Washington Times: Youth Vote Ignorant

Today, syndicated columnist Suzanne Fields published an editorial in the Washington Times bashing young voters, citing a post I wrote on this blog a few days ago.

Titling her column "Rock the Ignorance," Fields first ridicules Obama, Clinton, and McCain for reaching out to young voters, and then:

"That all sounds good, but we've got to hope these younger voters know enough to understand what the debate is about. The young have been short-changed by the educationists for decades, not learning very much. The millenials, the under 30s, grew up reprising the lyrics of "Don't Know Much About History.""

Apparently, we're all too ignorant to vote, is the premise here. And what's more:

"How much they don't know about Middle Eastern politics is especially worrisome. Are they even prepared to understand what President Bush was talking about last week, when he told the Israeli Knesset, "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along?""

Now, I'm not going to argue about textbook reform, which is the main point of the rest of the column. I haven't been in school in eight years and don't have kids, so can't claim expertise on that issue.

But I'm very much going to take issue with the idea that young adults are too ignorant to grasp the big issues of the day. Given that today's 18-29 year olds are the most educated generation in American history, are reading the news at increasing levels, have access to the Internet and its vast resources in growing numbers, and are getting involved in issues and politics in ways we've not seen in decades - I'd say we're doing an OK job of being informed.

And speaking as the "young voter" (I'm 30) who wrote the post - I am well aware of the significance of the Knesset speech. I'm well aware that what happened at the Knesset was a remarkable departure from a 60-year-old standard originally agreed to by two venerable Americans, President Harry S. Truman and Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, to keep foreign policy criticisms between elected officials within our shores. As noted in a column in The Hill:

"It is a tradition for a sitting president not to confuse partisan politics with foreign policy. We can have intense debates within our borders, but we don’t carry them overseas. We especially do not air our partisanship in a politically charged atmosphere, such as the Israeli Knesset, where it may well inflame passions in the complex and dangerous environment of the Middle East. Yet that is exactly what President Bush did."

Speaking as one young(ish) voter, I can assure the columnist I get the importance of what happened last week. And I also get that foreign policy is complicated and that politics can be complicated. And I get that there are troubles in how our education system prepares us to understand these things.

But please don't use my generation as the scapegoat. American democracy is founded on the amazing idea that "We the people" should be the voice of government. Of course we're not all scholars and none of us is perfect, but I believe in my heart of hearts that "we the people" is the best form of government in the world. That it's the good sense of American voters - young, old, and in between - that makes our country great and one of which we should be incredibly proud.