CAMPAIGN 2008

The Vanishing Male Voter

Why men don't make it to the ballot box.

By Tony Dokoupil | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Oct 17, 2008

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: Concerned Canadian @ 10/30/2008 12:46:45 PM

    Well..it???s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Barack Hussein Obama can't be trusted with the economy.

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Barack Hussein Obama is naive with foreign policy.

    Well..it???s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim.

    Well..it???s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Barack Hussein Obama doesn't live in "Mr. Rogers"
    neighbourhood.

    Well..it???s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Barack Hussein Obama bought the media networks.

    Well..it???s proven beyond a reasonable doubt that African Americans are voting for Obama only because he's Black.

    Well..it???s proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama cannot pay for his 1,000 promises without raising everybody's taxes!

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama has ACORN trying to steal the election for him!

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama is no Martin Luther King.

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama believes in Marxism.

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama says a lot but says nothing!

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama is sympathetic with terrorists!

    Well..its proven beyond a reasonable doubt Barack Hussein Obama only spoke the truth with "Joe The Plumber???

    On Tuesday...Nov 4....I'm getting my popcorn ready and watch how many dumb Americans vote Obama.

  • Posted By: haynessemperfi @ 10/27/2008 10:43:00 PM

    C-SPAN THIRD PARTY DEBATE

    http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/includes/templates/library/flash_popup.php?pID=281952-1&clipStart=&clipStop=

    C-SPAN THIRD PARTY VP DEBATED NOVEMBER 2

  • Posted By: eldejota @ 10/24/2008 1:41:19 PM

    To everybody reading this: lets inspire everyone to vote, share one of your million reason to do it in this site: http://www.amillionreasonstovote.com

  • Posted By: LsPr @ 10/23/2008 12:02:32 AM

    I won't vote anymore. For whom would I vote? Every four years it's another attempt at locating the lowest common denominator as a potential candidate, stick them in front of an American electorate that appears to have the educational level of a six year old, and claim "this is our best". LOL ...

  • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/22/2008 4:45:49 PM

    FactCheck.Org is owned by the Annenberg group of Chicago! Talk about a conflict of interest! And Obama has been telling people on the trail to check out the site to verify his opponents claims. Funny, every time that he endorsed something, it turns out to be a part of his spin machine! Like he raised objections in the primaries when Indiana required photo I.D. to vote. He Protested that It took away people's right to vote! I
    knew then and there that he was up to no good! America, wake up from the MASS HYPNOSIS!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWTs1YyhFRg&feature=related

  • Posted By: toneyal @ 10/21/2008 7:35:50 PM

    Election 2008: The short story

    Once upon a time:

    In August 2008 one of the pending presidential candidates
    was "puffied" (a threatening letter with some unidentified
    powder was received).

    A lot of press exposure was given to this event.

    In late September and October 2008 a lot of American Citizens
    who were FED UP with the political systems in the U.S. started
    puffing all the candidates. Their letters said: "Obama Rules".

    These American Citizens passed this story on to their
    friends and neighbors.

    By November President Bush declared it a national emergency
    and shut down the 2008 elections.

    Bush is still the President.

    The End

    www.saps08.net

  • Posted By: toneyal @ 10/21/2008 7:35:18 PM

    Election 2008: The short story

    Once upon a time:

    In August 2008 one of the pending presidential candidates
    was "puffied" (a threatening letter with some unidentified
    powder was received).

    A lot of press exposure was given to this event.

    In late September and October 2008 a lot of American Citizens
    who were FED UP with the political systems in the U.S. started
    puffing all the candidates. Their letters said: "Obama Rules".

    These American Citizens passed this story on to their
    friends and neighbors.

    By November President Bush declared it a national emergency
    and shut down the 2008 elections.

    Bush is still the President.

    The End

    www.saps08.net

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/21/2008 1:33:17 AM

    After 9/11, the US government started rounding up Muslims without cause and without due process of law, and put them in prison camps like we did to the Japanese Americans in WWII. The Bush administration called it's main internment camp Guantanamo Bay. While there are certainly many guilty terrorists held in Guantanamo, there are also many innocent American citizens who have been held illegally for years without even being charged with any crime. They have been tortured by our government. Some of them have died.

