ScoopDaily Email Alerts /
Want to write for Scoop? Apply Now
SD/Zogby Poll: 18-24 Year-Olds Think Obama is Too Passive
Amid talk of healthcare reform, Millennials may be growing dissatisfied with their President’s political stylings.
According to a new ScoopDaily/Zogby poll, a 46% plurality of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 feel Barack Obama’s approach to governing has been too passive — a figure that exceeded national percentages by roughly 7 points.
This consensus — however slight — may correspond to findings in a seperate ScoopDaily/Zogby poll, indicating that 30.9% (to a mere 13.5 %) of the same demographic “strongly approved” of a provision that would make healthcare coverage mandatory for all individuals, and require government to provide coverage to any individual unable to do so.
Few would disagree that the President’s presence on Capitol Hill has, in large part, determined the nature of reform. For better or worse, he’s taken the reins in coordinating — or attempting to coordinate — Democratic and Republican objectives, albeit with questionable success. Yet in …
Popularity: 3% [?]
REFLECTING ON REFORM: MILLENNIAL ATTITUDES
With a vote of 219 to 212, Team 44 sped headlong through the finish line to reclaim their mantle for progressivism and leave Washington’s partisan hoopla in the dust.
But what lessons do Millennials draw from this unequivocal Democratic victory? In 2012 – or even this year’s mid-term elections – which aspect of reform are they likely to recall: its ends or its means?
Here’s a list of Millennial perceptions.
WINNER: BARACK OBAMA
A well-played Executive order matched red meat with Team Obama’s inspirational rhetoric. It legitimized his cry for change – one that invigorated Millennials in particular – and stuck it to roughly 1/3 of 18-24 year olds who, according to a 2009 ScoopDaily/Zogby poll, believed the President was “abandoning many of the progressive causes he championed during his campaign.” Amidst rumors of death panels and a 21st century socialist “takeover”, his remarkable accomplishment thwarted the best-laid plans of …
Popularity: 2% [?]
Is Black History Month Still Relevant?
It’s no secret that our history of racial conflict has left a lasting impression on modern American discourse.
And why shouldn’t it?
From the unconstitutional expulsion of the Cherokees to the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II, our country’s political narrative has long been scarred by the same legislative and institutional discrimination that haunt its citizens today.
Yet 147 years since Lincoln freed the slaves, and a little over a year since we inaugurated our first black President, many Americans of all ages, races, and political persuasions are questioning whether Black History Month — an 84 year tradition founded by US historian Carter G. Woodson — has outlived its commemorative relevance.
For baby-boomers who lived and picketed in the tumultuous 60s, the implications of eliminating the 28-day observance are unthinkable. Given their unprecedented generational activism in the area of Civil …
Popularity: 2% [?]
Debunking Millennial Disillusionment
Barry’s had a bad month.
For Christmas, he got a pair of PETN-laden underwear. For New Years? A Haitian Katrina. Top that with New England’s post-Kennedy throwdown, and you’ve got yourself a minor political disaster.
It’s no wonder that Team Obama — now violently thrown back in the swim of things — may very well break out the brass knuckles by channeling the same tough-talking alter ego Americans didn’t know they wanted. Yet in forfeiting middle-ground territory – and his campaign’s promise to kick partisanship cold turkey– will the Administration also lose young constituents to generational disillusionment?
Maybe. But if exigent circumstances do force the President’s hand – ending his reign as a political sui generis – it’s Millennials themselves who should take the blame.
Disillusionment implies, at least connotatively, that someone other than young Americans is responsible for the postponement – or reversal – of political progress. Yet this transfer…
Popularity: 3% [?]
The American Talk Show: End of An Era
I’ve never really liked Jay Leno.
Maybe it’s the retro-skunk hairdo. Or maybe I just have a soft spot for cigar-puffing Rottweiler puppets. I don’t know.
At any rate, when fondly reminiscing about an era before predatory i-bankers, Jersey fist-pumping, and the growing possibility of being blown up by an Underwear bomber, I’m more likely to recall Coco’s whip-smart witticisms and Triumph’s trashtalk over any jokes delivered by Leno.
Two decades later, both talk show legends wander the annals of anachronism. Young Millennials – once cosseted by the 90s bubble – are more fluent in market toxicity than Sir-Mix-A-Lot. And the lose-lose scuffle between Coco and Jay Leno has NBC struggling to reconcile a generational schism that may swallow them – and their quarreling stars – whole.
As the Aughties sunset, exiling both Kings of Prime Time television, a next generation of torch-bearers prepares to ascend the throne.
Enter Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart …
Popularity: 3% [?]
