What are your thoughts about Uneducated voters for Obama or Romney?

[old timey villain]

If the Republicans put up a candidate that didn't horrify the majority of the country we wouldn't have this problem.

[milhouse24]

Since most of us have talked to extended family members during the turkey day celebrations, did anyone encounter any relatives who were previously disinterested in politics or current events, but suddenly became very interested in voting for Obama? 

I spoke with my cousin, and she was upset that I didn't vote for Obama so I asked her why didn't she want to vote for Romney, and she just replied "I just didn't like him (Romney)," without offering any specifics about why Romney was "bad" and Obama was "good for the country."  Now this girl has no interest in current events or politics and is in her late 20's.  I've tried to talk to her about current events or politics in the past, and she has no knowledge or interest in reading a daily newspaper.  She's a graduate art student, so that is her sphere of knowledge.

Obama won because he succeeded in "Turning out uneducated first-time voters who were young and/or minorities."  His campaign staff, made it important to "vote" even if that voter had a very limited education of political policies or issues.  While I support every American's right to vote, I would rather Americans have an educated voter turnout. 

I feel that Obama's reliance on "First time voters" does a disservice to the election process if those "first time voters" are uneducated about political issues, but are voting specifically for Obama based on "pop-media societal peer pressure for a cult of personality."  They vote for Obama because he is "handsome and has a warm personality for cultural acceptance."

I don't think any other Politician now or in the future can inspire such political participation from the uneducated masses.  Obama is a "massive media celebrity" that likely will never be duplicated.  No other politicians in the past: Reagan, Carter, Clinton, or Dubya have ever inspired "first time voters" to "go out and vote." 

Has anyone else encountered Ditzy Uneducated Obama or Romney voters that vote based on personality or superficial reasons?

Oh give me a break.  Do you know how many people didn't vote for Obama simply because he is black?

They never say that of course, but there are apparently many euphemisms for black.

I was watching a Romney rally in Ohio and someone when asked why he won't vote for Obama he said:  I see a lot of socialism.  I bet if they asked him what socialism he would have no clue.
Another woman said he's an atheist, muslim who used to go to Rev. Wright's church.  When the reporter asked her which one of the 3 is he, she said "All 3!"

And lets not even go into Bill O'Reilly's traditional values.  So I'm sorry but ignorance is a bad thing but if anything Obama didn't benefit from it, he suffered from it.

There are far more non-whites and young people that voted for Obama specifically because he was "Black" or "Biracial" and represented "a multi-cultural american hero" than those who voted against him specifically because he was "black"

If a white Democrat like John Kerry had the same platform and said the same things as Obama, he would lose. 

[sg0508]

Partly because our education system is failing (and we're failing it), the system needs to be modified to reflect current business trends and demographic changes and lastly because many Americans are lazy, Americans are just not very smart as a whole.

[CountryRoads]

If the Republicans put up a candidate that didn't horrify the majority of the country we wouldn't have this problem.

Do you hear yourself? Honestly.

[Alcon]

If the Republicans put up a candidate that didn't horrify the majority of the country we wouldn't have this problem.

Do you hear yourself? Honestly.

I mean, he's typing into a computer, so probably not?

[All Along The Watchtower]

Define "educated."

[old timey villain]

Since most of us have talked to extended family members during the turkey day celebrations, did anyone encounter any relatives who were previously disinterested in politics or current events, but suddenly became very interested in voting for Obama? 

I spoke with my cousin, and she was upset that I didn't vote for Obama so I asked her why didn't she want to vote for Romney, and she just replied "I just didn't like him (Romney)," without offering any specifics about why Romney was "bad" and Obama was "good for the country."  Now this girl has no interest in current events or politics and is in her late 20's.  I've tried to talk to her about current events or politics in the past, and she has no knowledge or interest in reading a daily newspaper.  She's a graduate art student, so that is her sphere of knowledge.

Obama won because he succeeded in "Turning out uneducated first-time voters who were young and/or minorities."  His campaign staff, made it important to "vote" even if that voter had a very limited education of political policies or issues.  While I support every American's right to vote, I would rather Americans have an educated voter turnout. 

I feel that Obama's reliance on "First time voters" does a disservice to the election process if those "first time voters" are uneducated about political issues, but are voting specifically for Obama based on "pop-media societal peer pressure for a cult of personality."  They vote for Obama because he is "handsome and has a warm personality for cultural acceptance."

I don't think any other Politician now or in the future can inspire such political participation from the uneducated masses.  Obama is a "massive media celebrity" that likely will never be duplicated.  No other politicians in the past: Reagan, Carter, Clinton, or Dubya have ever inspired "first time voters" to "go out and vote." 

