I swear to God, one of these days I'll stop talking about politics

[irenak]

Just some thoughts that have been on my mind lately:

So, you've probably heard how much difficulty McCain has had attracting young voters. And while to a certain extent this is predictable (he's, like, ohmigawd, old and stuff!), there have been some really bad fumbles from the Republicans overall that make it nigh on impossible to recruit any

Comments

[irenak]

Well, I suppose on a meta level that's somewhat true, but it's self-defeating in the long-term and doesn't really do a whole lot to convince people who are not already on your side that you're right. It's like saying, "Yeah, the Internet is nice, but wouldn't you rather use the telegraph?"

It may matter to the people making the argument, but for everyone else, it's already obsolete. Like I said, I know why they're making the case for Sekrit!Socialist, I just don't think it's a view that particularly matters anymore, especially among younger voters who just don't share the same frame of reference.

[anonymous]

I just don't think it's a view that particularly matters anymore, especially among younger voters who just don't share the same frame of reference.

That's exactly why they push it so hard: because if they don't make "socialist" a bad word now, before its ideals resurge with the current generation of youth (note that the Great Depression was the last big socialist push in this country... hmm!), they're going to get swamped. And if they can associate other things they don't like with it -- like, say, decent health care and "community organizers" -- so much the better.