Do Republicans Care About Students? Nope, and Students Don't Care About Them

On the front of today's Yale Daily News was an article announcing the formation of a group of students supporting Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. As a member of Yale for Obama, I was a bit pissed at first about what I saw as unfair publicity. Then I remembered the school paper had run a front page story on the Obama group when it formed...nearly six months ago. It's a telling sign of where students' support lies in the 2008 election when three months before the first primary, student groups supporting nearly every Democratic candidate (Gravel supporters are taking their time getting off the ground) are up and running, while just one group has formed to back a GOP candidate and they have yet to meet.

You could argue this has less to do with students in general and more to do with students at Yale, where the student body is overwhelmingly liberal. You'd be wrong. In a Democracy Corps poll, 61 percent of young voters said they would likely vote for a Democratic candidate compared to 34 percent who said they'd vote for a Republican; that 27 point lead stretches to 32 points in "battleground" districts. Rock the Vote's sixth volume of their bimonthly summary of polls examining young voters' "level of interest in the 2008 elections, political party identification, and preferences for president and Congress in 2008" is filled with more juicy figures. Obama and Clinton continue to be the frontrunners among young voters and still come out on top in head-to-head matchups against Giuliani, the most popular Republican among 18-29 year olds. And no, John Stossel, this isn't because young people are uninformed voters who don't bother to learn about the candidates or the issues. A survey from the Pew Research Center found that Millennials are paying attention to the presidential campaigns and debates as much as the general electorate and at a higher rate than 30-49 year-olds.

It comes as little surprise that young voters are leaning Democratic after earlier polls like the often-cited New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll showed that Millenials lean left. Indeed, young voters' values are much more in line with those of the Democratic candidates than of the Republicans. Poll after poll confirms that young people care about protecting the environment and our civil liberties, about supporting gay and women's rights and winning back respect for America through a multilateral foreign policy. These values are embraced, with a rare exception here or there, by the Democratic Party and disregarded by Republicans. Maybe that's why a Democracy Corps survey found that young people believe Democrats do a better job than Republicans handling every policy issue, from health care to Iraq to energy independence to the war on terror to managing the budget.

Some conservative bloggers like James Durbin have blamed their inability to win over young voters on a failure to reach out to them. I believe that no amount of outreach from Republicans could overcome their backwards vision for America which simply does not appeal to young people. But Durbin is right to note that the Democratic candidates enjoy the support of Millenials in large part thanks to their efforts to engage them by talking about the issues that are important to them, like college affordability. Clinton and Obama have proposals to make college more affordable and to clean up the student loan industry, while John Edwards has proposed a "College for Everyone" plan which would "pay for one year of public-college tuition, fees, and books for any student who is willing to work hard and stay out of trouble." Where have the Republicans been on this issue?

Democratic candidates have also worked to establish their presence on college campuses. The Democratic front-runners have hired youth outreach directors (thankfully learning from Kerry's mistake of waiting until after he earned the nomination). Obama tapped Rock the Vote's political director and Facebook's co-founder to help him with the youth vote and has launched a Students for Obama blog and a Generation Obama campaign. The most effort any Republican has made to win the support of college students has been Mitt Romney sending his son to campuses to avoid having to tell students to their face that he hasn't really thought much about increasing federal aid for students. With the youth vote on pace to reach record numbers in 2008, time will tell which candidate's strategy will pay off.

Comments

[naturegirl]

As a Columbia grad, I can attest to the liberal attitude on many Ivy League campuses. Haven't our young people been the ones to stage sit-ins, protest the war, and write the scathing articles in college newspapers? If there's any hope of correcting some of the mistakes that their parents have made (number one being to vote for Bush), then young people need to be encouraged to get out and vote.

I'm not one to easily fall prey to rhetoric, however. It would be great to see students receive help with educational expenses (I myself have 3 children attending college, and I am burdened by student debt myself). It would be great if politicians would follow through on all their promises. It's not likely, but it's a nice thought. The wealthy, after all, do hate to give up their power and control, and our laws are designed to help them maintain it.

