Bush Does Better With College Students

[peterh]

<http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3296038,00.html>

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush has more support among college students than the general public, according to a new poll that also says students have lost trust in Bush over the last year.
The poll done for the Harvard University Institute of Politics found that 61 percent of college students approve of the job done by Bush - about 10 points higher than the president's approval rating in several recent polls of the general population.
But the students indicated they also have concerns about the president's policies, with 86 percent saying the Bush administration has been hiding something or not telling the truth about Iraq.
The poll of 1,202 college students nationwide was taken Oct. 3-12 and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.


Who’d they poll….The benevolent order of fraternity jocks…..

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. They're all going to be millionaires some day...

...and therefore find his tax policies attractive.

Little do they know....

[Serial Mom]

16. this may be true

seems a lot of kids at college are from "well off" families who give their kids the college education along with anything else they want! College educations are becoming more and more difficult for the average person to obtain.

One of my dem friends has two siblings who are very wealthy and changed their views from dem to repuke around the raygun time when their business began to flourish. The now are full fledged repukes and you cannot discuss politics with them because they get so defensive. They have given their kids everything - from cars, to college (pulling strings to get one kid into a mediocre school - his grades were not good enough to be accepted on his own), to houses, to high paying jobs in the family business, to beginning to furnish the "nursery", to anything!

They don't have to earn anything or work their way up the ladder - sorta like dubya!

But, you are right . . little do they know.

[absolutezero]

64. why don't they come to njit?

we have a huge population fo muslims and forgeiners that HATE the prick. I only know of about 4 kids that actually like him....even some buddies of mine in the reserves say they can't stand him.

But they have to keep their mouths shut because military personel saying anything unrepuklican is considered "contempt of command" and carries a prison sentence

[saigon68]

77. They are the fuckers who dodged the draft in my time

while a lot of poor Blacks, whites and hispanics went to their deaths to prop up mcdonnell douglas boeing etc.

[Bake]

54. They all WANT to be millionaires some day ...

Or, they all THINK they're going to be millionaires some day.

BAke

[SahaleArm]

60. Did they take this poll at Bob Jones?

Or Liberty?

I can't believe this is reflective of any major university; well maybe Yale:)

[fujiyama]

72. At a Yale mock election in '00...

Bush got less votes than Nader...

[SahaleArm]

73. Say no to Yalees.

Bush, Dean, Lieberman, and Kerry all went to Yale:)

[durutti]

66. There's Going to Be a Massive Surplus

A massive surplus of people with college degrees, that is.

This will cause the young people to become "reproletarianized" and thus more progressive.

[Epoch]

2. BAH!

I tell you, I go to St. Mary's College in So. MD. Out of 1800 students, I could probably givew you about 100 who like Bush. The rest of our rabid in our hatred for the bastard. Our Dean group is 130 people strong, and our other activist groups like SEAC are huge!

Bush has no support among students here that's for sure...

Epoch
Fire the Liar

[belab13]

46. good for you, when the revolution ensues we're counting on you

and your demographic. keep up the good fight. just like the media, these polls are being manipulated by the powers that be.

[La_Serpiente]

3. College Students are just "misinformed"

Most College Students don't care about social issues and instead would rather want to party and guzzle up.

[belab13]

45. I didn't feel that way when I was in college, not so long ago...

[ixion]

4. poll taken at the Young Republicans meeting, no doubt

Unless things have changed dramatically since I was in college, there is no way that this is accurate.

[Atlant]

5. That'll change in 2005 when he starts drafting them. (NT)

[Cocoa]

6. it's those liberal professors

they've taken over our colleges and are poisoning our kids' minds!!!

[_Wayne_]

7. Note College STUDENTS, not College GRADUATES

Big difference...

[aquart]

35. Yup. Wait'll they find out those diplomas don't get jobs.

And the student loans still need to be paid back.

[edzontar]

8. I hate to admit this, but i think this is true....

I teach at a University in Central PA, and the students seem to be getting more conservative by the year.

They also seem less prepared, almost incredibly naive, and very afraid of the terrible world they are about to enter.

Add to that the success the conservatives have had in appearing "cool" to these kids---where liberals are careful and try to be fair about different opinions, the wingnuts come on with all their smugness and attitude.

