November 4, 2003

TEACH YOUR PARENTS WELL:

New schools of thought: College students have become more conservative than the general population, according to a new poll (Alaina Sue Potrikus, Oct. 24, 2003, Knight Ridder News Service)

Nine million strong, the highly volatile college-student population is up for grabs in the race for the presidency in 2004.

According to a poll released this week by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, college students generally support President Bush, and they lean slightly Republican in political persuasion -- a contrast to the commonly held stereotype of radical campus liberals.

[3]1 percent of college students identify themselves as Republicans, while 27 percent call themselves Democrats and 38 percent independent or unaffiliated.

"College campuses aren't a hotbed of liberalism anymore," Glickman said. "It's a different world."


This is a generation that the GOP could capture semi-permanently by pushing the privatization of the social welfare state that FDR captured their great-grandparents and grandparents with. Give these kids their own retirement accounts now.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 4, 2003 9:18 AM
Comments

Hmm. "Join the Republican Party. Stand up for freedom and America and we'll send you--absolutely free--your own personal retirement account."

Didn't someone once say something about not watching politics and sausage-making too closely?

Posted by: Peter B at November 4, 2003 9:46 AM

If it wasn't for trying get dates young college
men would already be about 90% Republican.

I know that's the only thing that caused me to
track left for even 10 seconds.

Posted by: J.H. at November 4, 2003 10:41 AM

J.H.

If it was only for ten seconds, I guess it didn't help much.

Posted by: Peter B at November 4, 2003 10:45 AM

The 10 seconds the amount of time I actually
believed such nonsense (I had been conservative
since about the age of 14).

The rest of the time I was just faking.

Jim

Posted by: J.H. at November 4, 2003 12:07 PM

In some respects college is about "who's hip" (and isn't that phrase revealing) - your 60ish ponytailed professor or Dennis Miller, South Park, the Simpson's and Jonathan Goldberg.

Laughter (even couched in ridicule) remains the very best medicine. It worked for the left in '69, it'll work for the right in '04.

Posted by: RDB at November 4, 2003 5:40 PM

It's true, the over-serious, grey ponytail proffessor crowd are just so goddamn pathetically square. It dosn't help that they are the establishment now, forcing their tripe down the throats of rebellious youth from positions of arbitary authority. If conservatism is the radical option on the politically correct campus, the best, feircest and most talented will be drawn to it.

The delightful irony here is that the left's control of academia might be breeding a new generation of conservative achievers.

Posted by: Amos at November 4, 2003 9:05 PM

Peter B:

Not "absolutely free", just not robbed by the generation currently in power, for their own luxuries.

For instance, the interest deduction on home mortgages should be capped at a considerably lower level than it is now.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at November 5, 2003 5:19 AM

Michael:

I was joking. I'd be in favour of free Porche's to any undergrad promising to vote conservative, especially up here.(where we have no mortgage interest deduction!)

Posted by: Peter B at November 5, 2003 6:14 AM
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