    Recently the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration in the matter of Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court Justices were NOT on the side of the terrorists. They were on the side of the Geneva Convention, that says you can not torture POWs, and on the side of US laws that state you can not imprison a person without charging them with a crime and bringing them to trial. I'm sure that like most Americans, the Justices who voted against the illegal, immoral doings at Guantanamo didn't feel sympathy for the terrorists. They felt sympathy for the laws of AMERICA, the land of the FREE, where even rat finks get a fair trial.

    Meanwhile, back in Iraq, the Bush administration is busy trying to build a smokescreen to hide the CRIMES they have committed. Those pesky weapons of mass destruction. Just think, the National Debt went up over 6 trillion dollars under Bush. More than 2 trillion of it went directly into the pockets of Halliburton, a corporation owned by the Cheney family. Halliburton is now a DUBAI corporation and therefore is not subject to US taxes. All that money they took out of the US Treasury is going into the coffers of a MUSLIM country.

    Did you hear about how the US government is being charged millions for Halliburton deliveries of sand into Iraq from Kuwait? Sand. Like there is a shortage of sand in Iraq? Another contractor shipped sand from Idaho to Iraq at our expense. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz discusses these and other excesses of our current government's out of control spending in Iraq.

    Your grandchildren will be working like slaves to pay off this debt, so that the Bushes and Cheneys can live the high life in Dubai.

    Yeah, they're patriots, Bush&Co. They wear flag pins. And hide the money they stole from America in Dubai.

    And they want me to believe that Obama is a socialist. Right.

    In case you think McCain is any different than Bush, watch this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

  • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/21/2008 12:07:40 AM

    This is so true about how the election is already bought and paid for:
    http://www.againstobama.com/2008/10/what-is-it-that-barack-obama-knows-that-the-rest-of-us-don%E2%80%99t/#comment-1929

  • Posted By: krohn2 @ 10/20/2008 8:35:56 PM

    Obama, the excuses are wearing thin. what excuse do you have for this one?:
    http://www.againstobama.com/2008/10/obama-praised-searing-and-timely-book-by-ayers/

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 1:26:12 PM

    Everyone of voting age should read these two books written by Obama, 'Dreams of My Father' and 'Audacity of Hope'. Don't buy them, get them from the library before they are removed from the shelves.

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "I never emulate WHITE men and BROWN men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."

    And FINALLY the Most Damning one of ALL of them!!!

    From 'Audacity of Hope', "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

    • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 5:08:28 PM

      Jim, as usual you are trying to twist a fact to make it mean something different.

      Your quotes from Obama's books are more or less accurate, but they are taken completely out of context. In Dreams from my Father, Obama writes at length about how he went through an adolescent period of rebellion and identity crisis. He spent some time identifying with his black heritage and feeling how victimized blacks have been. If you read the whole book, you will see how he realized that it was immature for him to stay stuck in these feelings. He realized that he needed to do something constructive, rather than complain about other people being destructive. And he needed to see both sides of the story, both black and white, since he is both black and white. Actually, Jim, you could take a lesson from that and learn how to be more objective.

      You quote from Audacity of Hope is taken from a speech Obama gave after 9/11. He said that if the US government starts rounding up Muslims without cause and without giving them due process of law, that he would stand up for the Muslims rather than just watch our government put them in prison camps like we did to the Japanese Americans in WWII. In fact, the Bush administration created it's own internment camp and called it Guantanamo Bay. While there are certainly many guilty terrorists held in Guantanamo, there are also many innocent American citizens who have been held illegally for years without even being charged with any crime. They have been tortured by our government. Some of them have died.

      Recently the Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration in the matter of Guantanamo Bay. The Supreme Court Justices were NOT on the side of the terrorists. They were on the side of the Geneva Convention, that says you can not torture POWs, and on the side of US laws that state you can not imprison a person without charging them with a crime and bringing them to trial. I'm sure that like most Americans, the Justices who voted against the illegal, immoral doings at Guantanamo did not feel sympathy for the terrorists. They felt sympathy for the laws of AMERICA, the land of the FREE, where even rat finks get a fair trial.

      One of the things that makes America GREAT is Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Your blog implies that if McCain wins the Presidency, Obama's books will be banned from public libraries. Heaven helps us! If this is true, it would be one heck of a reason to vote against McCain. Come to think of it, Sarah Palin tried to ban books from the Wasilla Public Library, and fired the Head Librarian when she refused to comply. Maybe it is true.

      God save us from small minded people like you, Jim Johnson.

    • Posted By: neos @ 10/18/2008 1:36:22 PM

      You forgot your favorite book, the Kloran..

