Ed 20/20's Stossel Says Uninformed Should Not Vote.

[Cicero]

Stossel seems to have offended American youth by saying if you are ignorant about the issues then you shouldn't vote. He also believes that registering young people to vote at rock concerts is a lame idea. Judging by their answers to basic questions, Stossel has a point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvl0lqhCVio

 

[quixotecoyote]

I'm with Stossel.

I was kicking around the idea of an "informed voter test" that could answer the question "who writes the test."

What about the party you're trying to vote for? What if each canidate had to write their position on certain issues, and the voter had to match the positions to the candidate for the vote to count? That particular forumulation is abusable, but I like the idea of a candidate wrtiting the test questions to make a vote for him/her count.

 

[Kthulhut Fhtagn]

Stossel seems to have offended American youth by saying if you are ignorant about the issues then you shouldn't vote. He also believes that registering young people to vote at rock concerts is a lame idea. Judging by their answers to basic questions, Stossel has a point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvl0lqhCVio

Sadly I agree with him, fully. I don't see any legal way around the problem so I guess we're stuck with large amounts of uninformed voters.

 

[Iamme]

I agree fully! Can you imagine someone simply wanting to excercize their vote? And they want change? (Who doesn't, actually?), and he picks a candidate based on this generalized notion of change without finding anything else out about that person? Can you imagine, how stupid that is? And how people like that can cause an outcome of an election, based on them not even knowing anything?

I would rather someone say that - take Obama - if that voter said, I have researched Obama thoroughly. He is a communist. I LOVE communism! And then that person votes for Obama? I'd respect that vote.

 

[Dragoonster]

If "shouldn't" is only a suggestion, I agree. If "shouldn't" means voters have to pass tests, I absolutely disagree. There should be zero tests of voting aside from citizenship.

After filling out the ballot yesterday I realized I was also an uninformed voter. I'd researched all 12 state and 1 local propositions, as well as of course the presidential race. But there was a local judgeship race, and a local airport board race, and I had no idea who the candidates were. So I picked the ones with the coolest names. Probably shouldn't have done that, but I was tired from filling out the rest of the ballot and didn't feel like researching them too, even assuming I could find out anything about them from casual internet searching.

Every voter is uninformed in some ways. Not only ignorance of some candidates, but non-PhD (or insufficient) level of understanding of other things like economics, sociology, energy, etc. Voters do the best they can with their level of understanding, and that's all that should be expected of them.

 

[Cicero]

The notion of registering voters at a Madonna concert does not inspire confidence in this process, especially when Madonna mixes her daffy politics while singing "Crazy For You," and "Dress You Up."

***.."On her current tour she used John McCain's image in a video clip alongside scences of destruction, global warming, starving children and Adolf Hitler."..***

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/article?id=45086&view=all

 

[Ausmerican]

You do realize that age aside there are many many low information voters on both sides of the aisle and age isn't the defining issue. How old was that ignorant old battleaxe that was mumbling to McCain about Obama being an Arab?
Is it predominantely kids that still think Obama is a Muslim? I doubt it. Youth does not equal ignorance. And since the young people are the ones that inherit what we leave behind of course they should get a say in it.
Would you also be in favor of not letting the elderly vote on the grounds that some of them may be senile? Or more prone to old bigotries?
And as far as uninformed goes, uninformed about what in particular? How the government is run? Does that mean Sarah Palin can't vote since she still doesn't seem sure what the VP does? Uninformed about the issues? Who grades it? It might work if there was no spin in political campaigns but look at this current one. There is fact, then there is what one party is saying, then there is what the other is saying. What a republican may consider uninformed a dem may consider right. And vice versa.

 

[Ausmerican]

I agree fully! Can you imagine someone simply wanting to excercize their vote? And they want change? (Who doesn't, actually?), and he picks a candidate based on this generalized notion of change without finding anything else out about that person? Can you imagine, how stupid that is? And how people like that can cause an outcome of an election, based on them not even knowing anything?

I would rather someone say that - take Obama - if that voter said, I have researched Obama thoroughly. He is a communist. I LOVE communism! And then that person votes for Obama? I'd respect that vote.

You say all this as if you would be one of the arbiters that decided who passed, rather than someone who may well fail.

 

[Cicero]

You do realize that age aside there are many many low information voters on both sides of the aisle and age isn't the defining issue. How old was that ignorant old battleaxe that was mumbling to McCain about Obama being an Arab?
Is it predominantely kids that still think Obama is a Muslim? I doubt it. Youth does not equal ignorance. And since the young people are the ones that inherit what we leave behind of course they should get a say in it.
Would you also be in favor of not letting the elderly vote on the grounds that some of them may be senile? Or more prone to old bigotries?
And as far as uninformed goes, uninformed about what in particular? How the government is run? Does that mean Sarah Palin can't vote since she still doesn't seem sure what the VP does? Uninformed about the issues? Who grades it? It might work if there was no spin in political campaigns but look at this current one. There is fact, then there is what one party is saying, then there is what the other is saying. What a republican may consider uninformed a dem may consider right. And vice versa.

