"Did Facebook Give Democrats the upper hand?"

[pa2011]

I think there may be something to this article.  I remember saying a few months ago, social media could pad Democratic turnout in ways not seen in the pre-Facebook era. It's not like people can now put their heads in the sand and not realize there is an election. Plus, I know some core Democratic constitiences -- African-Americans, Hispanics gays, single women -- used Facebook to apply not only pressure that their friends vote, but vote for candidates they viewed as being in their self interest.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/11/did-facebook-give-democrats-the-upper-hand/264937/

[milhouse24]

I never thought anything could rival GW Bush's GOTV operation in the 2004 narrow victory. 

But Obama clearly recognized his popularity weakness with traditional older regular voters, so he needed a way to find new, younger voters to scam. 

The only way this could be done was by going after the Young voters through online social media and Pop Culture shows like ET. 

It was a brilliant strategy that worked.  It was very unconventional and orthodox, but anyone over the age of 18 can vote, even if they are unaware of the political consequences.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

anyone over the age of 18 can vote, even if they are unaware of the political consequences.

Yes, because 18-year-olds are clueless and don't understand a thing about politics.

[milhouse24]

anyone over the age of 18 can vote, even if they are unaware of the political consequences.

Yes, because 18-year-olds are clueless and don't understand a thing about politics.

The priorities of 18 year olds are far different than a 30 or 40 year old man/woman.

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

[The Mikado]

anyone over the age of 18 can vote, even if they are unaware of the political consequences.

Yes, because 18-year-olds are clueless and don't understand a thing about politics.

The priorities of 18 year olds are far different than a 30 or 40 year old man/woman.

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

...You think 18-year-olds watch network television and read magazines?

You might want to say TMZ next time, it gets the same impression across without making you look like you live in 1990.

[King]

The idea that older people aren't easily manipulated by flash is a cute notion.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Social media has been a massive boon for Democrats. It's just far too easy to debunk GOP lies (and gross misrepresentations). You just can't get away with blatantly lying in politics anymore.

[Link]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Based on my experience, those who are in the 18-29 demographic who vote are far more informed politically than many partisans I know. My friends are all very aware of the issues, and made very sane, very rational decisions based on those issues. Like, for instance, the decision not to support a candidate who would be OK with me dying alone in a hospital bed because my partner's right to say goodbye is somehow trumped by a nameless hospital administrator's "right" to discriminate. Or that health care should be something every human being has a right to. Or that raising taxes on millionaires to cut the deficit wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. They get most of their political information from The Daily Show, but all considered, that's a pretty good place to get your political information from when compared to Fox News.

My grandmother, meanwhile, once explained to me that she votes Republican because she's a registered Republican, and thus, it'd be illegal not to. My moderate Republican mother thinks "there are a lot of things that don't add up" about Obama's birth certificate.

[King]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

College kids in 1986.

[patrick1]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

College kids in 1986.

Mary Hart had a great set of legs back in the day and don't mess with Tesh...  Anyway, yeah I do think sites like fb help get out the vote and have an impact on turnout.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

College kids in 1986.

The demographic of ET and People Magazine has never been "18-year-olds." Not even in 1986. They target housewives.

[milhouse24]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

[milhouse24]

Based on my experience, those who are in the 18-29 demographic who vote are far more informed politically than many partisans I know. My friends are all very aware of the issues, and made very sane, very rational decisions based on those issues. Like, for instance, the decision not to support a candidate who would be OK with me dying alone in a hospital bed because my partner's right to say goodbye is somehow trumped by a nameless hospital administrator's "right" to discriminate. Or that health care should be something every human being has a right to. Or that raising taxes on millionaires to cut the deficit wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. They get most of their political information from The Daily Show, but all considered, that's a pretty good place to get your political information from when compared to Fox News.

My grandmother, meanwhile, once explained to me that she votes Republican because she's a registered Republican, and thus, it'd be illegal not to. My moderate Republican mother thinks "there are a lot of things that don't add up" about Obama's birth certificate.

Its odd that none of those issues you mentioned had to do with employment or business costs.  I wonder why that is.  Life's pretty swell when mommy and daddy are paying your college tuition, instead of standing in bread lines. 

[old timey villain]

Republicans like to make excuses for every demographic they keep losing, so it makes sense that many in the GOP chattering class comfort themselves with the idea that young people are more easily won over by flash and fluff. And yes, some young voters are, but probably not any more so than older people. I'd wager that most of us on the forum are fairly young and we seem to know what's up.

By the way, age definitely doesn't always mean wisdom, at least when it comes to politics. My 82 year old grandmother (god love her) just gave me her postgame analysis. Here's her breakdown of Obama's victory, group by group.