This especially appeals to the very unsophisticated, undereducated, hormone-and-alchohol-addled minds of adolescent boys- but also even to the girls, aespecially the dopey ones who achive their moment of fame by holding up their blouses in those "Girls Gone Wild" videos.

If this trend continues, I fear we are doomed.

[teryang]

57. I hope you aren't talking about Penn State

Are you?

[Voltaire99]

71. I suspect it's true, too

Other anecdotal evidence from friends who teach at a major university confirms what you say.

Let's consider as well the testimony of professors (quoted last year in a NY Times mag piece) who've tried to get their students to question the war and hit a brick wall of conservative reaction.

The culture wars have not gone well, alas. We may be doomed, as you fear, or we may just muddle on a bit, too. But under these conditions we are unlikely to flourish socially, politically, morally, intellectually. We'll probably make better guns and better rock videos, without knowing the difference.

Any kind of critical liberal ethos now belongs to an earlier age; this seems to be the hour of the Fox News mind and of the Bush Youth.

[JI7]

9. so they are "in" college now ?

does not account for those who don't go because of their financial situation and have to work as a result or just can't pay for college, all because of bush ruining the economy. also, there are some colleges which are like those run by jerry falwell which i don't consider legitimate.

[zbdent]

10. What? Intellectuals??? Don't they realize that Rush told them to

be stupid???

[Neutrino]

11. Bush as Kitch is cool, so superficially they back-slap

each other. How they really feel depends on their Major.

[Neutrino]

12. oops, that's Kitsch (sp)

sry, shud read frst bfr pstg

[Kolesar]

13. We can change that in one year

They are obviously ignorant of what is going on. With some amount of effort, activists could reach them with the real story on the war, the economy, and the environment. Think of this as an opportunity to cut into the Bush lead in a big way.

I am sure that there are faculty at every university who would like to assist us, also.

[Ksec]

14. My theory.

Most of these kids come from homes that are paying for their education . Theyre hearing Dad bitch about his taxes and how he hates those Dems who keep raising them. (we all know what reality is with all the grants being cut by rethugs) They pick up on this and think Dad is right without being educated enough to know whats really going on in this country.

[twilight]

15. bingo!

Same deal here - I live near a college town and they couldn't even manage to get a damn table set-up for the Democratic Student Union yet the pukes had theirs of course and yep, you got it, the rich Daddy in L.A. is paying the tab for this little party game going on around here.

I went to a Kucinich meeting thinking their might be A FEW around but no, only one rather arrogant male student showed up who was quick to tell the organizers of the meeting exactly what they should do. It went over like a lead ballon.

No one cares to take the time to set-up a table at a University anymore because they are for the most part having their bills paid and their handy credit card by rich Daddy puke.

:grr:

:dem: :kick:

[progressiverealist]

17. lots and lots and lots of college fundies these days

I am a professor at a state university and you'd be surprised at how *HUGE* groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and the like are. They are quite politically active and 100% repug. Last election they put up flyers saying the following:

Election Year Reminder:
Christians Vote Republican
No If's, And's or But's

(apostrophes were theirs)

[twilight]

21. shows you the mentality ...

They don't even have a grip on proper punctuation do they? What a bunch of losers I am ashamed to have to say. I don't think I would have graduated from college with that those type of skills! Nor should they!

Great, just great and they use Jesus as their prop. How absolutely disgusting. No doubt they'll all rot in hell. What goes around comes around ...

:dem:

On edit: Maybe they'll change their small minds quickly when they receive that draft notice next year!!!!!!

[0007]

53. Did Lynee Cheney & William Bennett

come to your school, and how big is it, because it isn't what I'm hearing.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

18. Where did they poll at??? Bob Jones University???

.

[progressiverealist]

22. I'm telling you, there are a LOT of fundies at PUBLIC universities

their fundy "praise meetings" are just big social events for the socially inept.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

24. I was being sarcastic about Bob Jones Univ.

I am sure that the state schools have a bunch of fundies too!

[atreides1]

58. It's Too Bad..

...they don't use some of that excess energy and take their sorry chickenhawk asses down to the nearest recruiting office.

As long as punks like these fail to back up their talk, with action, in my humble opinion they are cowards using their religion to cover the yellow stripe down their backs.

