The Daily Tar Heel
URL: http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2012/02/college_kids_and_trendy_candidates
Current Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 11:24:49 -0400
College kids and trendy candidates
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You want my vote for president? Show me a political platform. Amid growing election buzz, it’s easy for students to get behind a trendy candidate without understanding the ins and outs of his platform.
Of course, educated voting is vital to any healthy political system. But it’s especially crucial for young people to be informed, given the outsize influence of the youth vote in the national political dialogue.
I’ll admit, I’ve put two Obama stickers on my car with only a vague idea of his economic, domestic and foreign policies. Most of my initial political opinions came from my left-leaning parents, most especially my mother, who likes to yell obscene things at Republican politicians on television.
Luckily, I happen to agree with most of Obama’s policies. But after watching this year’s Republican debates, I realized how little I knew about his potential opponents. So I set out to figure out who these guys are and what they believe in.
As students, we have access to limitless information and incredibly diverse opinions. It is our civic responsibility to educate ourselves, regardless of whom we support.
Of course, young people’s tendency to blindly support a candidate isn’t limited to Democrats. In Iowa, Ron Paul swept the youth vote, claiming support from 48 percent of voters ages 18 to 29.
To put it in perspective, the next runner-up, Rick Santorum, only got 23 percent of this demographic. At UNC, I’ve spoken with several students who say they’d support him in a Republican primary.
Now, I’m not here to support or refute those who would vote for Paul. But I believe he is a candidate whose actual platforms are too often drowned out by cries of “Ron Paul’s my homeboy!”
Young people tend to support Paul because he says he would bring greater individual liberty to Americans. He plans to de-regulate many federal agencies, leaving states to set their own policies.
This manifests itself in almost every aspect of Paul’s platform, and I certainly can’t take every issue on in the space of this column.
But I ask my peers to think seriously about the effects this de-regulation would have on some of the policies they may take for granted, but nonetheless are impacted by every single day. I, for one, take comfort in knowing that my cheeseburger from Buns doesn’t have mad cow disease. Clearly, the effects of Paul’s policies would be more radical than just legalizing marijuana.
To take another example, look at how Paul advocates home schooling rather than public education. He’s so busy talking about the tax dollars we’d save that he forgets to mention the detrimental effects this would have on public universities (like the one we attend here in Chapel Hill).
Regardless of what some cynics may say, students hold significant power in deciding how this country runs and who runs it. But our votes are wasted if we don’t really know who our candidates are and why we’re voting for them.
I challenge students in the UNC community — and myself — to take a study break and catch up on the candidates and the issues. It’s important not just for this next election, but for how this country functions as a liberal democracy.
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29 comments
Wow, you did a really poor job with your research if all you can do is construct strawmen about Ron Paul to try and make your points. Did you ever consider the impact of too much government? No, clearly not. Go reconsider your wishy-washy politics and get some substantive positions.
So you support Obama with only a “vague idea” of his policies, but encourage all Republican young people to know what they are voting for?
You do your cause (which I support) a disservice with such a poorly written, ill-argued piece.
http://www.ronpaul2012.com/
The two platforms in the article are right there. And I’m pretty sure that if the columnist is advocating for research into platforms, the line “luckily, I agree with Obama’s policies” means she has more than a vague idea about what he stands for and believes. Could be wrong, but just saying.
@Wow, which of the ponts were strawmen?
People support Ron Paul because they are voting for something. They are voting for liberty while supporters of other candidates are simply voting against Obama or against the GOP.
You may have problems with his deregulatory economic platform, but you clearly haven’t done YOUR homework to suggest that his deregulation would allow mad cow disease in your burger.
Logic: a restaurant has more incentive to provide safe food out of fear of losing customers if they provide unsafe food than by having the coercive government inspect their facility every other month
I love how you don’t just admit your own ignorance, but proceed to illustrate it for us by writing this poorly researched column devoid of any critical thought. Well done, miss.
Reality: a restaurant may not realize its customers are getting sick from their unsafe food handling practices until a dozen people are in the hospital, or a restaurant may not have the expertise to developing their own safe food handling practices. The government through its regulations protects customers from getting sick the first time and ensures that inexperienced restaurant owners are aware of the proper ways in which to handle food.
A little more reality: http://old.i2i.org/main/article.php?article_id=1510
A link from the “Independence Institute”? Praise the Heavenly Lourde!
But, your article provides a prime example of how a company did not feel an inherent compulsion to properly cook its food or become knowledgeable on its own about what temperature to use. Your article cites a false sense of security as the reason for that case, but then comes right back around to say that private inspectors should be used! Either way, a company may still get a false sense of security if they manage to pass an inspection that they don’t deserve to pass. The only difference is that a public inspector can shut down a business if it fails, and a private inspector just gives the business a findings report in the hope that they’ll use the information. In other words, we come right back around to a company needing to self-enforce its own health code, which Jack in the Box didn’t do.
‘Now, I’m not here to support or refute those who would vote for Paul. But I believe he is a candidate whose actual platforms are too often drowned out by cries of “Ron Paul’s my homeboy!”
— This is totally inaccurate, Ron Paul supporters understand and are more well-versed on their candidate’s positions more than anyone else.This Salon article is a more intelligent analysis of why young people love Ron Paul.
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/06/the_screwed_generation_libertarian_not_liberal/
‘Now, I’m not here to support or refute those who would vote for Paul. But I believe he is a candidate whose actual platforms are too often drowned out by cries of “Ron Paul’s my homeboy!”’