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 1:25:43 PM

    Obama's view of the future of America - Socialism which is the next step to Communism!! He admitted to Joe the Plumber than he wanted to spread the wealth! He said that he wanted to make everyone equal! Is America ready for Socialism? The Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, said today that he is glad to see the end to capitalism in America!! Are you glad?????
    ====================================================================================================


    Under socialism a ruling class of intellectuals, bureaucrats and social planners decide what people want or what is good for society and then use the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax, and redistribute the wealth of those who work for a living. In other words, socialism is a form of legalized theft.

    The morality of socialism can be summed-up in two words: envy and self-sacrifice. Envy is the desire to not only possess another's wealth but also the desire to see another's wealth lowered to the level of one's own. Socialism's teaching on self-sacrifice was nicely summarized by two of its greatest defenders, Hermann Goering and Bennito Mussolini. The highest principle of Nazism (National Socialism), said Goering, is: "Common good comes before private good." Fascism, said
    Mussolini, is "a life in which the individual, through the sacrifice of his own private interests??realizes that completely spiritual existence in which his value as a man lies."

    Socialism is the social system which institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice: It is the social system which uses compulsion and the organized violence of the State to expropriate wealth from the producer class for its redistribution to the parasitical class.

    Despite the intellectuals' psychotic hatred of capitalism, it is the only moral and just social system.

    Capitalism is the only moral system because it requires human beings to deal with one another as traders--that is, as free moral agents trading and selling goods and services on the basis of mutual consent.

    Capitalism is the only just system because the sole criterion that determines the value of thing exchanged is the free, voluntary, universal judgement of the consumer. Coercion and fraud are anathema to the free-market system.

    It is both moral and just because the degree to which man rises or falls in society is determined by the degree to which he uses his mind. Capitalism is the only social system that rewards merit, ability and achievement, regardless of one's birth or station in life.

    Yes, there are winners and losers in capitalism. The winners are those who are honest, industrious, thoughtful, prudent, frugal, responsible, disciplined, and efficient. The losers are those who are shiftless, lazy, imprudent, extravagant, negligent, impractical, and inefficient. [What about the role of luck­ being in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time? R. R. Pope}

    • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 5:08:01 PM

      Jim Johnson, no matter how many times people tell you that Obama is against socialism, you keep posting these blogs that accuse Obama of socialism and communism. It is not true and you know it. You are just trying to smear Obama and make people afraid.

      In his book Audacity of Hope, Obama writes at length about the FAILURE of SOCIALISM and the failure of communism. He enthusiastically states that American democracy is the greatest political system on earth. Obama is not a socialist, and he does not admire socialism.

      You need to recognize that all democracies socialize certain functions: police, fire fighting, military, roads, public schools, sewers, water. This is for the greater good and we all accept it. It does not make us socialists.

      To you, Jim, and to all of the conservatives out there who think that Obama is a flaming liberal, I would like to remind you of what he did when he was elected President of the Harvard Law Review. The Law Review President gets to name ten individuals to write articles for the Review, and these ten people also get to control the content of the publication. All of the minorities and the liberals thought they finally had it made, that Obama would appoint ten left wing editors. Instead, Obama appointed three conservatives, three liberals and four moderates. That year the Law Review was critically acclaimed as the best run and best written Harvard publication in decades.

      So when he wins in November, conservatives don't have to freak out. Obama is a centrist and will appoint a balanced cabinet full of active people who will really get things done. Kind of like the way our multi-cultural society is supposed to be. And exactly what we need in this time of economic crisis.

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 5:06:03 PM

    William F. Buckley's son, Christopher Buckley, who is a conservative Republican like his Dad, is supporting Barack Obama for President.

    Christopher Buckley was forced to resign from the right wing National Review over this endorsement. Chris has written a conservative column for years at the National Review, the journal his father founded. Chris has been a poster boy for the Republican party ever since his father, in a 1985 speech to Ronald Reagan, said that his son Christopher lived in a world of freedom thanks to the fact that the USA had not been afraid to use nuclear bombs in Japan and so end WWII.

    Twenty three years later, many prominent Republicans, including Christopher Buckley, Kathleen Parker, Susan Eisenhower and Colin Powell have come out in support of Barack Obama. Their primary reason for doing so is that they feel that Obama is the better candidate. But just as importantly, they are concerned by the growing tendency of the GOP to incite the masses based on false charges of terrorism, Muslim roots, etc. These lies feed a dark form of social unrest that is very destructive for America. (Look what it did in Nazi Germany.) They also all pointed to the inadequate choice of Sarah Palin as John's VP. These are prominent right wing Republicans speaking, not liberal Democrats.