[denverbill]

19. Must be those goddamned liberal professors filling their heads.

Frankly, I don't think most college students, I said MOST mind you, give a damn about politics. Girls, beer, football, and Survivor are probably more meaningful pursuits to them. They really won't care until a draft is imposed, and then, they will care a LOT.

[twilight]

25. no they worship "the Terminator" ...

These are the people that the State of California ended up losing to in the recall. They all voted for Ahnuld the Terminator. They like that pumped up crap. They obviously vote for it too. This was one of the main groups targeted during the recall - the young people .... oh ahnuuuuuuullllldddddd!!!!! OH!!!!!!

:kick:

[diplomats]

20. This isn't really a surprise

I've seen many polls that show Bush is strongest among the youngest voting bloc. (I know they were the most gung-ho about the Iraq war.) He does worst among the oldest. The good news is, older voters turn out in greater numbers, so that should help us in 2004.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

23. Maybe a draft will help change the minds of the young ones!!!

Yes, maybe we need to make these kids learn responibility and learn about the real world, something they know nothing about!

[twilight]

26. I agree

I ran into some recently here because there are stacks of them nearby. One "couple" or whatever they were are living in a van with a baby. I mentioned voting to them and they were like oh vote? Why should I vote when I have a happy life surfing around on my skateboard and having such great fun?

Then I could see a look of concern appear across the brow of the young woman with the baby. She wanted to have more soon, but ... she then said she was worried that if the baby got sick, what would she do and was it really wise to have another one right now like her girlfriend just did! Good God!

These young people need a wake-up call fast before everyone of them ends up in Iraqinam!

:kick:

[MattNC]

27. or maybe

you don't know what you're talking about

[PROGRESSIVE1]

28. Let me clarify this: Most young people supported this war....

in Iraq, the generation before that had experienced the horrors of war know the price that must be paid! It's easy for someone to say let's go to war when they do not have to fight it!

Most young people have little/no perspective on life!

[twilight]

29. its also easy to say I support the war

and most of them don't even bother to vote!!!! :grr: :grr: :grr:

You are right no perspective on life .... where's my skateboard and my hackey sack? They'll have to learn the hard way I suppose.

:dem:

[The_Gopher]

30. i had a student say the day after the war started....

"i think it's good that we're kicking someone's ass."

i had to bite my tongue, but other students stepped up and let her know just how stupid a statement that was.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

32. I saw a some disturbing T-Shirts, in northern Massachussetts!!!

Such "great" slogans as:

"Kick Their Ass, Take Their Gas"
"America Bombs the World"
"True Americans support President Bush"

:puke:

[progressiverealist]

37. War to these kids is like a combination between a football game

and a video game. They haven't yet figured out that REAL PEOPLE DIE!

[ikojo]

76. IF most college students support Bush and the war on Iraq it is

because demographically they come from more well off families. Face it Bush has a lot of support among the middle class as well. Many middle class people view themselves as pre rich so when Bush gives tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the rich they think that they will benefit one day because they are destined to be rich.

These kids hear this talk of get the "right" degree and you can write your own paycheck upon graduation. Being children of the Raygun revolution all they have heard is stories of welfare cheats and how taxes are theft.

Also, many kids don't personally know anyone who is or has served in the military. It has been a "volunteer" military for 30 years now. Most enlistees come from the poor and working-classes. Most college students DO NOT come from the poor and working-classes.

I attended a state university during the Raygun years and heard more than one kid talk of how his/her parents took out student loans only to use the money for investments. They really didn't need the money. Or parents took the loans out to buy cars for their kids. I heard this stuff. Incidentally many of the students at this school came from the North Chicago suburbs. Most were not politically active. This school is located in the area represented by Lane Evans of Illinois.

[goobergunch]

43. And those of us that didn't support the war? (n/t)

[Chovexani]

31. Which college students?!

All the college students I know hate his guts. Where the hell did they poll, Regent University?

[twilight]

34. believe it or not ...

The ones I have been discussing are students in Arcata at Humboldt State and College of the Redwoods! GOD SAVE US!!!

:kick:

[aquart]

33. Draft!

Let's weed those weenies.