Has anyone else encountered Ditzy Uneducated Obama or Romney voters that vote based on personality or superficial reasons?

Oh give me a break.  Do you know how many people didn't vote for Obama simply because he is black?

They never say that of course, but there are apparently many euphemisms for black.

I was watching a Romney rally in Ohio and someone when asked why he won't vote for Obama he said:  I see a lot of socialism.  I bet if they asked him what socialism he would have no clue.
Another woman said he's an atheist, muslim who used to go to Rev. Wright's church.  When the reporter asked her which one of the 3 is he, she said "All 3!"

And lets not even go into Bill O'Reilly's traditional values.  So I'm sorry but ignorance is a bad thing but if anything Obama didn't benefit from it, he suffered from it.

There are far more non-whites and young people that voted for Obama specifically because he was "Black" or "Biracial" and represented "a multi-cultural american hero" than those who voted against him specifically because he was "black"

If a white Democrat like John Kerry had the same platform and said the same things as Obama, he would lose. 

So you're really convinced that there is is this unending line of voters who supported Obama because his racial background made them feel all warm and fuzzy inside? You're wrong, but far be it from me to burst your bubble of denial.

[old timey villain]

If the Republicans put up a candidate that didn't horrify the majority of the country we wouldn't have this problem.

Do you hear yourself? Honestly.

prove me wrong

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Since most of us have talked to extended family members during the turkey day celebrations, did anyone encounter any relatives who were previously disinterested in politics or current events, but suddenly became very interested in voting for Obama? 

I spoke with my cousin, and she was upset that I didn't vote for Obama so I asked her why didn't she want to vote for Romney, and she just replied "I just didn't like him (Romney)," without offering any specifics about why Romney was "bad" and Obama was "good for the country."  Now this girl has no interest in current events or politics and is in her late 20's.  I've tried to talk to her about current events or politics in the past, and she has no knowledge or interest in reading a daily newspaper.  She's a graduate art student, so that is her sphere of knowledge.

Obama won because he succeeded in "Turning out uneducated first-time voters who were young and/or minorities."  His campaign staff, made it important to "vote" even if that voter had a very limited education of political policies or issues.  While I support every American's right to vote, I would rather Americans have an educated voter turnout. 

I feel that Obama's reliance on "First time voters" does a disservice to the election process if those "first time voters" are uneducated about political issues, but are voting specifically for Obama based on "pop-media societal peer pressure for a cult of personality."  They vote for Obama because he is "handsome and has a warm personality for cultural acceptance."

I don't think any other Politician now or in the future can inspire such political participation from the uneducated masses.  Obama is a "massive media celebrity" that likely will never be duplicated.  No other politicians in the past: Reagan, Carter, Clinton, or Dubya have ever inspired "first time voters" to "go out and vote." 

Has anyone else encountered Ditzy Uneducated Obama or Romney voters that vote based on personality or superficial reasons?

Oh give me a break.  Do you know how many people didn't vote for Obama simply because he is black?

They never say that of course, but there are apparently many euphemisms for black.

I was watching a Romney rally in Ohio and someone when asked why he won't vote for Obama he said:  I see a lot of socialism.  I bet if they asked him what socialism he would have no clue.
Another woman said he's an atheist, muslim who used to go to Rev. Wright's church.  When the reporter asked her which one of the 3 is he, she said "All 3!"

And lets not even go into Bill O'Reilly's traditional values.  So I'm sorry but ignorance is a bad thing but if anything Obama didn't benefit from it, he suffered from it.

There are far more non-whites and young people that voted for Obama specifically because he was "Black" or "Biracial" and represented "a multi-cultural american hero" than those who voted against him specifically because he was "black"

If a white Democrat like John Kerry had the same platform and said the same things as Obama, he would lose. 

As usual, Mr milhouse, reality disagrees with you.

[Sbane]

Since most of us have talked to extended family members during the turkey day celebrations, did anyone encounter any relatives who were previously disinterested in politics or current events, but suddenly became very interested in voting for Obama? 

I spoke with my cousin, and she was upset that I didn't vote for Obama so I asked her why didn't she want to vote for Romney, and she just replied "I just didn't like him (Romney)," without offering any specifics about why Romney was "bad" and Obama was "good for the country."  Now this girl has no interest in current events or politics and is in her late 20's.  I've tried to talk to her about current events or politics in the past, and she has no knowledge or interest in reading a daily newspaper.  She's a graduate art student, so that is her sphere of knowledge.

