Young people revved up for election?
Young supporters chant 'Obama, Obama' as Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama takes the stage at rally at the XL Center during the last full day of campaigning before Super Tuesday. Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Young people are fired up about the 2008 election.
This week we saw more than 3 million voters under the age of 30 flooding the polls on Super Tuesday, turning out in record numbers in more than 20 states. Exit polls showed that in almost every state, youth voter turnout increased significantly from 2000 and 2004.
Some of these statistics are amazing: In Tennessee the number of people between the ages of 18-to-29 who voted more than quadrupled. In Georgia, young voters tripled their turnout this year. And in California, more than 850,000 voters under 30 cast ballots.
This stuff is very encouraging. The turnout of young people actually represented the winning margin of victory in some states. For example, Barack Obama won Missouri by just 10,000 votes. That's a state where 75,000 young people voted for him. The fact is Obama probably owes thanks to young people for a lot of his Super Tuesday victories. In fact, Obama won the youth vote in 19 of the 22 states that voted on Tuesday.
The head of “Rock the Vote” is optimistic. She says: "Young people are tired of being characterized as apathetic and uninterested in politics. They are casting ballots like never before, volunteering on campaigns, organizing at their schools, and have shown, since the first contest in January, they will pick the next President of the United States."
None of this is lost on the campaigns. Candidates are targeting young voters through the internet and any other way they can reach them.
Here’s my question to you: Why are young people so interested in the 2008 election?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How can President Bush & Congress improve their image?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/02/08/art.bushfeb.ap.jpg caption=" President Bush in the East Room at the White House, Thursday."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The American people are pretty much fed up with President Bush and Congress, according to a new poll.
The AP/Ipsos poll shows only 30% of those surveyed approve of the job the president is doing. This is worse than his previous overall low of 31% in this poll back in November.
Congress gets a pathetic 22% job approval. This ties their poorest rating in this survey from last October. Congress usually has lower ratings than the president. It's an institution that people love to hate, and with good reason.
What stands out is even though the president is a Republican and the Congress is run by Democrats, the public can't stand either one.
Both of these marks for Mr. Bush and the Congress have dropped by 4% points in just the last month. One of the main factors driving the public's dissatisfaction is the economy. Many Americans are worried about a recession.
The irony in all this of course is that we will probably elect either a Democrat or Republican president in November, and many of the incumbent Republicans and Democrats in the Congress will be re-elected as well.
There are countries in the world that have overthrown their governments when they are disliked by as many people as ours is. But history suggests we will simply hold our noses in November and elect another version of our dysfunctional, broken government. Very sad.
Here’s my question to you: Is there anything President Bush and Congress can do before November to improve their image in the eyes of the American people?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Will conservatives rally around McCain?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/images/02/08/art.natmccain.ap.jpg caption="Sen. John McCain, speaks to the press at a 'National Security Roundtable' in Norfolk, Virginia, Friday."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
John McCain is about to make history, but not in a way he would like. Assuming McCain is the Republican nominee – and that's a pretty safe bet at this point – it will be the first time in
three decades that Republicans nominate a candidate who lost the conservative and evangelical votes in the primaries.
McCain knows this. He's reaching out to the conservative base as we saw with that speech yesterday. The criticism has been loud because in the past, John McCain has infuriated conservatives with his work on things like campaign finance reform, climate change, immigration, and his opposition to President Bush's tax cuts.
Now President Bush has entered the debate. He's urging the conservative wing, without naming McCain, to back the party's nominee. The president told the Conservative Political Action conference, "Soon we will have a nominee who will carry the conservative banner into this election and beyond."
One way McCain could reach out to religious conservatives is by picking Mike Huckabee as his running mate, although economic conservatives complain about Huckabee's liberal policies as governor of Arkansas.
Meanwhile, despite the complaints about McCain from many conservatives, maybe this is a sign of things to come:
Earlier this week in the Cafferty File, we told you about some Republican senators who were worried about a McCain presidency because of his temperament. At the time, Senator Thad Cochran had this to say: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."
Guess who Cochran is supporting now that Mitt Romney is out of the race? That's right, John McCain. Another mealy-mouthed politician who was against McCain before he was for him. How do these people look themselves in the mirror in the morning?
Here’s my question to you: Will conservatives rally around John McCain?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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