[peterh]

36. My daughter is in Switzerland….

Going to school at Franklin College for International Relations and I’m happy to report that she is getting a whole different perspective (as she should be) with respect to the U.S. and it’s foreign policies. I’m biting the bullet on tuition, but the experience and knowledge she comes back with hopefully will go a long way in her development….

In my utopian world, wasted tax dollars for war could be better utilized in affordable “study abroad” programs where the humanistic aspect in everyone might stand a better chance of blossoming.

[AlabamaYankee]

38. Far too many students are conservative

It's such a shame to see young minds cemented in a conservative mindset. My son is at UNC Charlotte, and sometimes feels pretty lonely among the reflexively conservative students. But he does the editorial cartoons for the student paper, so he gets his veiwpoints across.

Here at Auburn, the College Dems have actually seen a significant increase in membership, so it ain't all bad news.

[hippiechick]

39. Hey, what a role model !

Schlep your way to an MBA - party, drink, play hazing gags on people ... break a few laws .... and end up pRezident 30 years later without ever having a real job ...

What's not to like ???



:hippie:

[ramapo]

42. So distressing

I remember how stunned I was when so many young people were for Reagan. The fantasy continues. How can they think that Bush* policies are best for them?

[Judi Lynn]

40. It would seem they've resisted education sucessfully.

Congratulations are in order. Maybe they, too, can become pREsidents.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. These are the students who were born

after Reagan was elected. They've been exposed to Repiggie propaganda all their lives.

They don't remember a time when peace and justice were considered GOOD things.

[goobergunch]

44. I'm disappointed in a lot of posts in this thread

The prevailing attitude seems to be: "The young people don't like us, so screw them." That's not the way that we're going to win people over.

I've noticed that most political campaigning is directed at older people. Then people complain about young people's apathy. The Repukes seem to be doing a better job at trying to get younger people involved. It's time we made an effort.

[xchrom]

61. what you think there are no young people here?

have you been to any the of the anti-war demonstrations?
i think there are plenty of young people who are anti-bush.
but they're not going to find them in podunk u., alabama.

[sleipnir]

47. NO, NO, NO You've all got it WRONG!!

I'm saying this as a recent college grad and a friend to many current college students all over the country. It's not that the campuses are right-wing indoctrination systems, it's more basic than that. Bush's numbers are high because, and here it is, COLLEGE STUDENTS TODAY ARE TOO BUSY TO KEEP UP WITH THE NEWS 24-7!!!! This is why Bush polls high, I'm always having to explain PNAC, Iraq, and all that too many liberal students, because they are too busy with school to read hours on end each night, like we often do here. So, of course Bush polls high, because a majority of college students don't know better. If I spent as much time reading political articles online, posting on DU, and watching TV News, as I do today, I would have tanked in college. Today's college world is so busy with work, jobs, outside activites (and of course parties) that you really have about 1-2 hours to yourself each night. Those students are going to give you a, "yeah, sure he's doing fine" statement as opposed to the angry public. I was shocked at the amount of free time I had on my hands after graduation, I'm much more aware politically today than I was, say, two years ago. I strongly believe this is true for many, many, of today's college students.

That's my take, feel free to respond. But, remember, Occam's Razor, and my answer is the simplist.

[fujiyama]

74. I'm tankin college right now...

as we speak... :-)

Anyways, a lot of my own observations are that most people just don't care very much about politics, government affairs, etc...

They care about sex...and not a whole lot more (oh and getting drunk), and maybe a quiz or exam every now and then.

Granted, that's not all people. Some do care and are passionate about it. I've seen a few anti war demonstrations, speeches denouncing the war, etc. My experience has been different because I go to a urban university with a large minority population and many I meet are not so crazy about Bush...though politics is rarely brought up within many of the people I know (partly cuz I'm a an engineering major and many of my friends have arrived somewhat recently)..

Still, another thing that has shaken up this generation isd 9/11...and the same propaganda that convinced many other age/demographic groups Saddam was behind 9/11 has permeated through this group as well.

Plus, I would say that republicans have been better organized overall, and their constant whining over the years that "they're not represented" has paid off. People are convinced their victims (and they blame liberals for this mentality and ridicule minority groups) or that they're "persecuted" or "ridiculed" because of their conservative beliefs.