Obama won because he succeeded in "Turning out uneducated first-time voters who were young and/or minorities."  His campaign staff, made it important to "vote" even if that voter had a very limited education of political policies or issues.  While I support every American's right to vote, I would rather Americans have an educated voter turnout. 

I feel that Obama's reliance on "First time voters" does a disservice to the election process if those "first time voters" are uneducated about political issues, but are voting specifically for Obama based on "pop-media societal peer pressure for a cult of personality."  They vote for Obama because he is "handsome and has a warm personality for cultural acceptance."

I don't think any other Politician now or in the future can inspire such political participation from the uneducated masses.  Obama is a "massive media celebrity" that likely will never be duplicated.  No other politicians in the past: Reagan, Carter, Clinton, or Dubya have ever inspired "first time voters" to "go out and vote." 

Has anyone else encountered Ditzy Uneducated Obama or Romney voters that vote based on personality or superficial reasons?

Oh give me a break.  Do you know how many people didn't vote for Obama simply because he is black?

They never say that of course, but there are apparently many euphemisms for black.

I was watching a Romney rally in Ohio and someone when asked why he won't vote for Obama he said:  I see a lot of socialism.  I bet if they asked him what socialism he would have no clue.
Another woman said he's an atheist, muslim who used to go to Rev. Wright's church.  When the reporter asked her which one of the 3 is he, she said "All 3!"

And lets not even go into Bill O'Reilly's traditional values.  So I'm sorry but ignorance is a bad thing but if anything Obama didn't benefit from it, he suffered from it.

There are far more non-whites and young people that voted for Obama specifically because he was "Black" or "Biracial" and represented "a multi-cultural american hero" than those who voted against him specifically because he was "black"

That's a bunch of crap and if anything, it betrays your own feelings on Obama's race.

[Link]

Do you think the Democrats rely on these "uneducated casual voters" who are usually young voters, more than Republicans.

The performance art you and your cronies like J.J. and Naso post on this forum proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the GOP relies heavily on the delusional.

Frankly I prefer people who are disengaged and only show up every four years to vote for people they like or vote against people who they don't like for no particular reason.  It's not ideal but I think just admitting ignorance and smiling is so much better than bombarding people with stupid threads about made up voter fraud and unskewed polls.  Do you not remember what happened on this forum a few short weeks ago?  Remember all the people that told us Romney was going to win?  Seriously I would much rather have people at home watching Honey Boo Boo and not posting misinformation.  The number of moronic Republicans that spread misinformation this cycle was through the roof.  The silent ignorant are a far lesser of two evils.

[Torie]

The Dems are a curious coalition of the dumbs and the smarts.  Pubs tend to be in-between.  Pubs tend to think as a crude generalization that they are the "normal" Americans. Pity for them that a majority of American voters are now "abnormal." 

The Pubs need a new business plan. They are heading towards politically insolvency in tandem with the nation's fiscal insolvency.

[Benj]

The Dems are a curious coalition of the dumbs and the smarts.  Pubs tend to be in-between.  Pubs tend to think as a crude generalization that they are the "normal" Americans. Pity for them that a majority of American voters are now "abnormal." 

The Pubs need a new business plan. They are heading towards politically insolvency in tandem with the nation's fiscal insolvency.

This is... simplistic. The Democratic coalition is not "dumbs" and "smarts". It's highly educated voters and voters with little education. Education and intelligence are not the same thing. Moreover, the odd multi-polar split where Democrats win low- and high-education voters while Republicans win those in the middle is entirely the result of race. Minorities have disproportionately less education and vote heavily Democratic. If you look only at white voters by education, the trend is clear: more education = more Democratic.

[Torie]

The Dems are a curious coalition of the dumbs and the smarts.  Pubs tend to be in-between.  Pubs tend to think as a crude generalization that they are the "normal" Americans. Pity for them that a majority of American voters are now "abnormal." 

The Pubs need a new business plan. They are heading towards politically insolvency in tandem with the nation's fiscal insolvency.

This is... simplistic. The Democratic coalition is not "dumbs" and "smarts". It's highly educated voters and voters with little education. Education and intelligence are not the same thing. Moreover, the odd multi-polar split where Democrats win low- and high-education voters while Republicans win those in the middle is entirely the result of race. Minorities have disproportionately less education and vote heavily Democratic. If you look only at white voters by education, the trend is clear: more education = more Democratic.

