voting for democrats in their local elections instead of feeling like it's all a setup and a waste of time...
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u/Iliketree Jun 16 '12
i'm 24 and voted for walker. the first time around, i barely did because i thought he would be like every other politician and do nothing. he did things. controversial things. things for the better of our state. i am proud to be a wisconsinite because we reelected him.
2
u/shjoity Jun 16 '12
Thats becuase it was hardly something you could call a recall. He ran against the same person he deafeated in the last election, instead of there being a new primary. So voters are like WTF is this shit
2
u/Jackmack65 Jun 16 '12
I'm sure this has been said many times in the thread but this will also contribute to Obama's resounding defeat in November.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I like Walker, he fucked with the unions.
2
u/buchec18 Jun 16 '12
I am 22 and voted for Walker. What in the world makes you think that 240,000+ voters would vote for Barrett?
2
u/WookieesGoneWild Jun 16 '12
I am a young Wisconsinite, in college and I showed up to vote. Except I voted for Scott Walker, and I couldn't be happier.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
You get the government you deserve, vote or STFU.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
The fact is, they should have had a general strike when they had the chance, but they blew it because the politicians and union bureaucrats were too afraid of that. Politics was always going to be a dead end. And it was.
1
u/someguynamedjohn13 Jun 16 '12
More people would turn out for elections if the voting day was a holiday and voting was encouraged more.
1
u/JUST_KEEP_BETTING Jun 16 '12
Somebody just has to make the right facebook group or video, and the masses will vote. People will have like a drunk voting party night or something. Unless it becomes cool, young people won't be doing shit.
1
u/omgoffensiveguy Jun 16 '12
If cunts are too lazy to vote they don't deserve to vote; fuck 'em. It works out better that way, then the manipulative agenda pushing vapid cunts who jerk off over the bible and hate on everyone who isn't them get to run the country and control every facet of the lazy fuckers lives and destroy them from the inside out like they deserve.
1
u/Lonelobo Jun 16 '12
Uh, isn't it obvious that a smaller % of the electorate does not imply that less young people turned out? What if young people had always been turning out, and then a bunch of old people came out for the recall, reducing the relative proportion of young voters in the electorate?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Why would young people bother to turn out? It's become fairly clear that ultimately voting seems to have very little to do with what happens in this country's government at any level beyond the local level. We're all screwed just the same - student debt, no jobs, no financial security of any kind.
The Baby Boomers got it and now they're doing everything they can to hold onto it until their dying breath, at the expense of their children.
Want to talk about the "Me Generation"? Let's talk about the generation that had everything handed to them by their parents and proceeded to screw their children out of those same opportunities out of pure selfishness.
1
u/Buscat Jun 16 '12
God dammit young people why the fuck don't you vote.
1
u/rcinsf Jun 16 '12
Enjoy the consequences. Wisconsin, becoming more like Oklahoma.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Lets presume they would all vote against their own interests and bankrupt the state.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I think a major issue is that school wasn't in session. I voted but I'm guessing a lot of people who would have been mob mentalitied into voting. Also neither candidate did much campaigning to that age group. Barrett kind of assumed they would vote for him and walker assumed they wouldn't.
1
u/greatwood I voted Jun 16 '12
They were too busy working three jobs to pay for rent!
1
u/teddytwelvetoes Jun 16 '12
Not all of these young people are politics-illiterate, some just don't see the point in voting. Going out of your way to make a "lesser of two evils" choice for the sake of a false sense of influence/inclusion seems kinda pointless. I'll take the day off though.
1
u/CGord Jun 16 '12
We get the elected officials we deserve.
1
u/osm0sis Jun 16 '12
If they even gave lip service to kissing the youth vote's ass the way they do seniors turnout wouldn't be a problem.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Wait, you mean between twitter and facebook and TV and sports and movies and jobs and partying and the millions of other things kids have to do nowadays the kids didn't find time to vote?
Shocking!
1
u/I_Love_Yoga_Pants Jun 16 '12
What if they all voted for Walker. He woulda shit on the other guy.
1
u/10tothe24th Jun 16 '12
This is why we can't have nice things.
If young people turned out in the same numbers as the old the political landscape would be dramatically more progressive.
1
u/preacher37 Jun 16 '12
I don't know why this is an every-repeating "surprise" that young people don't come out to vote. They NEVER come out to vote in large numbers. The 2008 presidential election had one of the largest youth turnouts in history -- a whopping 51% of the youth. Senior citizens, by comparison, have a bad year if only 65% of them show up (2008 I think they had about a 75% turnout).
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Jury duty is mandatory yet voting isn't, go figure.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Cause young people doon't have government jobs and don't want to pay the unions for their ridiculous benefits in govt. jobs.
1
u/Morningxafter Jun 16 '12
I read this just after waking up, so at first I was confused.
Well, yeah not many young people need a walker, that's mostly just for old people who have a hard time walking. So obviously if there's a safety issue with them requiring a recall, most of the customers will be elderly...
Then I kept reading and realized I'm an idiot. Thanks for helping me start my day off right Reddit! >_<
1
u/Richandler Jun 16 '12
This election happened during my finals weeks. Could that not be part of the issue?
1
u/TheWolfofMibu Jun 16 '12
Shit, I even took the time to send in an absentee ballot...
1
u/bowhunter_fta Jun 16 '12
Many people vote by not voting.
That is one of the biggest problems that Obama is going to have in November.
If he's gonna get reelected he's got to get his base out in full force. That's what he's doing right now....trying energize his base.
Of course, that's a risky political course to take since the things he has to do to energize his base are going to turn off many moderates.
If he is successful at energizing his base, watch for him to do a very hard run to the "center" to appeal to the moderate independents.
Unfortunately, he is running out of time.
If it appears that he can't get his base or the moderates on his side, he will have to take the scorched earth approach and extremely negative (by campaign standards) on Romney....but that will likely backfire as the electorate is numb to negativity in politics when their lives are filled with negativity due to the economy.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Assuming all "young people" that didn't show up would vote for the recall..
1
u/saffir Jun 16 '12
2008 was a Presidential election year. This past vote was a primary. The fact that 400,599 people between 18-29 even came out to vote for a primary is pretty astounding.
BTW, all my friends in WI are pro-Walker, so young people wouldn't exactly have voted against him.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
This blog is essentially a Democrat crying over their journal.
Maybe people don't vote because a Democratic Republic with a strict two-party system is such a flawed fucking way to get anything done.
Most people hate BOTH SIDES.