Young Voters Play Web-Fueled Politics

But Will Excitement Online Spur People Under 35 To The Polls For Presidential Election?

(CBS)  Heather Smith says the 2008 election is ringing in the political power of those under 35 with a force not seen since the 1960s. She's with "Rock The Vote" - a non-partisan group for politically minded young people, reports CBS News science and technology reporter Daniel Sieberg.

Smith says it is "unbelievable" how many young voters are involved this year.

They are the wired generation - 18- to 34-year-olds who are using social networking to move their political activism from cyberspace to the real world.

"Really serious issues that affect us and our generation and we're fed up with politicians making decisions about them without our input," Smith says.

They meet each other online and share opinions. Nearly 14 million strong on Facebook alone, they're an instant pool of voters for the presidential campaigns to tap into. Barack Obama is getting the biggest share. One click of the mouse can reach more than 370,000 of his supporters, like 21-year-old Karl Meyer.

"Really, I think it's his message. I mean obviously he's younger, and more energetic than the other candidates, I believe," Meyer said.

A pro-Obama music video made by the Black Eyed Peas for the web has been seen by 11 million people in just one week.

"We're watching people, new people, participating in a process and changing the way that we understand the medium and the way we understand politics," said David Birdsell of Baruch College.

On the Republican side, Ron Paul has tapped into the digital world most successfully - earning $6 million from online supporters in just one day but he doesn't have a single delegate.

The question is whether the excitement online will be enough to spur young people from sitting behind their computers to standing behind the voting curtain.

[krisd999-2009]

If you dont read the paper, you are uninformed. If you read the paper you are misinformed. -Mark Twain

So, Ron Paul doen''t have a single delegate?
He has at least 42. He has gotten several second places and even beat McCain. People, wake up! Every media outlet has it''s own favorites and you can not trust ANYTHING they say! Do you think the liberal media want another Reagan? Ron Paul supported Ron Reagan in 1976 with only 3 other republicans when the party was falling over each other over Ford. Why did Ron Paul get more military donations than all the others combined? You''ll be sorry you voted for those other impostors.

[mcvet]

The Clintons also illegally kept 900 FBI files on opponents and left the White House in a shambles. Hillary carpetbagged to New York just in time to get into the Senate, just so she could lust for the White House. Her and Bill are career criminals and still they get a media pass to the White House again. Wake up!


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Posted by Gasius1 at 10:10 AM : Feb 06, 2008
+ report abuse

Man I''ve heard of desperate but YOU take the cake! What good do you think this smearing and Lying does for you? Do you think American was asleep while the Fascist were spending MILLIONS investigating everything the Clintons did? Every person they knew? If you freaks try this trash in the General Election you are in deep trouble indeed. Your guy, Mr. Paul, has to be NOMINATED by the Republican Party, not Democrats. Sieg Heil Y''all.

[lonewolf9203]

I hope those who are doing the digital and computer age politics will be willing to put their votes out there and make their voices heard like everyone should. I am what you might call a tweener, or something like that, I am in touch with the digital age, but I can still remember what it was like before the internet and everything else hit the world as big as it is. I have been voting since I was 18 and still a senoir in highschool. I consider it my right that is given to me, to vote for whomever I think is the best choice;whether it be for dog catcher ot president of the United States. We all must do what we can to preserve that right to vote for whomever we choose.

[ivandrago]

Ron Paul and his supporters need a patch of land in Montana to elect him the King of Ronpauland. You''ll never have to hear Spanish again! Hurrah!

[gasius1]

Read some good alternative news on Ron Paul that the regular media would never report ...
See http://americanfreepress.net/html/ron_paul_revolution044.html

[gasius1]

All this confidence in Obama is misplaced. He said in the first New Hampshire debate last June that he would not rule out using nukes against Iran. Everyone else in both parties, save Ron Paul, also would not rule out the nukes. Obama is destined to become merely Hillary''s running mate. Mark my words. The fix is in as Hillary forges ahead with all the help the corrupt media can muster. By the way, have we all forgotten about Mr. and Mrs. Clinton''s first White House occupation? At that time there was the Whitewater real estate scandal, the Chinese scandal wherein China gave the Demo party money and Bill Clinton gave them sensitive missile technology, and the strange death of Vince Foster -- a White House aide who knew the CLintons for years, knew their secrets, and was found dead in a D.C. park holding a gun in the wrong hand with carpet fibers on his suit from top to bottom. The Clintons also illegally kept 900 FBI files on opponents and left the White House in a shambles. Hillary carpetbagged to New York just in time to get into the Senate, just so she could lust for the White House. Her and Bill are career criminals and still they get a media pass to the White House again. Wake up!

[skyk-2009]

To watch as yet another Generation of Young American''s step into the breach is a wonderful thing indeed. As a Child of the 60''s I remember so well that feeling of being able to make a difference, to change things for the better. But even more important is watching this nation, after decades of division and wedge issues, to again start to repair itself... to again care for each other. Great thing to see indeed.

[user168-2009]

Questions for Hillary on her voting FOR WAR:

"How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men, women, and children?"

"Where were your vision, humanity, and integrity in voting to invade Iraq?" (Where were your tears???)

"If economy and healthcare are important issues for America, why shouldn''t they be important issues for the country and people you invade?"

ONLY THE DEAD HAVE SEEN THE END OF WAR

"Hell is this Thing Called War"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7334.htm
--------------------


"The enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution."

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

"He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty."

No other candidate has ever delivered a speech with such insightful wisdom, profound justice, and universal truth than Senator Obama.

Here is Senator Obama%u2019s speech delivered on October 26, 2002 opposing the use of force in Iraq...


http://thegooddemocrat.wordpress.com/2007/02/06/barack-obamas-speech-on-iraq-2002/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhpKmQCCwB8


"You have to believe in yourself."
"Kindness in thinking creates profoundness."
"From caring comes courage."

Obama ''08!

[user168-2009]

Questions for Hillary on her voting FOR WAR:

"How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men, women, and children?"

"Where were your vision, humanity, and integrity in voting to invade Iraq?" (Where were your tears???)

"If economy and healthcare are important issues for America, why shouldn''t they be important issues for the country and people you invade?"

ONLY THE DEAD HAVE SEEN THE END OF WAR

"Hell is this Thing Called War"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7334.htm
--------------------


"The enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution."

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

"He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty. "

No other candidate has ever delivered a speech with such insightful wisdom, profound justice, and universal truth than Senator Obama.

Here is Senator Obama%u2019s speech delivered on October 26, 2002 opposing the use of force in Iraq...


http://thegooddemocrat.wordpress.com/2007/02/06/barack-obamas-speech-on-iraq-2002/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhpKmQCCwB8


"You have to believe in yourself."
"Kindness in thinking creates profoundness."
"From caring comes courage."

Obama ''08!

[user168-2009]

When someone had the profound insight and wisdom to address a speech such as this one in 2002, you can trust his judgment in leading America and the world:

Senator Obama%u2019s speech, October 26, 2002, opposing the use of force in Iraq%u2026

http://thegooddemocrat.wordpress.com/2007/02/06/barack-obamas-speech-on-iraq-2002/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhpKmQCCwB8


"You have to believe in yourself."
"Kindness in thinking creates profoundness."
"From caring comes courage."

Obama ''08!