You just don't understand opebo-speak is all.  We speak a unique dialect of English on the Atlas forum. You will get used to it. Having said that, I would like to see the data that the most poorly educated whites are more Pub than those who have some college or a college degree. I challenge that. The Dem strength is concentrated at the high end among those with graduate degrees, including, inter alia, all those disgusting lawyers who feed off the frictions in our economy, often ones government generated.   So the Pub strength among whites should look more than a concave function generated curve I would think.

[Benj]

The Dems are a curious coalition of the dumbs and the smarts.  Pubs tend to be in-between.  Pubs tend to think as a crude generalization that they are the "normal" Americans. Pity for them that a majority of American voters are now "abnormal."  

The Pubs need a new business plan. They are heading towards politically insolvency in tandem with the nation's fiscal insolvency.

This is... simplistic. The Democratic coalition is not "dumbs" and "smarts". It's highly educated voters and voters with little education. Education and intelligence are not the same thing. Moreover, the odd multi-polar split where Democrats win low- and high-education voters while Republicans win those in the middle is entirely the result of race. Minorities have disproportionately less education and vote heavily Democratic. If you look only at white voters by education, the trend is clear: more education = more Democratic.

You just don't understand opebo-speak is all.  We speak a unique dialect of English on the Atlas forum. You will get used to it. Having said that, I would like to see the data that the most poorly educated whites are more Pub than those who have some college or a college degree. I challenge that. The Dem strength is concentrated at the high end among those with graduate degrees, including, inter alia, all those disgusting lawyers who feed off the frictions in our economy, often ones government generated.  So the Pub strength among whites should look more than a concave function generated curve I would think.

In 2008, Obama lost college-educated whites by 4 points and non-college whites by 19 points. I don't have the full-spectrum breakdown (for splitting post-grad v. college only and splitting no-high school v. high school only v. some college), but you can guess. The below article suggests that 2012 might have had an even bigger education gap (and the swings in Appalachia would also point that way), but a quick search does not give me an exit poll with the white vote by education (also, since the national exit polls this year only included 31 states, it's not directly comparable).

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/103969/obama%E2%80%99s-problem-white-non-college-educated-voters-getting-worse#

"In 2008, Obama lost white college graduates by four points and whites without a college degree by 19 points." (It's buried in the middle of the article.)


This... rather comprehensive breakdown of college v. non-college whites (which they call "working class") from September also has Romney leading by 2% among college whites but by 13% among non-college whites (since Obama declined among whites rather than improving, and those are both better than 2008, it's probably understating Romney): http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/WWC-Report-For-Web-Final.pdf

[Link]

Having said that, I would like to see the data that the most poorly educated whites are more Pub than those who have some college or a college degree. I challenge that.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Having said that, I would like to see the data that the most poorly educated whites are more Pub than those who have some college or a college degree. I challenge that.

There's a difference between individual voters and aggregates.

[All Along The Watchtower]

The Dems are a curious coalition of the dumbs and the smarts.  Pubs tend to be in-between.  Pubs tend to think as a crude generalization that they are the "normal" Americans. Pity for them that a majority of American voters are now "abnormal."  

The Pubs need a new business plan. They are heading towards politically insolvency in tandem with the nation's fiscal insolvency.

This is... simplistic. The Democratic coalition is not "dumbs" and "smarts". It's highly educated voters and voters with little education. Education and intelligence are not the same thing. Moreover, the odd multi-polar split where Democrats win low- and high-education voters while Republicans win those in the middle is entirely the result of race. Minorities have disproportionately less education and vote heavily Democratic. If you look only at white voters by education, the trend is clear: more education = more Democratic.

You just don't understand opebo-speak is all.  We speak a unique dialect of English on the Atlas forum. You will get used to it. Having said that, I would like to see the data that the most poorly educated whites are more Pub than those who have some college or a college degree. I challenge that. The Dem strength is concentrated at the high end among those with graduate degrees, including, inter alia, all those disgusting lawyers who feed off the frictions in our economy, often ones government generated.  So the Pub strength among whites should look more than a concave function generated curve I would think.

In 2008, Obama lost college-educated whites by 4 points and non-college whites by 19 points. I don't have the full-spectrum breakdown (for splitting post-grad v. college only and splitting no-high school v. high school only v. some college), but you can guess. The below article suggests that 2012 might have had an even bigger education gap (and the swings in Appalachia would also point that way), but a quick search does not give me an exit poll with the white vote by education (also, since the national exit polls this year only included 31 states, it's not directly comparable).

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/103969/obama%E2%80%99s-problem-white-non-college-educated-voters-getting-worse#

"In 2008, Obama lost white college graduates by four points and whites without a college degree by 19 points." (It's buried in the middle of the article.)