[tabasco]

48. Only a matter of time.

Before reality hits them like a load of bricks. If they support a militaristic regime, they will soon be infantrymen.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

49. RNC Has PAID college organizers going from campus to campus recruiting.

No fucking wonder. If David Dukes spent the cash, he too, could poll as popular at Grambling.

I'm sorry, but the PS system has produced a politically ignorant generation waiting to be led by MTV soundbites. (Not everyone, but certainly a majority).

[Kat45]

50. Two thoughts: They'll change their tune when there's a draft,

and, what the fuck is wrong with kids these days?

[goobergunch]

51. Post #44

Outreach, not abuse, is what is needed.

[Dork]

52. Draft?

I think their poorer peers will be the ones getting drafted. The ones who aren't putting Bush stickers on the SUVs that mommy and daddy bought for them. The ones who aren't in college.

[TEXASYANKEE]

55. And I've heard ...

He polls especially high with 2nd graders (who, let's face it, are closer to his educational level).

[teryang]

56. Where was this poll taken?

Private preppy U where the tuition is over 20K?

[Kade]

59. Bush-Shit (with apologies to shit)

Any Poli. Sci., International Relations, History, or Philosophy major who has any real grasp of thier field and its context in global politics should know to despise Bush and his cronies. Obviosuly this is Repug trash trying to convince America that "if Am.'s best/smartest Univ. students (sorry Yale) like Bush...then so should you!!!" What complete nonesense. I'm sure that polling a Harvard Dept. is such a fair and un-biased sample of how college undergrads feel about Bush. <sarcasm off>



-Kade

[kwolf68]

62. Hate to agree

I am a returning college student and many of the college students of today are not idealistic, thought provoking, world pondering types of the years gone by.

They are spoiled. They walk around campus with cell phones like the world would stop without one.

Many college students of today are the product of the Raygun revolution. The offspring of greed, materialism, shallow meaning in life and no ideals.

In one of my class the professor asked pertaining to a stastical question were Liberals or Conservatives more likely to graduate collge. The only thing said was by two right wing males who opined about the glory of the right. Even I-Mr. Ill take you on- didn't say a damn thing.

Progressives have either been eliminated or they choose to suppress their vision, because the reich speaks with so much more vigor. It is really time to take these people on again.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

63. Thanks to Rush and the vocal wing-nuts, many think it is soooo

uncool to be a liberal.
'
They don't think much beyond that. Libs are the vast unwashed who want to take their (well, Mom and Dad's) money. /sarcasm off

[Frito]

65. As a student

I am here at Western Michigan U. I see things as being well split. The problem is that it is easy to hop on the bandwagon. I know a lot of people, even liberals, that are still on the 911 high. I actually had a friend that has almost exactly the same views as me say about the war in Iraq. "They hit us, we can't let them get away with it." Then I asked him what the hell he was talking about. He had actually thought that Iraq had caused 911. I talked him down and got him thinking along the lines of reality again.

Though ignorance is only some of it. Some of it is the religious aspect. Those campus cults are certainly not going to tell you to vote for a democrat, they kill babies you know...

Then add to it that poor farm brats like me are rare. I saw a bloody BMW and a Mercades today on my WALK to campus. Now I don't know where these kids are getting the money... but they are too damn pretty to be working for it.

But still there is hope. Most of the people I know are liberal here. But then again me friends and I don't hang out with a lot of repugs. I attended a couple of pretests last spring while a counter protest, sadly about twice the size of it marched up and mocked the group I was with.

[durutti]

67. Student Loans!

Jesus! The GOP's the last group of people who are going to do anything about soaring tuition.

[Frito]

68. I'm feeling the pain

And I have three years of law school looking me in the face after next semester.

[leesa]

69. OK. Please tell me how 86% don't trust him but they approve of him?

Clearly they are employing misleading/biased questions, because that simply does not compute...unless they really enjoy being lied to.

[Thor_MN]

70. I bet he does even better with high school and elementary school students

He's got a lot more in common with them than adults.

[fujiyama]

75. My friend's mom is a 2nd grade teacher...

and one day she was asking about the president...and one of the answers she recieved was that Gore is the president...My friend and I thought that was great...There is some hope after all for the future!