    And while I am not prominent, I too am a Republican who is voting for Obama.

    Christopher Buckley's article about why he decided to support Obama:

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/sorry-dad-i-was-fired

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:31:47 PM

    The Economist magazine polled 683 professional economists and reported their findings. Of the respondents, 46% were Democrats, 10% Republicans and 44% Independents. The vast majority of them (over 80%) believed that Obama's economic plans will get us out of our current financial crisis. A similar majority believe that McCain's plans will make the economy worse.

    While you can say that all the Dems and all the Repubs may have essentially toed the party line in this survey, it does not account for the fact that essentially all of the Independent economists said that Obama's financial plans are better than McCains. And if they are a reflection of how Independents across America are thinking, then Obama is going to win. Also, it turns out that about a third of the Republican economists surveyed said that Obama's plans are better.

    That article is in an issue a couple weeks back, still available on-line at:

    http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12342127&CFID=24946653&CFTOKEN=58463805

    The Oct 11-17th issue of the Economist is titled "Saving the System: the Panic, the Rescues, and a Special Report on the World Economy." Worth reading. It will help you understand what is really going on. http://www.economist.com/printedition/index.cfm?d=20081011


    Two more articles of interest:

    http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/31/business/31view.php

    http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/27/081027taco_talk_coll

  • Posted By: Nins @ 10/20/2008 4:31:23 PM

    William F. Buckley's son, Christopher Buckley, who is a conservative Republican like his Dad, is supporting Barack Obama for President.

    Christopher Buckley was forced to resign from the right wing National Review over this endorsement. Chris has written a conservative column for years at the National Review, the journal his father founded. Chris has been a poster boy for the Republican party ever since his father, in a 1985 speech to Ronald Reagan, said that his son Christopher lived in a world of freedom thanks to the fact that the USA had not been afraid to use nuclear bombs in Japan and so end WWII.

    Twenty three years later, many prominent Republicans, including Christopher Buckley, Kathleen Parker, Susan Eisenhower and Colin Powell have come out in support of Barack Obama. Their primary reason for doing so is that they feel that Obama is the better candidate. But just as importantly, they are concerned by the growing tendency of the GOP to incite the masses based on false charges of terrorism, Muslim roots, etc. These lies feed a dark form of social unrest that is very destructive for America. (Look what it did in Nazi Germany.) They also all pointed to the inadequate choice of Sarah Palin as John's VP. These are prominent right wing Republicans speaking, not liberal Democrats.

    And while I am not prominent, I too am a Republican who is voting for Obama.

    Christopher Buckley's article about why he decided to support Obama:

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/sorry-dad-i-was-fired

  • Posted By: DianaRo @ 10/20/2008 1:14:20 PM

    "The Borgen Project has some good info on the cost of addressing global poverty.
    $30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
    $540 billion: Annual U.S. Defense Budget."

  • Posted By: teddyo @ 10/18/2008 10:35:52 PM

    I'll make it to the ballot box. Even if I have to crawl. Obama for president! The change we need. God bless America.

  • Posted By: benluclar @ 10/17/2008 8:06:45 PM

    There is just no way anyone in this country can criticize Obama for anything at all. He is black and he is protected from every statement that has and will ever come out of the mouths of anyone at all for the next four years.
    I think we should just all stay home on election day. This is no contest.
    A black guy can call me a honkie or whitey, but I HAVE to say ''African American''.
    Enough of this garbage. I will just turn off all sitcoms with black people, all sports games with black people, all music shows with black people.......
    I have really had this nonsense stuffed down my throat until it has created hate where there formerly was none.

    • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 10/17/2008 8:33:24 PM

      Your comments are disheartening. I feel sorry for you.

      • Posted By: joeranger @ 10/18/2008 4:07:57 AM

        There is a groundswell of resentment that is building when the media go after Joe the plumber and villify him. Not saying one thing about Ayers and his ties to Obama and ACORN. I feel it and you should feel sorry for yourself for buying into Obama's lies. If ACORN sends this election to the courts, there will be a darkness that will descend to this country. This darkness has been caused the you and the MSM. By denoucning benlucar 's comment, you show the same liberal slant all americans must now follow. Shame on you.

