While many liberals had a good time at Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity," it seems that conservatives may have had the last laugh, as they overwhelmed Democrats at the polls yesterday. Those who believed the rally could a difference in 2010 looked to its potential at inspiring the young vote. The first signs were positive, as the rally produced over 200,000 attendees (more than twice Glenn Beck's rally). Another 500,000 watched online. Much of the audience, with some notable exceptions, was made up of young (age 18-35) voters who rejected what they saw as extremist rhetoric coming from the Tea Party. Last night that "extremist rhetoric" won the day in many races across the country, giving the Republicans a large majority in the House and a gain of at least six seats in the Senate.
[See pictures from Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity"]
There were many reasons for the Democrats' losses, but near the top of the list has to be the lack of a youth vote, as was seen in 2008. The 18-29 age group voted for Democrats by a large margin (56%-40%), but they ended up making up only 11% of the voting electorate. Democrats nearly tied amongst the 30-44 age group (47%-50%), but this demographic made up only 22% of the electorate. Those electorates were outvoted by individuals over the age of 45, who made up 67% of the voting electorate. Compare those numbers to 2008,when the 18-29 age group made up 18% of the voting electorate (nearly double the 2010 numbers) and the 30-44 age group made up 29% of the electorate. Simply put, young people did not show up in 2010. Those who go to the polls decide who runs the government, and in this case, older adults dominated the polls.
In his defense, Stewart expressly said that his rally was not meant to be political. Stewart even refused to say whether his attendees should vote in the upcoming election (an ambivalence that was shared by many). Having said that, Stewart has strongly criticized the rhetoric of the Tea Party in his coverage, and much of that rhetoric (see Rep. Michelle Bachmann and Senator-elect Rand Paul) now seems to have won the election. If Stewart did not consider his rally to be political, many Democrats certainly did and held out hope that "sanity" would win the day in November. In fact, as Stewart noted in his coverage last night, the sanity of people like Senator Russ Feingold lost out to the insanity of people like David Vitter.
Others may argue that Stewart's rally was about something bigger. Stewart spoke about holding media accountable for the way they cover politics, and encouraging a spirit of compromise in government. The legacy of Stewart's rally certainly did promote such ideals, but it is hard to see how Fox News will tame itself in the aftermath of last night's huge wins for their party, or how compromise will win the day when Republicans already have said they will not compromise with the Obama administration.
Comments
DUHHHHH!
They didn't even know that Obama was a Keynesian.
This is probably one of the most ignorant comments I have seen. Obama went to Punahou high school and was a typical American yuppie by all standards. As one senator remarked "If Obama wasn't an American, don't you think Hillary would have found that out" (referring to he 2008 primaries). Anyway, Stewart's rally did work because dangerous windbags like ODonnel did not get elected. Three Presidents have seen major upsets in the midterm elections, Truman, Eisenhower, and Clinton. However, all three were elected for 2nd terms. And the house was firmly demoocratic throughout Reagans presidency. Obamas approval rating track record, according to the gallup polls, follows neck in neck with reagan's although slightly higher. By all statistics, we are moving into a liberal era. . We have to at this point. Conservatives are good at organization and trimming fat, but they are terrible at imagination. We desperately need imagination to advance into the future and prosper. I hope Obama's attitude is like Truman's when he heard of the election upset. He said "Now I'm just going to do what ever I want".
By the way, what the hell is a Keynesian ?
@Boris: I assume you're a plant? Keynesian refers to a school of economics, not a place. But I suspect you already knew that.
It ain't a KENYAN - it refers to a macroeconomic theory.
Now don't YOU feel dumb?
Word play gotcha, isn't that cute? Bet they could correctly answer the question of whether taxes went up or down.
It's not the kids fault, Ryan, they have yet to discover that for the vast majority of this country the "American Dream" is a myth.
The youth vote in 2008 was a one-off occurrence. Obama has little that will attract the same response in 2012.
As for Stewart, James Taranto has an excellent analysis here (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870414110457558829057887536...) of what the rally really portends.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=evwKfxNG1pY&feature=player_embedded
bwah hahahahaha all that rally amounted to was a bunch of young douche bags wanted to get drunk and high and for the males trying to get laid. hehehe nothing but an oversized frat party for a bunch of looooosers who still live in their mom's basement and many of whom don't even have a job.
Speaking of losers who live in their mother's basement.... hello monkey...
Now we both know that you don't live in your mommy's basement.. trailers don't have basements..
Once again your stupidity blinds you to reality. These results were typical. Voter stats prove something else we already know.. conservatives are older and 2 generations away from extinction.
Of course what is conservative and what is liberal changes. No doubt future generations will consider much of what is liberal today conservative as they will have their own ideas..
None of this matters to you though monkey.... alive or dead, you are worthless and meaningless.. Your only function in life is to amuse me
Speaking of losers who live in their mother's basement.... hello monkey...
Now we both know that you don't live in your mommy's basement.. trailers don't have basements..
Once again your stupidity blinds you to reality. These results were typical. Voter stats prove something else we already know.. conservatives are older and 2 generations away from extinction.
Of course what is conservative and what is liberal changes. No doubt future generations will consider much of what is liberal today conservative as they will have their own ideas..
None of this matters to you though monkey.... alive or dead, you are worthless and meaningless.. Your only function in life is to amuse me
Like Jon Stewart has said before he is not a dog for the democratic party or for any organization. It's their job to get people excited about their cause not his. The Rally to Restore Sanity was about telling the American people that regardless of the outcome of the elections despite media hype about how the country is going to hell that we are going to be alright. Stewart has liberal leanings but he pokes fun at both sides. He has been equally critical of the president as any other partisan news station. As for why college age voters don't vote, college students simply don't care enough. They don't see how older people create the rules that they have to live buy. Unlike other generations, this generation have a lot more distractions and more effective ways to disengage.
I heard Stewart was a Keynesian too, is that true?
"live buy?" Do you mean "live by? " Unlike other generations, this generation have a lot more distractions and more effective ways to disengage." - would that be like, totally, like texting and facebook and like twitter and like facebook, oh I totally just said that again, oh like...........Please continue to disengage - WE THE PEOPLE do not need you twitter morons to get in the way of real taxpaying Americans.
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Young people expect everything in digital format and can only focus on sound-bite sized information, sure attending a party with your favorite TV personality is fine but a paper voter pamphlet and standing in line at the voting station is not going to attract or hold the attention of the current generation. I am 28 and did vote but it easily took me over an hour to fill out my ballot while flipping through 2 voter guides attempting to cross-reference information... our electoral process is so far behind the times that without major changes in the way Americans can access voting information and make their voice heard, this trend of non-participation will surely continue. If we can access and manage our money online, I can file and pay my personal and corporate taxes online and all personal medical information will soon be onlinne, why can’t we vote online? Granted there can be security and validation issues but I think that is a risk worth taking compared to only capturing 11 percent of the youth vote
My county offered a web-site with a sample ballot and instructions. I looked it up before I left so I didn't have the laborious process that you described. Did you not have that option where you live? - lg
djdj, there was online voting trial recently in Washington D.C. in an attempt to find a better way for our overseas military to vote. It was hacked by the University of Michigan to play their fight song and was later reported to have been hacked by China and Iran.
There are also problems with touchscreens and optical scanners. Paper ballots are safest and you will find many countries going back to them.
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