Ron Paul supporters understand and are more well versed about their candidate’s positions than anyone else. The writer is completely mistaken about his assumption.
This Salon article provides a more intelligent discussion about why young people love Ron Paul.
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/06/the_screwed_generation_libertarian_not_liberal/
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/rep-ron-paul-education-is-not-a-right-video.php
Just some evidence to support the author’s claim about public university support.
Ron Paul wants to reinstating the gold standard. Done. That’s it. If anyone still supports him, that’s their problem.
I like the whole political outsider thing too, and I support many of Paul’s positions, but handing a guy who believes in reinstating the gold standard the keys to the nation is like pulling the pin on a live grenade and handing it to a double arm amputee.
It really disturbs me how dependent we all have become on the government to take care of us. Why are people so conditioned to think the sky would fall if the government just reined itself in and let individuals take care of themselves and one another?
If we consider the past 2 administrations – Obama and Bush – and take a look at the US debt chart during that time, I don’t know HOW anyone could possibly think returning to a commodity based monetary system would be more dangerous in the long run than the track we’re on now.
By the way, I think just about any Ron Paul supporter would not hesitate….nay, would jump at the opportunity, to have an intellectual/political debate with any supporter of any other candidate.
I think Daft Punk wrote a song about us a number of years ago, but I can’t remember what it’s called…
The revolution continues at UNC!
-UNC grad 2010
So, I am to take it that within the months that the government does not inspect food safety that it is impossible for a restaurant to sell unsafe food? Just because the government checks the safety of the food periodically in no way guarantees the food will be safe. The restaurant does, however, have customers every day so the greater onus is on them to provide safe food in order to attract customers.
There’s an attitude that exists among mainstream liberals and conservatives of fear. People are scared that we so firmly support something they so vaguely understand.
I’m a member of the Youth For Ron Paul chapter here. A few of us went to canvass in Charleston before the SC primary, and some of us were interviewed by Geraldo Rivera. During his program on Fox, he dismissed our support for Paul as simply being support for his drug policy.
No, we support him because we believe in sound currency, individual responsibility, and small government. And that scares the establishment.
Fact of the matter is, people like Geraldo on Fox or Taylor in the DTH seek to remove us from mainstream discussion by marginalizing our support as being a “trend.” That’s the one tactic they have against THE most passionate, well-informed, and vocal supports for any candidate.
The Daily Tar Heel shouldn’t publish unsubstantiated, distorted, and blatantly biased pieces like this. At least certainly not as a column.
You’re right, author: what Ron Paul really wants is for everyone to get mad cow. Oh wait, is that a straw-man? Sorry, monkey see monkey do.
But thank goodness we have the government bureaucratic regulatory agencies keeping us safe.
If it weren’t for them, we might have to rely on private competition. The horror! Who could possibly trust private institutions whose very existence relies on success in market competition for trustworthiness?
Maybe a reason support for Ron Paul is growing is because more people are getting sickened by the government’s constant expansion and intrusion. Maybe the possibility of sugar being regulated as a toxin has opened a few more eyes, for example. There’s still hope for liberty, and Ron Paul is our best bet.
Hartley is totally right on this one. You Ron Paul supporters get up in flames about that fact that since he “supports” libertarian values and platforms that he wants to take this country in the right direction. More so, I always find it funny that Paul supporters tend to think of themselves as more well-versed in things like economics.
Do you know what would happen to this country if we abolished the Federal Reserve?
@IceNine, no, Ron Paul is not your best bet. If a best bet had to be identified, it might be Rand Paul, but Ron Paul is not the best bet to do anything other than be the choice of self-proclaimed “free thinkers” everywhere. Everyone admires many of the ideals he holds valuable, but his way of going about his objectives (i.e. stabilizing global currency by reverting to our old system of backing paper with physical commodities) is often hilariously out of touch with the constraints of reality.
Ross Perot was infinitely more electable than Ron Paul.
We have a global network
Sorry, the last sentence fragment was supposed to be written in a different window.
The issue I have with this article isn’t so much about Taylor’s treatment of Ron Paul’s policies. Yes, they’re not for everyone and most of us acknowledge that. The article DOES misrepresent a lot of his ideas; that’s been pretty accurately covered in above comments.
The issue that I DO have is about Taylor’s treatment of Ron Paul supporters. She disagrees with Paul’s ideas, so she wants to discredit his support by claiming that we don’t know the implications of his policies. Trust me, Taylor, we know what we believe in, far more than the average person, and we’re okay with it.
Everyone has the right to their opinion, obviously, but it’s not acceptable to discredit and misrepresent followers of a candidate.
The bottom line is that the DTH shouldn’t have published this. It’s not well researched, it’s hypocritical, it’s biased, and it doesn’t have any place in a news paper that’s supposed to be non-partisan.
The issue I have with this article isn’t so much about Taylor’s treatment of Ron Paul’s policies. Yes, they’re not for everyone and most of us acknowledge that. The article DOES misrepresent a lot of his ideas; that’s been pretty accurately covered in above comments.
The issue that I DO have is about Taylor’s treatment of Ron Paul supporters. She disagrees with Paul’s ideas, so she wants to discredit his support by claiming that we don’t know the implications of his policies. Trust me, Taylor, we know what we believe in, far more than the average person, and we’re okay with it.
Everyone has the right to their opinion, obviously, but it’s not acceptable to discredit and misrepresent followers of a candidate.
The bottom line is that the DTH shouldn’t have published this. It’s not well researched, it’s hypocritical, it’s biased, and it doesn’t have any place in a news paper that’s supposed to be non-partisan.
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