Who will be America's next voting bloc?

By Frank Winters

Published 2/19/98

In 1994, it was the angry white males who helped elect a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate for the first time in more than 40 years.

In 1996, it was the soccer moms who let Bill Clinton become the first two-term Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt in 1945.

These swing voters are nothing new to the political process. Fourteen years ago, Reagan Democrats gave Ronald Reagan a second presidential term, and in 1992, independent voters were credited with helping Clinton win his first presidential election because they voted for Ross Perot instead of George Bush.

As we approach the 1998 November elections, pollsters and political analysts are scrambling to find the next group of balance-tipping constituents and discover what their issues and concerns are.

Politicians are eagerly awaiting these survey results as well so they can decide what goodies they can hand out to these ever-so-important votes. Whether it be eliminating racial preferences or providing child care programs, every local and national public official wants to know what their speech writers should emphasize throughout the campaign trail.

As I talked with a friend of mine last Thursday, I was skimming the Post-Gazette's National News Briefs and read to him an article about Clinton's desire to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour within two years.

"All right!" Bob said, "Clinton's the man!" (The names are changed in this article to protect the hopeless.)

I responded back "So you want minimum wage to rise $1 over two years?"

"Heck yeah," Bob said "I'll be getting paid."

I then threw out a hypothetical "But what about inflation? Aren't you afraid of prices going up?"

"I don't care," Bob replied.

"Do you feel that you deserve an extra dollar in your pay rate to do a job that may not be worthy of such I wage?" I then asked.

"I don't care," Bob answered.

Interesting, I thought. I finished reading the article and continued down to the next news brief, which dealt with Vice President Al Gore giving the go-ahead to begin a campaign to increase cigarette sales by as much as $1.50 per pack.

"What?!" Bob, a minion to Joe Camel, cried out, "That sucks!"

"Bob," I told him, "Al Gore is Clinton's vice president. Clinton chose him to be his running mate."

"Clinton's an idiot for choosing that moron," Bob replied.

Well, there you have it. An in-depth look at a potential voting bloc that millions of advertising dollars could be spent on in trying to get them into a voting booth and pull down a particular candidate's lever. Could this be the election where America's youth rise up and try to make a difference? I'll take $10 in the "no" category.

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