GOP Strategist Recommends Gift Vouchers to Keep College Students From Voting Nov 4th

F.O.LTS · 09-03-2008, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Virginia delegates here this morning heard perhaps one of the more unique and off beat strategies for propelling John McCain to the presidency.

Republicans can keep young voters who support Democratic nominee Barack Obama at home by giving their young relatives and friends gift cards to iTunes and Starbucks that are good only on Nov. 4, election day.

"That's the only way to keep them away from the polls," said Kellyanne Conway, president of The Polling Company, during a breakfast with the delegates at their hotel near the University of Minnesota.

Mrs. Conway told the delegates that Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, can only win if young voters stay home like they usually do in elections.

In other national and statewide races, Republicans "will get their clocks cleaned up and down the ticket," Mrs. Conway said.

How to keep the young from voting - Washington Times - Politics, Breaking News, US and World News

KellyAnne Conway is a GOP strategist and pollster.

Weren't we were keeping the kids out of this?

corranged · 09-03-2008, 06:20 AM

Is this endorsed by McCain, members of his staff, or important donors?

Highly inappropriate.

mommusic · 09-03-2008, 07:27 AM

Now we see the basic difference between Reps & Dems. And why at heart I am a Democrat.

Hunt · 09-03-2008, 07:41 AM

I think it's a step up for the GOP--it's better to keep people from voting by paying them than by lying to them.

marite · 09-03-2008, 07:42 AM

New GOP campaign slogan: "Stop Talking about the Future."

A new voter suppression tactic?

Hunt · 09-03-2008, 07:46 AM

Maybe another GOP slogan might be: "Ignore that man behind the curtain."

Northstarmom · 09-03-2008, 08:07 AM

Wow! I'm passing that info to all of the young people whom I know.

I also posted it on the h.s. board, and recommended that students get involved in the political process by encouraging young people to register and vote. GOP-leaning students should do this, too because their party certainly needs to develop respect for the youth in our society.

garland · 09-03-2008, 08:48 AM

Mammal, F.O.LTS gave the source; it's the Washington Times, a right-leaning newspaper.

mammall · 09-03-2008, 08:49 AM

In that spirit, why don't we start posting the links claiming Sarah's Downs baby is really the offspring of her second daughter. Or that she's a Nazi. Or that McCain was never really a POW - all a hoax?

The irony is that it is kids like mine who are being made to feel quite stressed over their intention of voting for McCain. College campuses are not exactly hospitable to the conservative minded student.

mciver · 09-03-2008, 08:51 AM

Eloquent post, mammall. And you have it correct about why elite liberals are so offended by women having inconvenient children. I thought The Village was supposed to take care of our children anyway, so what's the problem?

As to the selective outrage about Conway's facetious remark: Oh Puleeze, the Democrats have been PAYING black people for years to vote in the inner cities. That's common knowledge and Jesse Jackson is one of the most active facilitators of this practice. Republicans are now doing the reverse, and Democrats are shocked? We better tell Mr. Obama and the Chicago political machine about this, they will be shocked, shocked.......

marite · 09-03-2008, 08:52 AM

mammall: This thread is ONLY about voting. Not about Palin, her kids, the surge, Iraq, terrorism. I normally do not read the Washington Times which is a right-wing rag (I don't read left-wing rags such as The Nation, either, and take NYT editorials with a large grain of salt). But I do not have reason to disbelieve that some republicans made the suggestions that are being reported by the Washington Times. The paper is not out to destroy the McCain/Palin ticket. On the contrary.
I have posted elsewhere that the Republican conventions seems to be filled with older (and overwhelmingly white) delegates, quite a contrast to the Democratic conventions we saw at Denver. If they are representative of the Republican voters, they do have every reason to be concerned about the youth vote.

mammall · 09-03-2008, 08:57 AM

^ Marite - do only non-white people have kids? Not following your train of thought. And if there appear to be few kids at the Republican convention, perhaps that has to do with the fact that school has started most places? But I'm not trying to argue that O has the youth vote. But not the whole youth vote. And I would wager that a greater percentage of the conservative youth will actually manage to cast their votes.

Hunt · 09-03-2008, 08:58 AM

"Oh Puleeze, the Democrats have been PAYING black people for years to vote in the inner cities."

That may be true...isn't it great that this year they won't have to pay them?

Northstarmom · 09-03-2008, 09:09 AM

"And you have it correct about why elite liberals are so offended by women having inconvenient children. "

So now conservatives are delighted that women have "inconvenient" children?

Gosh, I guess I was wrong to think that conservatives were against people having sex without marriage. Maybe it's only the liberals who think that babies shouldn't be having babies -- whether or not those baby parents are married.

marite · 09-03-2008, 09:13 AM

mammall: Your post does not make sense. Where did I say that only non-white people have kids?

What commentators have observed at the Republican convention is that there were a lot of elderly people. And you did not address the fact that the source of "suppress the youth vote" tactic is a right-wing paper. It was too easy shooting the messenger.