Hispanics- They voted for Obama because they want amnesty. (Also, many illegals voted for Obama, apparently)

African Americans- They're the takers. They want to control government so they can keep getting free stuff and unfair advantages.

Single Women- They all just want abortions.

Young people- They're brainwashed by the public schools and the liberal media.


Yes, she's been able to vote since the 50s, and since then, has become an astute observer of the electorate and policy issues.

[memphis]

Based on my experience, those who are in the 18-29 demographic who vote are far more informed politically than many partisans I know. My friends are all very aware of the issues, and made very sane, very rational decisions based on those issues. Like, for instance, the decision not to support a candidate who would be OK with me dying alone in a hospital bed because my partner's right to say goodbye is somehow trumped by a nameless hospital administrator's "right" to discriminate. Or that health care should be something every human being has a right to. Or that raising taxes on millionaires to cut the deficit wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. They get most of their political information from The Daily Show, but all considered, that's a pretty good place to get your political information from when compared to Fox News.

My grandmother, meanwhile, once explained to me that she votes Republican because she's a registered Republican, and thus, it'd be illegal not to. My moderate Republican mother thinks "there are a lot of things that don't add up" about Obama's birth certificate.

Those of us who have grown up on the information superhighway are a little bit more adept at looking at printed information critically because so much of it is garbage. Our parents grew up in an age when print implied legitimacy.

[Benj]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

Clearly, neither are you.

[milhouse24]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

Clearly, neither are you.

Then why did Obama spend so much time on ET, Jay Leno, and The View? 
If it didn't make a difference, then there would be no point of him doing the celeb gossip circuit. 
Clearly college women voted for Obama because he's a good looking guy that looks good with his shirt off, and he will pay for contraception and abortions.  I'm sure a lot of college guys liked that he was good looking as well.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Based on my experience, those who are in the 18-29 demographic who vote are far more informed politically than many partisans I know. My friends are all very aware of the issues, and made very sane, very rational decisions based on those issues. Like, for instance, the decision not to support a candidate who would be OK with me dying alone in a hospital bed because my partner's right to say goodbye is somehow trumped by a nameless hospital administrator's "right" to discriminate. Or that health care should be something every human being has a right to. Or that raising taxes on millionaires to cut the deficit wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. They get most of their political information from The Daily Show, but all considered, that's a pretty good place to get your political information from when compared to Fox News.

My grandmother, meanwhile, once explained to me that she votes Republican because she's a registered Republican, and thus, it'd be illegal not to. My moderate Republican mother thinks "there are a lot of things that don't add up" about Obama's birth certificate.

Its odd that none of those issues you mentioned had to do with employment or business costs.  I wonder why that is.  Life's pretty swell when mommy and daddy are paying your college tuition, instead of standing in bread lines. 

I'm 30, thank you, not 20. My friends and I moved out of our parents' house long ago.

Coincidentally, a lot of my friends say that Republicans are good on fiscal issues, but their stances on social issues makes them an absolute non-starter. They can't vote for tax cuts in good conscience when their friends are being treated like absolute garbage.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

Clearly, neither are you.

Then why did Obama spend so much time on ET, Jay Leno, and The View? 
If it didn't make a difference, then there would be no point of him doing the celeb gossip circuit. 
Clearly college women voted for Obama because he's a good looking guy that looks good with his shirt off, and he will pay for contraception and abortions.  I'm sure a lot of college guys liked that he was good looking as well.

You know, it's weird: I didn't see any shirtless photos of Obama this cycle, but I sure did see a bunch of photos from some bizarre Paul Ryan workout shoot.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Yes, it needed to do little more than remind people to vote and expose GOP lies.  Easily accomplished. 

[The Mikado]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

Clearly, neither are you.

Then why did Obama spend so much time on ET, Jay Leno, and The View? 
If it didn't make a difference, then there would be no point of him doing the celeb gossip circuit. 
Clearly college women voted for Obama because he's a good looking guy that looks good with his shirt off, and he will pay for contraception and abortions.  I'm sure a lot of college guys liked that he was good looking as well.

Both ET and People Magazine have middle aged housewives as their target demo, not young people of either gender.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

And The View is watched by basically no one except middle aged housewives.

[patrick1]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

Clearly, neither are you.

Then why did Obama spend so much time on ET, Jay Leno, and The View? 
If it didn't make a difference, then there would be no point of him doing the celeb gossip circuit. 
Clearly college women voted for Obama because he's a good looking guy that looks good with his shirt off, and he will pay for contraception and abortions.  I'm sure a lot of college guys liked that he was good looking as well.

Haha.  Has to be a ....

[Badger]

18 year olds are far more enthusiastic by a candidate who appeals to pop-culture and shows up on Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

WTF?!  What college kid watches ET and reads magazines of any kind let alone People Magazine?!

You are clearly not female.

No one has ever said this to you, have they?