Hello. I'm a long-time lurker, occasional poster here at DailyKos who has been a long-time liberal (and proud to call myself that). Recently, I've been doing some 'field research' at reddit.com, a social news site that has a lot of quasi-liberatarians, who I like to call the "fuck you" kids (not in a pejorative way.) This is how I think they work:
Largely, they are fairly young & male & probably white. They have college degrees, often in computers or math or finance or engineering or some other hard science. They believe in science and they are skeptical of anyone who talks about religion. They make pretty good money, and work long hours for it. Their attitude toward politics is largely defined by "fuck you!" I.e.:
You want to take away my pornography, that I'm paying for with my own money? Fuck you!
You want to take away my drugs, that I'm taking with full knowledge of how it might effect me, because you think it's a sin in the eyes of your 'God?' Fuck you!
You want to record my emails, listen to my phone calls, and say who I can talk to and about what? Fuck you!
You want to make me pay public school teachers to teach "intelligent design," which is nothing more than your antiquated mythology? Fuck you!
You want to tax my income, that I've earned through hard work and dedication? Fuck you!
You want to tax my income to pay to invade another country, where they don't want us, never wanted us, and it isn't doing a goddamn thing for my country? Fuck you!
You want to say that I can't take a bottle of water on the airplane, because you claim that you can make a Dasani into a bomb? Fuck you!
You want to use electronic voting machines that run MS Access, which I could hack into in about five minutes with my eyes closed? FUCK YOU!
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Now, many of these people have never even dreamed of voting for a Democrat, and many of them are behind Ron Paul in a fiercely dedicated way. I think to understand the "Ron Paul" phenomenon, you need to look no further than the Howard Dean campaign: there is someone running as a genuine outsider, with clear, anti-this-war positions and lots of support on the internet. I think Ron Paul will follow a trajectory similar to Howard Dean: that is, he will show some early emerging success, get a little (more) national publicity, and then the Washington insiders will gang up against him and his campaign will be destroyed.
The "Fuck You" kids used to be loyal Republicans, but they feel somewhat betrayed by Bush. They are ready to give the Republicans another chance, and they see that chance in Ron Paul. When Ron Paul fails to get the nomination, they will be ready to leave the Republicans, for a brief window of time, because they will feel completely betrayed.
I mean, imagine if Romney gets the Republican nomination. From the "Fuck You" kids point of view, Romney is the enemy. First of all, he talks about God all the time, which make the fuck you kids think he's a charlatan. Secondly, he has specifically said in prominent speeches that he does not respect atheism, and most of the "fuck you" kids are atheist, or, at least, very skeptical agnostics. He's a warmonger, and the "fuck you" kids think (largely) that these recent wars are a big waste of their money. Romney is pro-life, which the "fuck you" kids think is just an example of putting religion into politics. Romney has no clear stance on the enormous attack on the civil liberties and the constitution, which, to the "fuck you" kids is probably the most pressing issue (perhaps second most, after warmongering.) Romney is not their man.
America's Mayor might be able to persuade them to stay, I'm sorry to say. Mr. 9/11 is "tough," and "no-nonsense," and "doesn't coodle criminals." And the "fuck you" kids, of course, don't give a flying fuck about his extra-marital affairs. So if Rudy! gets the nomination, they may very well stay as republicans.
But if it's Romney (or, worse!, Huckabee) they will be ready to bolt.
So the question is: will we be ready to receive them?
As I wrote in a comment elsewhere:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
an anonymous Paulite going by LOL left this comment on my website, thought y'all would be interested: "Just a quick note, re: Ron Paul supporters voting for Democrats >>>> Since the Democratic Party has always been the pro-war, police-the-world, nation-building party for the last 75 years, up through and including these current Bush wars, why would the peace-loving anti-war Paul supporters even consider casting a vote for a Democrat if Paul somehow doesn't make the nomination?"
I wrote: "The democrats are better than the Republicans when it comes to civil liberties. That is my entire point.
The Republicans, with the exception of Ron Paul, are certainly no better.
There is no choice on bellicosity. There is choice on civil liberties, and the Democrats clearly dominate.
Why would you not vote for a Democrat over, for example, America’s Mayor (assuming RP does not get the nomination, and does not run as an independent.)?
There is no reason not to. Democrats are either equal to or better than the Republicans. No contest."
http://thedu.us/...
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I haven't heard a response. I'm curious about what will happen.
I think we have a chance here, to secure a very important slice of the American pie. If we can convince the "fuck you" kids that we are open-minded, and, most importantly, pro-civil liberties, we may be able to get them in the general. But they don't care about nice words. They don't care to be pandered to. And they can't give two shits about whether we're one nation "under God."
They think--and, with some reason, I think--that Hillary Clinton is also their enemy. They know three things about her: first, that she's Bill's wife, and recall, up to now they have been loyal Republicans, so they have swallowed all that bullshit about Clinton, for better or for worse. Nothing we can do about that, and that's unjustified slandering of one of our best presidents anyway (including, in terms of what they think is worthwhile.) Second, she's voted for the invasion of Iraq, and, more recently, essentially voted for the invasion of Iran. Third, that she's spent energy putting restrictions on violent video games. In other words, she's done nothing that they like.
Some of them like Kucinich, particularly given the possibility of a kucinich/Paul ticket. I think that's unrealistic, although some might disagree.
I can't tell where they stand on Obama and Edwards. Some of them like Dodd's message on the Constitution (as do I.)
So, that's my report from the field. I'll post some more as I figure out more things about them. I think that this might be a possible win for us, if we play our cards correctly.