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The New Fabricated Republican War: Millennials
FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012 file photo People pass the signs telling of the requirement for voters to show an acceptable photo ID to vote as they head into the the Penndot Drivers License Center in Butler, Pa. Some political momentum could be on the line in a judge s forthcoming ruling on Pennsylvania's tough new voter identification law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson is expected to rule Tuesday. That s just five weeks before voters decide whether to re-elect President Barack Obama, a Democrat, or replace him with Mitt Romney, a Republican.Credit: AP

The New Fabricated Republican War: Millennials

First it was a Republican war on women, now it's a war on millenials.

First Republicans were accused of Waging a “War on Women,” now, apparently, they are turning their wrath on millennials.

In her recent column for the Washington Post, Catherine Rampell, argues that Republicans are waging a war on millennials by trying to block them at the polls. Rampell argues that Republicans are trying to block millennials because they feel threatened by them politically.

Rampell argues that legislation which has passed, that includes voter-ID laws and legislation which curbs same-day registration and early voting, is aimed at blocking millennials. Rampell also calls voter ID fraud an “imagined scourge.”

Voters wait in North Miami, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Voters wait in North Miami, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

However, Rampell offers no proof to back up her claim that voter ID fraud is “imagined.” In addition, while voter ID-laws and similar legislation may be enacted, this legislation does not target millennials alone. This legislation will affect all voter blocks, not just millennials. So Rampell cannot logically argue that Republicans are waging a war on millennials, using this argument.

Rampell calls this “voter suppression.”

Let’s assume for a minute that Rampell, is correct, and Republicans are “suppressing voters.” Even if Rampell is right in saying that Republicans are “suppressing voters,” they are suppressing all voters and not just targeting millennials, which is Rampell’s entire argument.

Rampell argues that so-called targeted populations have shifted from primarily racial and ethnic groups, to “my college-age brethren.” Well, I happen to be one of Rampell’s college-aged brethren, and I do not feel targeted or blocked by Republicans. If I feel targeted by anyone it’s the Obama administration. Amongst my many college-aged friends, and classmates, I would be hard pressed to name one that has given even an inkling of feeling targeted by Republicans.

“We millennials may be fickle in our loyalties, generally distrustful of government institutions and unaligned with any political party, but our generation’s motley, liberal-to-libertarian-leaning ideological preferences still threaten red-state leadership,” says Rampell.

There are a couple of points that I want to make here about Rampell’s statement.

First, Rampell is right when she says that millennials are generally unaligned with any political party. According to a recent poll by Reason Magazine:

“A majority of millennials, 52 percent, identify themselves as independents when first asked…Millennials don’t identify with the political parties and don’t have much confidence in them. When asked who they trust most to handle a series of policy issues, young Americans say they trust 'neither' party to handle 12 of 15 issues surveyed.”

According to a recent Pew Research poll, half of millennials now politically identify as independents.

Secondly, I am not sure that Rampell really understands the traditional and current meanings of liberal and libertarian. A classical liberal is what we define today as a libertarian, because the word liberal has been hijacked by the progressive left. Today’s meaning of the word liberal generally refers to someone who aligns politically and ideologically with the progressive left. Rampell is right to a degree. Those who lean libertarian do threaten red-state leadership, however she insinuates that they therefore support blue-state leadership. However, libertarians are more likely to support red leadership than blue.

Another example Rampell uses is a case in Maine:

“In Maine, the secretary of state investigated 200 university students for voter fraud; he found no evidence of wrongdoing but then sent a threatening letter telling them that they must either obtain a Maine driver’s license and register their vehicles or cancel their state voter registrations.”

While Rampell argues that Maine’s secretary of state was "targeting millennials," to try and block them from voting, it is more likely that the secretary of state was taking measures to prevent future voter fraud.

Rampell also attempts to support her argument using North Carolina legislation which has not passed.

“Another state Senate bill last year would have effectively raised taxes on parents of students who registered to vote where they attend college,” according to Rampell’s column. Rampell uses the phrase “would have" indicating that the legislation did not pass. So it’s irrelevant to Rampell’s argument because it’s not law. Also, Rampell gives no information about whether this legislation was partisan or bipartisan, thereby insinuating that it was a Republican sponsored bill.

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012 file photo People pass the signs telling of the requirement for voters to show an acceptable photo ID to vote as they head into the the Penndot Drivers License Center in Butler, Pa. Some political momentum could be on the line in a judge s forthcoming ruling on Pennsylvania's tough new voter identification law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson is expected to rule Tuesday. That s just five weeks before voters decide whether to re-elect President Barack Obama, a Democrat, or replace him with Mitt Romney, a Republican.Credit: AP In this Sept. 26, 2012 file photo People pass the signs telling of the requirement for voters to show an acceptable photo ID to vote as they head into the the Penndot Drivers License Center in Butler, Pa. Some political momentum could be on the line in a judge s forthcoming ruling on Pennsylvania's tough new voter identification law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson is expected to rule Tuesday. That s just five weeks before voters decide whether to re-elect President Barack Obama, a Democrat, or replace him with Mitt Romney, a Republican.Credit: AP

In Katie Kieffer’s new book, "Let Me Be Clear," which you can read my review of here, Kieffer lays out her case against President Barack Obama explaining exactly how he has lied to millennials in many areas including: college, guns, and health care to name some of the highlights.

Recently I was conversing with Kieffer on Twitter about Rampell’s column and Kieffer pointed out that millennials have no problem showing ID to get into a club. Many will even go to the trouble of obtaining a fake ID so they can partake without getting caught.

Ironically, Rampell points out in her column that North Carolina no longer allows 16 and 17 year olds to fill out voter registration forms early so that they are automatically registered when they become of age.

I recently turned 21 and thus had to renew my driver's liscense. Generally you can renew your license up to 90 days prior to your birthday. However I had to wait until two weeks before my birthday, because I was turning 21. Similarly, this is the very reason why North Carolina made the decision to stop allowing early voter registration as allowing it could potentially lead to a surge of voter ID fraud.

Rampell claims that North Carolina has been a primary target of Republicans because the millennial voting block is a strong threat to Republicans in that state.

North Carolina seems to be a primary target of Rampell’s. Her final argument, and her last attack on North Carolina, is a recent case, where college students have filed a lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, claiming age discrimination.

The New York Times, reported on this lawsuit:

"Over the past decade, Republicans have campaigned to tighten rules for voters, including requirements for photo ID, in the name of preventing fraud. Democrats have countered that the real purpose of those laws is to make voting more difficult for people who are likely to vote Democratic."

This conflicts with Rampell’s statement that the millennial vote is of little consequence to either party.

Rampell is talking out of both sides of her mouth. First, she says that millennials, are being attacked by the Republicans and in the same sentence says that the millennial vote is of little consequence to either party because of low turnout.

“Republican lawmakers may feel threatened by the political proclivities of millennials, but the truth is, aside from 2008, young people are not usually much of a concern to either party because our turnout rates are so poor. Of all age groups, Americans 18 to 29 consistently have the lowest participation rates — even in the 2008 election, when our generation was galvanized around an unusually inspiring presidential candidate promising hope and change,” says Rampell.

I don't think Rampell is going to win very many supporters to her argument, by telling her target audience that their vote doesn't really matter. In addition she destroyed her argument by saying that even though Republicans are attacking millennials at the polls, their vote is of little consequence to either party.

This also contradicts Rampell’s argument that the millennial voter block is a large threat to republicans in North Carolina. So one must beg the question as to why Rampell is so upset about this alleged war on millennials, if the millennial vote doesn’t really matter anyway, as she claims it doesn’t.

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