US - Libertarian Ron Paul a hit with young voters due to drug, anti-war stances

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edgarshade

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Winnipeg Free Press (actually, CA but the story is about US)

Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press

Posted: 11/23/2011 3:55 PM

WASHINGTON - At 76, Ron Paul is the oldest of the Republican presidential candidates. And yet he's making a bigger connection with young voters than any of his rivals for the nomination.

Paul's stance on America's so-called war on drugs, in particular, has earned him an avid following among young fans who have nicknamed him Ronstoppable. Those under 30 not only form a broad chunk of his loyal supporters, but they are among some of his most passionate campaign workers, including a 23-year-old college student who's put her studies on hold to run his Midwest operation.
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More...
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/wo...-due-to-drug-anti-war-stances--134421633.html
 
Ronstoppable I like it! I hope the old bastard actually stands a chance of making it to the primary's ;)
 
Interesting to compare this article to this one...
The reason for this silence is likely down to the influence of what is known as the ‘grey vote’. Politicians are absolutely terrified of old people. Why? Because the vote in huge numbers. At the last General Election, over 75% of people aged over 65 voted, whereas less than half of people aged 18-24 voted. Old people, by in large, do not support drug decriminalisation and in turn are (mostly) absolutely terrified by drugs. Any politician wanting to win an election has to make the elderly happy, so don’t expect to be able to smoke pot in front of a policeman any time soon.
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http://www.theyorker.co.uk/news/politics/7921/1#CommentItem11867

I know the two stories are from opposite sides of the pond but I think the principal is the same. The reason that older people vote in such large numbers compared to younger people is because no political party has the policies that younger people are waiting to vote for. Drug legalisation being one of those policies near the top of the wish-list.
 
The boomers are becoming the new "old" generation slowly but surely. I predict this deep fear of drugs among our eldest generation will loosen over time as the flower generation ages
 
Yeah as soon as all the old rediculous fools who still belive the bullshit propaganda put out 30 years ago about drugs die, we might have a chance at fixing the drug laws lol.. lets hope its sooner than later
 
edgarshade said:
Interesting to compare this article to this one...

http://www.theyorker.co.uk/news/politics/7921/1#CommentItem11867

I know the two stories are from opposite sides of the pond but I think the principal is the same. The reason that older people vote in such large numbers compared to younger people is because no political party has the policies that younger people are waiting to vote for. Drug legalisation being one of those policies near the top of the wish-list.
Click to expand...

Another reason older people vote in such large numbers is that THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY VOTING! All over America, there are vote brokers that use the identities of non-ambulatory people to amass enormous quantities of absentee ballots. Here's a (slightly paranoid) piece on this:

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/11/absentee_ballot_fraud_could_de.php
 
I have friends irl that don't use any sorts of drugs, legal or not, yet see how bs the war on drugs is. I think this is part of the key to decrim/legalization-the opinions of those who have no personal interest as far as using drugs goes yet are sensible enough to see that the war on drugs is a complete failure.
 
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