Peace&Freedom
Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2007
- Messages
- 5,123
This is simply to expand (on a new thread) an idea suggested by tsai3904 here on RPF:
I'm not much into hyperbole, but when I read this idea, I realized it just had to be shared far and wide. This is an entirely actionable tactic by the grassroots, that can be the difference between the tepid or moderate vote totals from 18-29 voters, and numbers that could yield maximum results. Forgive me if it's already been suggested, but then perhaps it bears repeating.
Ron Paul has a secret weapon in young voters, but it's unreliable, because young supporters don't reliably go to the polls. In Iowa, the 18-29 turnout was 12%, in NH it was 15%. We can thus reasonably only project a modest 12-15% turnout for Paul from that demographic. Those are the hard numbers, based on actual contests this year.
BUT....what if the grassroots went out and got their votes before the primaries, so the youth vote didn't have to go to the polls? What if we made their 'turnout' much more reliable, by going out to them?
Absentee or early voting is still possible in many or most of the states (see below), and is doable by the grassroots, because the focus would be on one age demographic, instead of the general population. Several approaches---staging youth rallies/events, college town canvassing, door to door, mail campaigns to known young Paul supporters, aggressive carpooling to such events and efforts, etc., you know the drill. Canvassers or organizers could use the activities to get young voters to fill out the appropriate documents (sometimes on the spot) and mail them in. This could turn the 15% representation into 30% or more, depending on how effective the campaign was per state.
This will definitely combat the "young people are unreliable problem" and GUARANTEE higher vote totals. We need to take advantage of EARLY VOTING.
These states have 'no excuse' early voting:
Arizona
2/2 - 2/24
Arkansas
5/7 - 5/21
District of Columbia
3/19 - 4/2
Florida
1/21 - 1/28
Georgia
2/13 - 3/2
Illinois
2/27 - 3/19
Indiana
4/9 - 5/7
Louisiana
3/10 - 3/17
Maryland
3/24 - 3/29
Nebraska
4/10 - 5/14
New Mexico
5/8 - 6/2
North Carolina
4/19 - 5/5
Ohio
1/31 - 3/2
Oklahoma
3/2 - 3/5
Tennessee
2/15 - 3/1
Texas
3/19 - 3/30
Utah
6/12 - 6/22
Vermont
1/23 - 3/5
West Virginia
4/25 - 5/5
South Dakota and Wisconsin also have early voting too (I just haven't been able to find out when it starts for those states).
I'm not much into hyperbole, but when I read this idea, I realized it just had to be shared far and wide. This is an entirely actionable tactic by the grassroots, that can be the difference between the tepid or moderate vote totals from 18-29 voters, and numbers that could yield maximum results. Forgive me if it's already been suggested, but then perhaps it bears repeating.
Ron Paul has a secret weapon in young voters, but it's unreliable, because young supporters don't reliably go to the polls. In Iowa, the 18-29 turnout was 12%, in NH it was 15%. We can thus reasonably only project a modest 12-15% turnout for Paul from that demographic. Those are the hard numbers, based on actual contests this year.
BUT....what if the grassroots went out and got their votes before the primaries, so the youth vote didn't have to go to the polls? What if we made their 'turnout' much more reliable, by going out to them?
Absentee or early voting is still possible in many or most of the states (see below), and is doable by the grassroots, because the focus would be on one age demographic, instead of the general population. Several approaches---staging youth rallies/events, college town canvassing, door to door, mail campaigns to known young Paul supporters, aggressive carpooling to such events and efforts, etc., you know the drill. Canvassers or organizers could use the activities to get young voters to fill out the appropriate documents (sometimes on the spot) and mail them in. This could turn the 15% representation into 30% or more, depending on how effective the campaign was per state.
This will definitely combat the "young people are unreliable problem" and GUARANTEE higher vote totals. We need to take advantage of EARLY VOTING.
These states have 'no excuse' early voting:
Arizona
2/2 - 2/24
Arkansas
5/7 - 5/21
District of Columbia
3/19 - 4/2
Florida
1/21 - 1/28
Georgia
2/13 - 3/2
Illinois
2/27 - 3/19
Indiana
4/9 - 5/7
Louisiana
3/10 - 3/17
Maryland
3/24 - 3/29
Nebraska
4/10 - 5/14
New Mexico
5/8 - 6/2
North Carolina
4/19 - 5/5
Ohio
1/31 - 3/2
Oklahoma
3/2 - 3/5
Tennessee
2/15 - 3/1
Texas
3/19 - 3/30
Utah
6/12 - 6/22
Vermont
1/23 - 3/5
West Virginia
4/25 - 5/5
South Dakota and Wisconsin also have early voting too (I just haven't been able to find out when it starts for those states).
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