This... rather comprehensive breakdown of college v. non-college whites (which they call "working class") from September also has Romney leading by 2% among college whites but by 13% among non-college whites (since Obama declined among whites rather than improving, and those are both better than 2008, it's probably understating Romney): http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/WWC-Report-For-Web-Final.pdf

Do those articles make distinctions between white high school graduates who have never attended college  and those with some college or an Associate's degree?  Also, do "whites with college degrees" include those with graduate degrees?  That'll skew it more Democratic if so.

[Devils30]

You can find Romney voting idiots right here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJJ63fBf5jY

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The number of Ron Paul's "uneducated" voters is astonishing. Many of them have no clue about Paul's actual positions but "fight the establishment and pot for all!"

[Sbane]

You can find Romney voting idiots right here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJJ63fBf5jY

I love that lady that accuses Obama of going to Rev. Wright's church for 20 years. But he is also a Muslim because his dad was one. He is also an atheist because his dad was one. And he is also a communist because...I don't think there was a rationale for that. When asked whether he is a muslim or an atheist or he went to Rev. Wright's church, apparently he is all three!

[The Mikado]

Having said that, I would like to see the data that the most poorly educated whites are more Pub than those who have some college or a college degree. I challenge that.

The thing that always struck me about that graph is how relatively narrow the range is.

[milhouse24]

Since most of us have talked to extended family members during the turkey day celebrations, did anyone encounter any relatives who were previously disinterested in politics or current events, but suddenly became very interested in voting for Obama? 

I spoke with my cousin, and she was upset that I didn't vote for Obama so I asked her why didn't she want to vote for Romney, and she just replied "I just didn't like him (Romney)," without offering any specifics about why Romney was "bad" and Obama was "good for the country."  Now this girl has no interest in current events or politics and is in her late 20's.  I've tried to talk to her about current events or politics in the past, and she has no knowledge or interest in reading a daily newspaper.  She's a graduate art student, so that is her sphere of knowledge.

Obama won because he succeeded in "Turning out uneducated first-time voters who were young and/or minorities."  His campaign staff, made it important to "vote" even if that voter had a very limited education of political policies or issues.  While I support every American's right to vote, I would rather Americans have an educated voter turnout. 

I feel that Obama's reliance on "First time voters" does a disservice to the election process if those "first time voters" are uneducated about political issues, but are voting specifically for Obama based on "pop-media societal peer pressure for a cult of personality."  They vote for Obama because he is "handsome and has a warm personality for cultural acceptance."

I don't think any other Politician now or in the future can inspire such political participation from the uneducated masses.  Obama is a "massive media celebrity" that likely will never be duplicated.  No other politicians in the past: Reagan, Carter, Clinton, or Dubya have ever inspired "first time voters" to "go out and vote." 

Has anyone else encountered Ditzy Uneducated Obama or Romney voters that vote based on personality or superficial reasons?

Oh give me a break.  Do you know how many people didn't vote for Obama simply because he is black?

They never say that of course, but there are apparently many euphemisms for black.

I was watching a Romney rally in Ohio and someone when asked why he won't vote for Obama he said:  I see a lot of socialism.  I bet if they asked him what socialism he would have no clue.
Another woman said he's an atheist, muslim who used to go to Rev. Wright's church.  When the reporter asked her which one of the 3 is he, she said "All 3!"

And lets not even go into Bill O'Reilly's traditional values.  So I'm sorry but ignorance is a bad thing but if anything Obama didn't benefit from it, he suffered from it.

There are far more non-whites and young people that voted for Obama specifically because he was "Black" or "Biracial" and represented "a multi-cultural american hero" than those who voted against him specifically because he was "black"

If a white Democrat like John Kerry had the same platform and said the same things as Obama, he would lose. 

So you're really convinced that there is is this unending line of voters who supported Obama because his racial background made them feel all warm and fuzzy inside? You're wrong, but far be it from me to burst your bubble of denial.

Obama won because he got minority voters excited enough to turnout and win the election.  IF these minority voters never showed up, he would have lost to Romney.  He got 99% of Black voters to turn out for him.  He got far more Hispanic voters to turn out for him.  It wasn't just becuase of his "immigration policies," a lot of it had to do with his racial background and who he was as a person, versus the lilly-white Romney who didn't know any minorities. 

[old timey villain]

So it's Obama's fault for being the first black president. I think you wrongly assume that minority voters are swayed by the color of someone's skin, while white voters carefully examine each candidate. I'm also pretty sure you have been making this argument for quite some time now even after people have taken you to task over it many times.

[King]

The young first time voters are not the uneducated ones.  They have far more access to information than older Americans.