My only hope is that, by the time my children get to be my age, the world will not have been destroyed by the actions of their progenitors. They, like we, want the best of all possible worlds - and not just for us, but for everyone.

[mommamia526]

Students need to think about practical issues. For example, many no longer want to go into Medicine. With the current system, doctors are not nearly making, proportionally, what they did in the past, higher incomes can be made elsewhwere, and do not forget the endless long studies - and loans to be repaid. Some students do not even bother to finish Business Schools either. They go to work. In fact, they have to work, to pay any tuition and to be able to get employment upon completion of their studies. In some other countries students do not have to work that hard at jobs. They work harder at studying. Education, even private, is fully funded. At the university levels there are even living stipends in addition. There is no reason that could not also be achieved here in he U.S. Clearly, not everyone can be in sales. We do need doctors and scientists, engineers, biochemists, neurologists and bioneurologists, etc. All that may be impossible for many students. Too long, too expensive, and maybe no employment at the end of the studies. It is also practically impossible to work one or two jobs, postpone marriage, having a decent place to live, or any kind of income after years and years of study. That must all be changed. The Republicans are not going to make those changes. They want cheap labor. Even doctors, for example, who are, as is other medical personnel, recruited abroad. When these engineers, doctors and others come here, another country has already paid for their education, and then they have to prove themselves, lower payment than to the natives. So, in addition to the above, that is job competition for American graduates.

[peterg76]

The target market for Republicans is the hyper-rich segment of the population which parasitizes the rest of the economy, and which would therefore favour the purely self-serving policies of the Republicans.

A student is making an investment in themselves, and in the long-term future of society. So, while some of them are hyper-rich, very few of them are ready to admit they intend to be a financial burden to the poor for the rest of their lives.

Now, since Republican economic and foreign policy is purely fantasy-based, they are naturally going to be wary of people with the capacity to make informed judgements. It's not so much discrimination against students as discrimination against reality.

(The Democrats, of course, simply have a different set of fantasies - bad news for those of us who can't escape from reality.)

Say, do you think maybe the most educated members of society might know something the rest don't?

[bringbackimus]

but will the youth get out and actually vote?
If they would have voted in 2004, we would not now have the arrogant jerk in the White House, and many more soldiers' lives would not have been wasted in Iraq.

[castlerider]

THIS is why more students will vote next time around then they ever have before.
Just wait and see.

[dlkincaid]

Republicans/Bush don't like Black people. You guys jumped on Kanye West when he said this and all they did was prove our point. These bigots are alive and well and living in the South and represented by the Republican party (Bush is their leader and cheney there god).

[marko77]

dlkincaid

It's not that Republicans don't like Black people - Kayne West was wrong there. It's that they consider anyone who isn't wealthy a non-entity - be they black, white, or any color.
This has to do with "class distinction" which is defined by money.

After WWII when the returning GI's began to attend college on the GI Bill, an Administrator or Professor from Princeton became alarmed and decried what he called the "mongrelizaion of America." It's the same thing: upper crust horror at the possiblity of "the great unwashed masses" having a chance to improve their status.

[procopios]

20 something truck driving tobacco dipping gun nut for Obama here, GuyRC.

[The Collinbrandt]

To misquote Ronald Reagan, the republican party should be left on the dungheep of history.

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

Unfortunately, students dont care about voting.

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

To expand, student dont care to pick up their butts; get a ballot; and actually vote.

[Zhonni]

Not totally true.

I have not missed a vote local or general since I registered.

[mommamia526]

Actually, Electric Razor, most students would care and vote, but it is often difficult to do with one or more jobs, and school. For one thing, there is a lot of driving around and finding parking spaces to worry about. Then there is the material that must be learned, there are exams to be done and passed, there are labs to go to, and there is no time to sit around, as we did in Europe, discussing politics, arguing and even getting into issues. The thing is get the job, get paid, pay the tuition and the books, get to class on time, pass the exams, and try to get some air in between if you have time to come up above water to breathe, that is. Students do care, and they have texting, email, blogs, all sorts of media. They can do and organize while they have a chance, via the computer. Refer links, blog, and most of all let their representatives know they have had it with the exploitation. After all, students are human beings too. They need a life, and be able to start one, in a house, with a spouse, at a decent age. More students will get their degrees via the internet, while working. They can have chat groups with their fellow students, organize, and get something going. Do NOT COUNT OUT THE STUDENTS. And students do not have to pick up that ballot, actually, they can actually vote by absentee ballot. My grandchildren all work and have since high school, and earlier. They are tired, they are making it, though, and they DO CARE. They do not mind working hard, they even think it is part of being adults, it is just that there is no time for some necessities, such as a social life.

