Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Children Are The Future
Weekly Reader polls the students every four years to see who they would like to see as president. And the students have predicted the winner in every single election save one. (1992, Perot screwed it up for everyone) This year they went for Obama with 55% and McCain with 43%. I guess we'll see next week if they were right this time.
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Children, if I remember correctly (since I haven't been Weekly Reader age in 50 years), mirror their parents' choice.
It's most likely true, but hey we can hope that they children are only "voting" this way because of the 150% more t.v. ads on Obama than there is of McCain.
McCain / Palin '08
-Conservative Teenager
www.conservativeteenager.com
I think kids are genuinely excited about this election, no matter who they support. But I think kids are excited about Obama because he is hopeful. When I listen to McCain, I hear a very angry and cynical man. I can't picture him energizing a child. I think that's ironic because conservatives are so anti-intellectual, and kids don't have the advanced brain functioning to be all that intellectual. And yet, Obama's message of hope seems to capture the children, because kids are naturally optimistic. It's easy to get behind the happy guy.
So I'm not too quick to dismiss this poll or the Kids Pick the President results, which Obama one by 2%. I would have agreed with you two in previous election years, but not this time.
But the children have always been right. (I would argue that they were probably right in 1992 as well but for the Perot anomaly) I would guess that Obama's ads are not running on Nick or Disney, so they are probably exposed to the same ads as everyone else. I can't really tell you why the kids get it right, but they do.
Kids probably know their parents' stances on the issues. They at least know who they're parents are voting for. Those opinions and values are passed down from the parents to the children. So I think listening to their parents is part of the reason. They're not necessarily just absorbing their parents' views. The parents might just know how to explain their own views in a way that kids can understand, so their parents' views make more sense. But I don't think this is the case this time.
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