Associated Press: Ron Paul popular because libertarianism is counterculture
Posted on August 5th, 2008 by bile Tags: ABC, Barack Obama, Federal Reserve System, Georgetown University, Hugh Hefner, James Kotecki, John McCain, political newspaper, Ron Paul, Washington, Washington Post, Yahoo, YouTube 1 Comment »Obama has a 2-to-1 lead over McCain among 18-to-34-year-olds, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last week. The same poll gave Obama an 8 percentage point lead among registered voters nationwide. In an AP-Yahoo News poll in July, the two were virtually tied among voters overall.
But does “coolness”_ or the perception of it at least — really matter to young voters?
“I don’t think you can ignore that factor,” said James Kotecki, a 22-year-old political video blogger who achieved fame on YouTube last year after he interviewed former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul in Kotecki’s Georgetown University dorm room.
“What Obama’s been able to do is capitalize on his hipness, at least as far as younger voters go,” said Kotecki, whose video commentaries now appear on Politico.com, the Web site for the Washington political newspaper. “I think it’s not that they don’t support his issues and his policies, but younger voters are more willing to work for him and work passionately for him because he’s someone who resonates more on their wavelength.”
“Coolness” is often associated with youth, but elder status doesn’t automatically signify “uncool,” Kotecki said.
Ron Paul, 72, amassed a considerable following among younger voters, largely because his libertarian message was deemed countercultural, Kotecki said.
“You can certainly be cool at any age,” Kotecki said. “Look at Hugh Hefner. He’ll be cool til the day he dies. But for him and for Ron Paul or anybody who’s elderly and who’s cool, part of it is what they represent that makes them that.”
Largely? Really? I’ve met a lot of Ron Paul supporters. Many of them ‘younger.’ I can’t say that a single one would have said anything about libertarianism being counterculture nor did I get the feeling that was why they were there. Federal Reserve, war, growing police state, 9/11 is what I heard. I’m not saying there weren’t a notable number who joined the bandwagon… but many that did learned a lot and stayed on for serious reasons. I don’t see Obama supporters saying the same thing. In fact the opposite.
