Choose or Loose

Mike posted the quick link for this piece but I wanted to go through and talk about all of the points that Carol Costello raises.

But first let me say that I am so exhausted from this kind of crap. It is so ridiculous that today reporters won't use the valid information they can get from a simple google search. There is no excuse for this kind of reckless journalism. It makes me think that perhaps it isn't that they get it wrong its that they WANT to report a specific story about young people and they want to fit the research to that story.

I can see why Republicans would want to do this as much as possible because suppressing the youth vote means more success for them. Which is why you saw it for the city elections in Georgia.

What a lot of people don't understand is that when you get stats like this wrong - it impacts campaigns, consultants, and candidates. It makes them think that they should not be targeting young people.

When they don't target young people they don't get young people to go out and vote.. so it perpetuates the fallacy.

Further it makes candidates have to get more republicans to vote for them which influences their policy. So basically, they have to be more conservative in their votes and the bills they push because they think that is representative of their district... when in reality... it might not be.

These things impact us at levels that go beyond turnout and elections it goes to the very laws that we are passing and the votes cast in Congress.

So here we go:

Carol Costello: "It seems like Americas Youth has a loud voice when it comes to Presidential Politics

We do. See Rock the Vote, MTVs Choose or Lose, Forward Montana, New Era Colorado, The Young Democrats of America, Traction in North Carolina, the League of Young Voters, the Oregon Bus Project, the Washington Bus, the Roosevelt Institute, the Democracy Institute of America, or the zillions of other organizations that work to get young people involved.

Carol Costello: "Republican outsider Ron Paul has a lot of young fans. And many have been so creatively effective online they've parlayed passion into cold hard cash for Paul's campaign and helped raise his profile. That's Power!"

She says this like its new. Hello... see Howard Dean... see Al Gore's Live Earth Concert.

Carol Costello: "But Ron Paul aside, the Democrats boast they have they have youth on their side...." then they run b-roll of Howard Dean quoting youth statistics.

Our candidates do tend to be younger than the 800 year old white men who are running on the Republican ticket. But dangling modifier aside.... something tells me that wasn't what she meant.

Read more.... then EMAIL CNN!