26th Amendment: Enemy of the Republican Party?
In the view of my ghost co-writer…it is now!
I have been corresponding with Eve on FB for several months. She is a conservative Republican, very bright, and can state her positions with great understanding of the subject and can back it up with facts, references and with authority. I have a lot of hope in the next generation of leaders with Eve leading the pack.
She once threw out a statement about revisiting the 26th amendment. I was intrigued so a week or so later I re-visited it. Wow, what I got made me stop and pay attention! Talk about opening Pandora’s box on the voting minds of those under those under 21! The 26th amendment gave the right of anyone 18 and older the right to vote.Needless to say I was quite shocked at her statement to not allow 18 year olds to vote. But after watching her type out her reasons, I have to say I have had to take a step back and re-think my own ideas about the voting age. Now mind you I am not changing any decisions on my own beliefs, but her arguments have merit and needs to have some serious discussion among all of us in how that age group gets their political message and how they are swayed into voting. I want you to watch this YouTube video that Eve sent me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsV2O4fCgjk It’s 4 minutes long so watch it and then come back. I had not seen videos like this during the 2008 election and I surmise there are plenty more out there. What age group does it play too? What age group are the stars in the video? Who were they targeting to capture their vote? Now ask yourself did you see any McCain video’s doing anything similar? Did you see any Hollywood types doing anything similar for the Republican party reaching out to the under 25 crowd?
Eve contends that that 18- 21 age group does not get its political information from studying candidates in the fashion of our forefathers, but gets it from YouTube, MMS, and Internet related media. Hence the video aimed straight at them. Her contention is that age group is not mature enough to vote and takes its cues from Hollywood, Rock Stars, and YouTube stars in matters of politics. Now give credit to the Dems for figuring out this for the 2008 election and smack the Reps for falling behind. But it does beg the question, are 18-21 mature enough to vote for serious elections knowing that their main source of info is spoon fed by rap and rock stars? Now the first argument against is that if the can serve their country and die for it, then they should be able to vote. Put that aside for a bit. Think about all the burdens that we are putting on the age group of 1-17 that have no say in voting as we pile billions of dollars of debt on them before they even vote one time. Who is speaking for them?
I asked Eve how the Rep party should reach out to these voters and she stated unequivocally we need to start speaking to them with the very people are reaching them now. Young singers, stars and media types that they are listening to today. My contention is that being an up and coming star and being conservative may be a career killer in Hollywood. Ergo the inference that maybe we should not allow 18 year olds to vote. So I ask you… how many 18 year olds are versed well enough in Government, the principles of the two party system to go out and vote intelligently regardless of the YouTube hype that they see everyday? I don’t watch this stuff, but this video is just a glimpse into how that age group gets their political information and is influenced to vote.
Once a few years ago a bill came up in the Congress to allow kids into the armed service only after they had achieved the age of 21. The military went ballistic! They knew if they allowed 18 year olds to go out and get some college, a job, maybe a car, that by age 21 the military would be way low on the totem pole for a career choice. But if they got them by 18 when they were ‘impressionable’ and full of testosterone, they could safely keep the ranks full. Is voting any different? How different will a voter be at 21 that pays taxes and has to support themselves versus those that still live at home and haven’t experienced the fullness of obligations? It’s a legitimate argument. We don’t let them drink unto they are 21. Why? Is it because of their maturity or lack thereof?
I believe Eve has a unique perspective on the failings of the Rep party reaching out to this group and her concern about the maturity level of the voter in this age group is valid. I believe it is worthy of discussion on the merits of the 26th amendment and a wake up call to the Rep party in reaching out to the age group with the appropriate message and the appropriate messengers. As much as I admire Chuck Norris, Jon Voight, and Patricia Heaton for supporting the Republican party, we must find a new generation of spokespersons that actually look like the generation we want to bring into the party and can relate to them personally. This isn’t so much and elitist view of who should vote and at what age, but a brutal assessment of the Republican Party and its inability to speak to the youngest voters in the country. We can and must do better in 2010 and 2012 or we will continue to be on the outside looking in.
The Paul Smith for Congress website is www.PaulSmithforCongress.org
Republican Candidate for the 5th Congressional District (Sacramento).
“Are 18-21 mature enough to vote for serious elections knowing that their main source of info is spoon fed by rap and rock stars?”
Lol. Are 30-55 year olds mature enough to vote for serious elections knowing that they crave to be spoon fed propaganda by cable news, establishmentarian print papers and tabloids? And what about senior citizens, many of whom still get their news from broadcast television of all places?
“how many 18 year olds are versed well enough in Government, the principles of the two party system to go out and vote intelligently regardless of the YouTube hype that they see everyday?”
70% of Americans across all age groups fail a basic civics literacy test. Less than half can even name all three branches of government. The over 21 set should consider removing the log from their own eye before they complain about the splinter in the eye of the youth.
How about not encouraging people to vote without asking that they only exercise that right if they accept their responsibility to become reasonably well informed? The notion that it is good that people vote regardless of how uninformed they are is comparable to suggesting that hanging mobs are preferable to diligent jurors. Why encourage people to do what they are unqualified to do intelligently? I’d like to see responsible media develop tests of basic understanding of issue that they would encourage people to take so that the can assess their own civic literacy. And I would like to see the same media stop making everything about politics and gamesmanship and instead act like policy choices mattered in their own right.
I agree. The 26th Amendment should be repealed. In addition to that, the enlistment age to enter the military should return to 21 and the age to marry without parental consent should be returned to 21. Even the age to enter into a contract without parental consent should be raised to 21 with the exception of emancipated minors.
Advances in our understanding of the brain has shown that the frontal lobe (where our judgement is developed) is still going through dramatic changes until the early to mid 20′s. This explains why teenagers are more rash, and make poor decisions.
The trend as time moves forward is for adulthood to be postponed and immaturity extended. It is reflected in the higher average ages that people get married and leave their parents house keeps rising higher. Marriage and being self supporting are both signs of maturity or in this case a lack of maturity among the average youth today.
SactoDoug,
I have read that research also. Good post. I am not sure a lot of folks want to know about this research. The economic, political, and social ramifications would be staggering. However, what’s the use of having all this great research if we don’t use it? Can you imagine not using the advances in medicine in this day and age? Well worth discussing.