I meant to blog right after the debates on Saturday night…then again last night…but I got so enthralled in the Facebook discussions on the debates that I just couldn’t shake myself loose. I must admit, it was pretty shocking for me at first to dive right into the deep end of some of the discussion boards, because some of the people I talked to were very comfortable shedding the niceties of a face-to-face discussion, like: respect for others, good manners, logic, etc. But once I got my sea legs, and got just as comfortable being a mom in the online world as I am in real life, I managed to temper some of the discussions and I actually learned a great deal about what my young Facebook friends think about the Presidential candidates.
I’d like to report that they unanimously support and adore my favorite candidate, John McCain, but the truth is that only 98.9% of them feel that way.
:) Kidding…but seriously, many of them became converts after I endured hours of carpel tunnel pain to teach them online history lessons that Ron Paul’s website didn’t teach them. They had never been previously versed in the parallels between today’s problems with the economy and Iran, and the ones we faced during the Carter years. They didn’t know that the backbone and conviction that President Reagan displayed during the 1980 campaign is what lead to the release of the hostages in Iran on the day he was inaugurated…and that only John McCain has demonstrated that same moxy during the 2008 campaign.
I also found it very interesting that though many political pundits act as though people who take their politics via the web vs. MSM tend to be more liberal…on the Facebook debate site, there were more than double the number of respondents on many of the questions concerning positive aspects of the Republican debate vs. the same questions on the Democrat side. From the sheer number of people logging responses to various polls and the number of comments indicating support for a candidate, it looked like there were more people likely to vote in a GOP primary logged onn than those likely to vote in a Democratic primary.
This is pretty soft data, based on some simple number crunching, but the take away for me was that Republicans should pay much, much more attention to online media vehicles. Even if the youngsters that were out on Facebook this time don’t vote this year, eventually they will vote when they grow up, and now is the time to have a presence in their world and carry our message to their medium of choice.
As for me…I had a blast talking with some of Ron Paul’s infamous trollers. They were spunky, a little mouthy, and could type faster than I could, but all in all, it was a lot of fun trading ideas and thoughts.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
You got a taste of the revolution Jill. I haven’t seen the lastest numbers of who the Facebookers thought did the best in the GOP debate, but Ron Paul was winning about 41% of the vote the last I checked. The youngsters are a lot smarter than people give em credit for. They can see right through the current crop of so called GOP frontrunners. They love Ron’s message of freedom and the Constitution.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
The youngsters are very smart, no doubt, but they seem a bit sheltered and lacking street smarts. In the world of “everybody gets a trophy at the end of soccer season”, they haven’t been taught how to really win. And unfortunately, in the world in which we live, we are going to have to put our dukes up. One of Ron Paul’s followers talked about how RP led the Texas delegation for Reagan in 1980, but what he didn’t understand is that being FOR Reagan, and being LIKE Reagan, are two very different things. Ron Paul is simply too whimpy to cause a revolution of anyone but those afraid of taking a punch in the face, and giving one back. I think he’s a good guy with a lot of hope in his heart, but he’s just not strong enough to be leader of the free world. We need someone who isn’t afraid…we need a brave, undaunted, fire-tested person of real metal…John McCain.
And with that, I’m off to the San Fran Veterans Affairs Commission meeting. God bless America!
January 8th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Kudos are in order for Jill Buck, who staunchly continued to support
John McCain the past few months while his campaign appeared to be
“deader than Kelsey’s Nutmeg”.
Now New Hampshire appears to have caught up with her way of
thinking. We all appreciate Loyalty in politics because it is such a
rare commodity. Jill has that attribute in large quantities.
January 8th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Jill
I’d like to use use your blog to point out that John McCain was endorsed in 2000 by Medal of Honor and 4 time Silver Star recipiant James Stockdale. Although Vice Admiral Stockdale passed away two years ago quietly of Alzhiemers disease in Coronado. I had the privledge of meeting Admiral Stockdale briefly. Reflecting on Admiral Stockdale I believe that it is important to remind people of the acomplishments of Lt John McCain. Silver Star Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
These awards are not granted on a whim or for political motives. They reflect an individual who was able to perform above and beyond the capacity of most human beings under extreme stress. With a large population of servicemen in California at a time of war, political consultants would be wise to exercise extreme disgression when attacking Senator McCains position on torture.