Opinion of Saira Blair -- 18 year old delegate-elect from West Virginia

[DemPGH]

HP when you consider that she defeated someone far more qualified than her, and has horrible views.

However, this is West Virginia. I know that idealized, pastoral notions about states like West Virginia are fashionable, but it isn't the reality, and I'll just leave it at that. WV is worse than her.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

What Nix said, except for the 'classist' part, which I don't get.

See IndyTX's comments attributing her election to a lack of "erudition" among West Virginians.

Ah. Somehow I missed those.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

FF

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

She has accomplished far more in her life than everyone else in this thread .

[Hash]

Young people in politics, especially when they're teenagers, are pretty universally terrible

Why is it terrible? Young people are a being a traditionally disenfranchised group. They don't see politicians addressing them or their issues. They don't feel cared about or efficacious in the system. So they don't vote. They get screwed over as a result (see education costs, the reversal of elder vs. youth poverty in the past 40 years). At a systemic level this hurts progressives more than conservatives, especially as Millennials tend to be more Democratic at the moment. Also, I'm not at all convinced being young makes you less politically intelligent per se, compared to an equally inexperienced / educated older person.

Yes, old white men are terrible politicians too and young people are screwed over on a regular basis by politicians etc., but 'young people in politics' generally tend to be (overgeneralizing some, but whatever) (a) doltish, entitled and disconnected rich sons/daughters of (like Saira Blair or our Biebertrudeau), (b) weird freaks of the kind who wear suits to class on a regular basis and speak like 60-year old congressmen, (c) sociopathic weirdos (Geoffroy Didier and Guillaume Peltier), (d) dumb empty-suits reciting bland and empty talking points (THE NEW POLITICS) which the media/public loves because 'muh rising star' or 'muh young talents!' (Niki Ashton, Biebertrudeau), (e) annoying student-activist types (be they the student True Leftist, the student granolamuncher or the student conservative/libertarian), (f) clean-shaven and well-dressed party hacks regurgitating dogma and serving no purpose whatsoever (the FN's young'uns or most young Tory MPs in Canada) and/or (g) random milquetoast and generic young backbenchers elected by chance and who don't do anything productive (most QC NDP MPs). And, yes, there's overlap in my categories (and excludes objectively horrible ones like the FN's cohorts of young fascists like Panzermiss)

In pictures, I have people like this in mind:

[Beet]

Young people in politics, especially when they're teenagers, are pretty universally terrible

Why is it terrible? Young people are a being a traditionally disenfranchised group. They don't see politicians addressing them or their issues. They don't feel cared about or efficacious in the system. So they don't vote. They get screwed over as a result (see education costs, the reversal of elder vs. youth poverty in the past 40 years). At a systemic level this hurts progressives more than conservatives, especially as Millennials tend to be more Democratic at the moment. Also, I'm not at all convinced being young makes you less politically intelligent per se, compared to an equally inexperienced / educated older person.

Yes, old white men are terrible politicians too and young people are screwed over on a regular basis by politicians etc., but 'young people in politics' generally tend to be (overgeneralizing some, but whatever) (a) doltish, entitled and disconnected rich sons/daughters of (like Saira Blair or our Biebertrudeau), (b) weird freaks of the kind who wear suits to class on a regular basis and speak like 60-year old congressmen, (c) sociopathic weirdos (Geoffroy Didier and Guillaume Peltier), (d) dumb empty-suits reciting bland and empty talking points (THE NEW POLITICS) which the media/public loves because 'muh rising star' or 'muh young talents!' (Niki Ashton, Biebertrudeau), (e) annoying student-activist types (be they the student True Leftist, the student granolamuncher or the student conservative/libertarian), (f) clean-shaven and well-dressed party hacks regurgitating dogma and serving no purpose whatsoever (the FN's young'uns or most young Tory MPs in Canada) and/or (g) random milquetoast and generic young backbenchers elected by chance and who don't do anything productive (most QC NDP MPs). And, yes, there's overlap in my categories (and excludes objectively horrible ones like the FN's cohorts of young fascists like Panzermiss)

Yeah and you can easily trot out a parade of doltish stereotypes of middle aged politicians with all of the requisite examples as well.

No one's denying that to succeed in politics at a young age, it helps to have some privileges in life that you probably got from your parents (hence why this woman got elected whereas the many smart and well deserving people in this thread have not, as Sanchez pointed out for us). Still, that merely speaks to the broader fact that success in life is more often than we realize determined by structural factors outside of our control (despite the narratives favored by both American parties). That is one argument for progressivism. What's never discussed though, is that youth is one of those factors itself. If the issue is this right wing West Virginia Republican or that UMP/FN member that's one thing. But on the issue of youth in politics in general we don't see enough of it.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Politician under 40 = sociopathic monster, politician under 20 = should be sent to prison to protect the public.

Young people in politics, especially when they're teenagers, are pretty universally terrible and her generic far-right views make her even more horrible, but there's obviously no reason to refer to her using vile misogynistic slurs. But then again, it's the Atlas Forum.

So by your logic, you wouldn't have voted for Paul Keating in 1969, who was first elected to the Australian House of Representatives at 25? Or Wyatt Roy in 2010, who was 20 at the time? In the case of Roy though, neither of you would have voted for him due to policy differences.

Regarding my opinion of Blair though, definite FF.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

It's good to have young people involved in politics, but her positions are vile. HP for her views (which also lack any shred of nuance).

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Anyway, she'll vote the exact same way as every other old male corporate puppet colleague of hers.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Anyway, she'll vote the exact same way as every other old male corporate puppet colleague of hers.

And her daddy, don't forget her daddy.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Anyway, she'll vote the exact same way as every other old male corporate puppet colleague of hers.

And her daddy, don't forget her daddy.

So it was daddy that did this for her.  "Right-wing plutocrat purchases public office for inexperienced 18-year old daughter"... this is the only country in the world where that gets morphed into a feel-good headline.

[7,052,770]

It's cool that her age group has a voice in government for once, but somehow I suspect she will not be looking out for teenagers when she casts her vote.

Does she have reasonable or horrible/Tea Party stances on issues like college tuition and obscene textbook prices? What about the undue harassment of teens and college students by cops? Anything about student loan debt forgiveness?

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's good to have young people involved in politics, but her positions are vile. HP for her views (which also lack any shred of nuance).

     The bolded part is what causes me concern. Folks that young usually lack mature worldviews that are useful to developing policy. Then again, many politically inclined people twice her age are no more mature for it, so what does it matter?

[Indy Texas]

I just think it's kind of alarming that an 18 year old elected official opposes gay marriage and my 80 year old grandmother favors it.

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Add 30 years and she'd be another unremarkable Tea Partier.

[DemPGH]

It could be that she never met a gay person, or someone who was open about it. In WV if you are anything other than what is social normative, you keep your head down. Way down.