Perhaps every generation shakes it’s collective head at the ones who follow. And, although I swore I’d never do it, I have.
But every once in a while there comes a young person who brings a spark, nay a flame of hope and gives me a smile.
One such is a young man called Jason Mattera who claims that young Americans have been “brainwashed” into supporting President Barack Obama even though his policies are a “torpedo” aimed at their futures.
But he also says that conservatives should learn from the Obama team’s tactics during the 2008 campaign and reach out to young people — or risk losing an entire generation of young voters. When asked about his assertion that the Obama team brainwashed young Americans, Mattera says: “A lobotomy took place in 2008. John McCain lost the youth vote by almost 40 points. That was the biggest age demographic shift in presidential history.
Team Obama employed specific strategies and tactics to brainwash an entire group of people. They had “Students for Obama chapters”, more than a thousand of them, on college campuses. They were micro-targeting young people in their college dormitory. They were on Facebook doing it. They were uploading videos to YouTube. By the time the campaign ended, team Obama had uploaded more than 1,800 videos to YouTube, and John McCain barely scratched 330.“It was digital domination."
Team Obama was meeting young people where they were — on college campuses and on the array of social networking forums that the Internet has to offer.“So conservatives really need to have a wakeup call, because it’s not just about losing elections, it’s about losing an entire generation of young people who are uninformed about limited government, personal responsibility, and free market ideas.”
Young Americans have been particularly brainwashed about healthcare reform, according to Mattera.“Young people can be sold socialism, unfortunately, but you can’t sell it to a generation of hard-working Americans,” he says.
“Young people, my generation — except for the men and women fighting overseas — we’re made up of a bunch of spoiled brats who think we’re entitled to everything. So some politician like Barack comes around and says, I’m going to pay for your college tuition, I’m going to provide you with healthcare, I’m going to stop glaciers from melting."
Young people still support Barack Obama more than any other age demographic even though his healthcare plan punishes them, redistributes their wealth from young to old. Because now insurance companies can no longer vary price according to one’s age. "It affects people in my age demographic, and yet young people still, like circus animals, applaud this president even though his policies are a torpedo aimed at their futures".
Team Obama was able to harness the power of social networking sites and the power of the Internet, and these were applications and programs that were all created through the power and ingenuity of capitalism, through free markets.
“Conservatives need smart messaging to young people. They need to say, Why are you attracted to things like Facebook and the Internet and music? It’s because there’s nobody looking over your shoulder, telling you what to do.“The world is a mouse click away. It’s the ultimate expression of freedom, and by the way that’s what conservatives are about, the ultimate expression of freedom and individuality and personal responsibility.
It’s the left that wants to lock you in a one-size-fits-all healthcare plan, to redistribute your income, to tax your carbon footprint. Conservatives want you to express yourself, and that has to be our message. Our conservative bedrock principles do not change, but the way we communicate them to younger voters must.
Mattera says he sees some “buyers’ remorse” among young people who supported Obama, but notes that 57 percent of young people still back Obama. That will change, he asserts, when these young people graduate from college and can’t find a job in the “Obama economy.
But there is at least one sea change on the political horizon as Republicans are more energized than their Democratic counterparts and more likely to vote in the upcoming elections.
However, the GOP needs to reach out to younger voters to show them why conservatism is a much better option than liberalism.
“Our conservative message will resonate with young people because they don’t hear conservative ideas. So [the ideas] come across as bold and fresh and new — everything that young and hungry minds crave.”
And another thing the GOP has going for it is the fickleness of fashion.
What was hot yesterday is now a forgotten hula hoop discarded in the back of a million garages. Just like a cold, dead candle from last nights rave.
Or whatever that's called these days.
No comments:
Post a Comment