Someone explain to me all of this hate and disdain to celebs that participated in "get out the vote" type drives. I find it pretty dumb that people would celebrate and mock the fact that young people didn't vote as much as some were hoping. I think everyone would agree the more educated voters out there the better...But in the aftermath of Bush's election I've heard a lot of negative things said about people that tried to get people to vote. Even people that stayed pretty neutral and non-partisan. Why?
I thnk it's funny because celebs were trying to pass their agenda on America. Tehy weren't trying to get kids out to vote they were trying to get kids out to vote for Kerry. Free concerts to get kids to register, campus visits to watch political propoganda, free ramen noodels or underwear. People aren't going to vote because a guy on the radio (remember Stern said he would win the election for Kerry), or movie makers (Moore), or Actors (Ashton Kuchar for example) or singers (Bon Jovi and the fat girl from the Dixie Chicks) tell them to or even if false rumors of a draft emerge. They will vote when they want to. I wasn't that interested in voting when I was 21 or 25 because quite honestly I didn't really care I had othe rpriorities (life was too fun than to worry about politics) but the last 2 elections when I was 29 and 33 were important to me, I knew what was important to me. So educate the younger people, maybe some election they will come out in mass. If you can get them to vote congrats, but these entertainment folks just proved they can give away free stuff to young Americans but they couldn't convince them to vote. Most of all celebrities - Entertain me but don't try to sway my vote. Nobody cares what you think politics all we ask is for you to do your thing.
honestly this bothers me means anyone can voice they celebs. . . for them they need to sit down shut up we wanna bottle people into what we want them to be and be at our beck and call Rocket River
You know damn well the Ramen noodles and underwear stuff was a joke. I hope you are just being a dick and don't really believe that Moore was trying to buy votes with Ramen noodles.
Moore was on campuses to spread propoganda. Please tell me you don't beleive he was their as a nable effort just to get kids to vote. Everyone knows why he was there to get kerry elected.
Alice Cooper: “If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we’re morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal.” Alice Cooper also reportedly said “when I read the list of people who are supporting Kerry, if I wasn’t already a Bush supporter, I would have immediately switched. Linda Ronstadt? Don Henley? Geez, that’s a good reason right there to vote for Bush.”
I don't know if it is true or not but I heard that Cameron Diaz, who talked a lot of ****, isn't even registered to vote. I'd love to find out if that is true or not.
P. Diddy would have to multiply Charles Manson's tally by millions in order to follow through on his "vote or die" promise. Hilarious.
I never said he wasn't trying to get people to vote against Bush and you know that's not the point I tried to make. You said he tried to bribe people with noodles and underwear and I'm telling you that was just a joke. For somebody who complains about elitists, you don't seem much different than one if you think that the youth of this country are r****ds who can be bought off with gag prizes. I also don't know about these free concerts, you had to pay to go to a Vote For Change show. As for getting out the youth vote, I guess I can't accurately speak about that as I didn't shirk my civic responsibilities. I voted when I was 18, I voted when I was 20, and I voted again as a 22 year old. In this day and age, when educating yourself about politics only takes a few clicks, there's no excuse for not voting. I don't know the effect of celebs, I imagine they have absolutely none, not negative or positive, just no effect. But this attacking of them as if they are the only group that tries to get people to vote and to vote their way is stupid. Don't you get calls from all kinds of groups during election years? Don't people come knocking on your door to campaign? The only reason you complain is because they don't represent your views. You woudn't complain if Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone went around telling people to vote Bush. You didn't blow a gasket when Curt Schilling told people to vote for Bush on national tv. Why didn't you complain when NASCAR drivers campaigned for Bush?
Originally posted by Oski2005 I never said he wasn't trying to get people to vote against Bush and you know that's not the point I tried to make. You said he tried to bribe people with noodles and underwear and I'm telling you that was just a joke. For somebody who complains about elitists, you don't seem much different than one if you think that the youth of this country are r****ds who can be bought off with gag prizes. I also don't know about these free concerts, you had to pay to go to a Vote For Change show. <b>You're right; it's been proven that they can't be bought off. They still don't care after they've been seduced...</b> As for getting out the youth vote, I guess I can't accurately speak about that as I didn't shirk my civic responsibilities. I voted when I was 18, I voted when I was 20, and I voted again as a 22 year old. In this day and age, when educating yourself about politics only takes a few clicks, there's no excuse for not voting. <b>In 1972 at the tender age of 18, I voted for Richard Nixon. Gig 'em. You are underestimating how challenging it is to get on top of all these issues in this day and time. You are particularly motivated; not everyone is.</b> I don't know the effect of celebs, I imagine they have absolutely none, not negative or positive, just no effect. But this attacking of them as if they are the only group that tries to get people to vote and to vote their way is stupid. Don't you get calls from all kinds of groups during election years? Don't people come knocking on your door to campaign? <b>You are straying from the original point which was about GOTV drives for youth. You have to admit that the Democrats try and use the lure of celebrity far more than do the Republicans.</b> The only reason you complain is because they don't represent your views. You woudn't complain if Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone went around telling people to vote Bush. You didn't blow a gasket when Curt Schilling told people to vote for Bush on national tv. Why didn't you complain when NASCAR drivers campaigned for Bush? <b>Again, you are confusing endorsements with thinly-disguised GETV campaigns.</b>
Regardless of who was urging whom to vote -- or for whom to vote -- the important concept here is the vote. There is something magical about stepping up to a voting booth. I still remember my first time. I knew precisely for whom I wanted to vote at the top of the ticket. However, then I started downward and found I knew nothing about the candidates for state and local offices. There I was, your prototypical deer caught in the headlights. Votes for those offices and referenda were pure guesswork. I was ashamed when I walked out, and I wondered how much I really knew about even the top of the ticket -- my sure thing. From that day forward, I took my voting seriously. I believe that, for millions of novice voters, the experience could well be a similar jolt into reality. Yes, they may screw up one election. No, they won't destroy the nation. Veterans in any activity must start as rookies, so the initial motivation to participate, for whatever reason, is important.
I never thought the celebrity get out the vote drives and celebrity support was going to pay off and was worried about a backlash. The problems with celebrity endorsements of political candidates is that they overshadow the candidates themselves. The big exception to that is if the candidate is a celebrity already like Schwarzenegger and Ventura.
I think a lot of people saw the hypocrisy when most of the celebrites urging young people to vote weren't even registered themselves. I also agree that these people didn't campaign because they wanted voter turnout to be higher. They campaigned to "Get out the vote" so they could get Bush out of office, hoping that young people would accept anything they fed them.
Yep, this is what all 'get out the vote' drives are about. It's more Get Out and Vote for Who We Want You To than anything.