Is there a geriatric "Rock The Vote" campaign? How many kids even know what being a Muslim means? The youth do not have a monopoly on ignorance, but they are unabashed in parading their ignorance at every opportunity. Did you catch the answers of the bug wit youths who have no idea what Roe v Wade was about and could not identify Joe Biden as Obama's VP? Well, considering how the msm hides his daily blunders, one might forgive them on that score.

 

[Puppycow]

Did he really say that people who wear uniforms shouldn't vote?

 

[DavidJames]

How is someone who doesn't understand the issues different from one who can't interpret facts, makes decisions based on religious beliefs, believes in conspiracy theories about those who don't share their political beliefs, believes, for example, Obama is a Muslim or isn't a valid U.S. citizen, or believes all the crap that Rush, Hannity, etc. pollute the (damn liberal) media with.

I suggest there is no difference.

Stossel has an agenda. He would love for those who don't share his views to not be allowed to vote their views.

 

[TexasJack]

I don't want to take a vote away from anybody, but 50 Senators per state???

 

[Just thinking]

Far too often people take their rights for granted and as a result lend no responsibility (or far too little of it) in exercising them. Take driving, for instance. Do you really think that most folks out there take their driving responsibly? (If you do, please tell me the color of the sky on your planet.) The same goes for jury duty, and yes voting. It's a very serious responsibility ... not just a right. I wish the emphasis on responsibility was taught in civics classes every bit as much as the your-right-to-vote part.

 

[geni]

***.."On her current tour she used John McCain's image in a video clip alongside scences of destruction, global warming, starving children and Adolf Hitler."..***

On her current tour Madonna did something that got some headlines.

YHBT HAND.

 

[fishbob]

Stossel seems to have offended American youth by saying if you are ignorant about the issues then you shouldn't vote. He also believes that registering young people to vote at rock concerts is a lame idea. Judging by their answers to basic questions, Stossel has a point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvl0lqhCVio

There are a whole lot more ignorants (pronounced 'ignernt') than just youth running around out there with the right to vote.
Including some of the candidates.

The odds of preventing these folks from voting are less than the odds that they just forget to vote.

 

[Puppycow]

Far too often people take their rights for granted and as a result lend no responsibility (or far too little of it) in exercising them. Take driving, for instance. Do you really think that most folks out there take their driving responsibly? (If you do, please tell me the color of the sky on your planet.) The same goes for jury duty, and yes voting. It's a very serious responsibility ... not just a right. I wish the emphasis on responsibility was taught in civics classes every bit as much as the your-right-to-vote part.

I endorse this comment.

 

[Cicero]

How is someone who doesn't understand the issues different from one who can't interpret facts, makes decisions based on religious beliefs, believes in conspiracy theories about those who don't share their political beliefs, believes, for example, Obama is a Muslim or isn't a valid U.S. citizen, or believes all the crap that Rush, Hannity, etc. pollute the (damn liberal) media with.

I suggest there is no difference.

Stossel has an agenda. He would love for those who don't share his views to not be allowed to vote their views.

So "Stossel's agenda" is the type of woo you beleive in. Stossel believes voters who are too ignorant to have any informed views should avoid the polls. What a radical concept.

 

[BenBurch]

Stossel seems to have offended American youth by saying if you are ignorant about the issues then you shouldn't vote. ...

It's not right him telling Republicans they should not vote.

 

[Cicero]

It's not right him telling Republicans they should not vote.

Those MTV "Rock the Vote" PSA's targeted Republican youth? Judging from the MTV producer's daughter's question of Clinton, "boxers or briefs?" these young Democrats needed someone to hold their hand all the way to the polls.

 

[Dragoonster]

Far too often people take their rights for granted and as a result lend no responsibility (or far too little of it) in exercising them. Take driving, for instance. Do you really think that most folks out there take their driving responsibly? (If you do, please tell me the color of the sky on your planet.) The same goes for jury duty, and yes voting. It's a very serious responsibility ... not just a right. I wish the emphasis on responsibility was taught in civics classes every bit as much as the your-right-to-vote part.

The irony of course is when high school civics/government classes do teach the responsibility of voting...to citizens who can't vote.

Voting is not a right of all citizens, and it shouldn't suprise anyone that those who aren't given the ability to vote aren't that interested in learning about it. Or that this apathy might continue after 18.