[jeffmorgan]

you may regret saying that after this election.

[GuyRC]

I can think of a couple of 20 something demographic groups that will balance out your group. Church goin' taking over daddies business golfers and pickup truck with gun rack off road drivin' tobacco chewers.

[Wilson33]

Ah, maybe it is because all of the media that younger people are pounded with daily are liberal, biased organizations (MTV) and they actually ARE uninformed. Maybe it is because they are on college campuses, which are extremely liberal leaning and they are in that bubble of liberalism that is college. Ever heard the phrase, College=liberal, Tax Payer=conservative? How true it is.

And polls! Are you kidding me? Polls that poll 1,003 people and THAT is supposed to be a reflection of society as a whole? No one listens to polls except liberals that want to fit them into their agenda. The only polls that matter are the election polls.

You all keep building yourselves up, like you did in 2000 and 2004, make it look like it is in the bag only to LOSE, twice. So, keep it up!

[blp58]

2006 anyone? Yeah, Rethug, keep thinking the youthful electorate is uninformed! Keep pandering to your fleeting base! Just watchout for the landslide that will be 2008!

[ihavenobias]

I hate when people confuse pop culture "liberalism" with actual *political* liberalism.

For example, if MTV 'pushes the envelope' with racy programming and language, etc, that might very well be "liberal" in a sense.

But it has NOTHING to do with being politically liberal.

Also, why is it that the most educated people with probably the largest knowledge base (i.e., those teaching or being taught in the education system) are often liberal?

Think about the obvious question that's posed by the other side of that question (an oversimplification but since you started it, why not).

And what's with this resentment for learning by the way? How did being well informed turn into a partisan issue, with educated people being turned into "elitist snobs" and the like?

I mean, I thought republicans were all about hard work and self improvement? But then some go on to bash people who decide to further educate themselves?

[brooklyncitizen]

Well education is really at the heart of the matter. The Conservative Right has always considered education as an elitist right, not a right for all. It truly doesn't serve a conservative rightwing govt to have an educated populace. This would make them less malleable. We can all see how malleable by the types of comments posted by Republicans on Huffpost.

THis anti-educa­tion/intel­lectual characteristic of the the conservative right can be seen in many fascist govts, in Spain's Franco; in Chile's Pinochet's military govt a US govt pawn and who killed the artists and intellectuals. People like artist Victor Jara were tortured and brutally murdered by Chilean govt, and his music banned. Pablo Neruda was exiled .Mercedes Sosa in Argentina also exiled.

So this extreme right wing govt is no different. THeir track record while horrifying to those of us that care about humanity, is not about supporting the populace in any way shape or form.

[Lcubed]

One reason that Republicans hate professors and other academics is that professors and the higly educated are a threat to some of the dishonest Repubican tactics. Professors and other highly educated people actually know what the scientific evidence *shows* and can point out to the public when the Republicans are misrepresenting the evidence.

[Arethirtypercentinsane]

Well Wilson33,

I certainly hope you're happy with your unwavering support of this mess of an administration and the complete bonehead incompetence of the Republican party. They've put this country in a complete mess that only the Liberals (and Democrats) can possibly dig us out of. Oh sure, you can bury your head in the sand for awhile but all of this incompetence will come back to haunt us. By the way, I'm a tax payer and a Moderate (some conservative views, some liberal). Now, get back to listening to Hannity to form your opinions.

[bethinCary]

The REAL question is whether Republics
care about anyone other than themselves.

[MasterfullyInept]

Um I think the juries in on that one.