        • Posted By: rdaffron @ 10/18/2008 6:07:58 AM

          No, he has shown himself for the white hooded Bubba he is.

        • Posted By: Pia1981 @ 10/18/2008 6:26:07 PM

          Hey, you really should shut up! I did not denounce anyone..I said I was sorry he felt he way he does since he does not want to vote at all. Yes, I am an Obama supporter..a Republican Obama supporter..now once again, shut up!

  • Posted By: CastilianG @ 10/18/2008 3:58:19 PM

    They do not make it to the ballot box because they know its over; not just in this election but for the future as well. Hell its been over for a long time and everyone who expresses concern here knows it. And so its better to avoid participating in and seeing the reality of a socialistic government replacing this Republic as desired by the 4th and 5th estates. Inattentiveness to the electorial process is based upon a resignation to an "eat drink and be merry!" philosphy. Most men have been numberd by the contiuing drumbeat of the message that consumption is good.

    Every red blooded male reading this knows its true. Your now thinking to yourself what else can I do. Where can I go. Its not in my control. I can't do anything about it. Your right in this respect. Under present conditions socially and politically you cant save what appears destined to go away. So this message is not about getting involved in the political process that is corrupt and will only encoruage the continuation of a system and a country that is broke financially, socially, and for the future. Maybe, as the 5th estate espouses it should go. Even if you rise to changeit it will not be the same country you knew growing up. So accept the loss and prepare for a new future; your opportunity to learn how to SURVIVE and ensure the protection of your family. Think about it. And quit acting or feeling helpless. Stand up and take things into your own hands

    Google... Survival

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 10/18/2008 1:06:29 AM

    John McCain and Fellow Republican Politicians, have worked with [ACORN] Especially John McC.

    Source: www.thehuffingtonpost.com

    McCain is a [Acorn Man] and other Republicans too !!!

    40% of Acorn's Registered Voters have been [Republicans]

    Hahahaha !!

    On Monday, the Democratic-leaning group ACORN, which has been painted as a criminal enterprise by the GOP for its voter registration and housing policy efforts, pushed back against its critics by producing a photo of John McCain attending its March 2006 rally.

    It was a reminder that, for all their electoral histrionics, Republicans have aligned themselves with ACORN in the past.

    Indeed, in addition to the McCain photo, there is a host of examples of prominent McCain surrogates attending ACORN events, signing ACORN legislation, or complimenting the group's efforts.

    Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, for example, partnered with ACORN in March 2008 for a "Homeownership Promotes The Economy" taskforce. More recently, Crist declared that -- contrary to GOP outrage -- he was not upset with the group's voter registration efforts in his state. The New York Times reported that ACORN supported a law signed by Governor Crist, which "changed the rules last year to restore the voting rights of about 112,000 former convicts."

    In July 2005, meanwhile, another Republican governor, Rick Perry of Texas, signed ACORN's Lending Law Reform Bill that changed the state's homelending practices.



    In July 2008, California Governor and McCain supporter Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that ACORN helped draft aimed at California homeowners facing foreclosure.


    In June 2007, Minnesota Governor and McCain VP short-lister Tim Pawlenty signed a similar bill -- drafted by ACORN -- that helped homeowners get fairer deals on their mortgages.

    "The legislation was drafted according to recommendations made by a predatory lending study group established by Swanson prior to the legislative session," wrote the Northwestern Financial Review. "The study group contained representatives from the banking industry and the mortgage brokers association, as well as consumer advocates from organizations such as Illegal Aid and ACORN."

    As Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney signed an anti-predatory lending bill that ACORN supported. In February 2006, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman met with the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association. And back in July 2005, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg actually got a kiss from ACORN's state leader, according to the publication City Limits, during an announcement that the city would protect or create 65,000 affordable units in a new housing proposal. Bloomberg, it should be noted, has not endorsed a candidate.


    • Posted By: sportlock009 @ 10/18/2008 3:51:26 PM

      Posted By: Nowforthetruth @ 10/18/2008 1:39:55 PM
      Comment: Hillary Clinton has said Obama is not qualified.
      The last two term president from the democratic party, Bill Clingont, has said Obama is not qualified.
      Obama's own running mate, Joe Biden, has said Obama is not qualified.

      Are you saying that all the leaders of the Democratic Party are just opportunistic liars? Either they are liars, or , as leaders of the Democratic Party, we should believe them.

      So which is it? Are the Democrats liars, or is Obama, as they have said, not qualified?

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse