Youth Revival: Expect Record 18-24 Turnout...

[Nbadan]

...and they will all have one issue on their minds. The impending 2005 military draft under G.Walker Bush...


Four years ago, the presidential election was not even white noise to Marie Reyes. She had bigger concerns, like, um, anything except that whole Social Security lockbox thing that Al Gore and George Bush kept talking about.

"There was nothing in that election that I felt even remotely related to my life," said Ms. Reyes, who is 22.

But now, even with a full college classload, a baby and a part-time job, she spends nearly 20 hours a week in Albuquerque, her hometown, trying to get other young people to register to vote.

What happened to change Ms. Reyes was not just the issues - terrorism, the Iraq war and college costs, she said - but simple math.

"It hit me the same way it hits other people when I tell them: New Mexico was decided by 366 votes - I mean, that's how many people I expect to register, because I think I can do 300 easy," she said.

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/politics/campaign/15youth.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=)


There will be no draft when John Kerry is president," Edwards said, sparking one of several standing ovations he received during the event, which sometimes had the feel of a religious revival meeting.

- John Edwards, today in PARKERSBURG, W.Va. after a campaign rally was raided by 500 people who wanted to talk about Iraq, and gave Edwards several standing ovations after.

[ClintSquint]

Those young punks need to serve their Country!
Are they with us, or against us!?

[MannyIsGod]

lol, this is funny man.

i am part of that demographic, and i know 349034098309483493483243 people as well who are part ofit, and that's not really the issue driving us to the polls.

but whatever.

[MannyIsGod]

look, i know a hell of a lot of politicaly active people in that demographic. and none of them are shouting conspiracy theorys around like you dan.

your message falls on deaf ears because you are so radical and so skewed.

there are a lot of people who hate bush, but very few of us think there's some kind of new world order setting up. just idiocy.

[Spurminator]

I could see a draft happening on Kerry's watch more easily than under Bush's watch. After all, it's the Democrats who believe that we're sending the poor out to their deaths... what better way to ensure economic equality among the soldiers than with a draft?

The Draft would be a death sentence for either party, though. It won't happen.

[Yonivore]

Nope...not unless it can be instituted equitably. And, since there's no way in hell you can get a majority of politicians (yes, some would) to put their own in harms way and since none of them want to be tagged with voting for a conscription bill that wouldn't be fair...well, it just ain't gonna happen.

[ClintSquint]

That age group knows it can make a big difference.

Wake up America!!

[Nbadan]

The all-volunteer army is insufficient, but there'll be no draft.

:rolleyes


The United States military may run out of national guard and reserve troops for the war on terrorism because of existing limits on involuntary mobilisations, a congressional watchdog agency warned in a report released overnight. (AEST).

Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the US Government has considered changing the policy to make members of the 1.2 million-strong guard and reserve subject to repeated involuntary mobilisation, so long as no single mobilisation exceeds 24 consecutive months.

ABC (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1200173.htm)

[Spurminator]

They would take steps to recruit/encourage more volunteers long before they would institute a Draft.

[Tommy Duncan]

Nah, all the Neocons would do is activate the secret microchip which was implanted in the heads of people like danny and command them to report to the nearest recruiting office.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Dan, you do realize that DEMOCRATIC SENATORS are the ones who have authored the bill for a draft, right?

Damn, I know you hate Bush but come on! It's your own party for crying out loud! Now the actions of Democrats that you don't agree with are Bush's fault too? That's some good stuff you are smoking.

[Joe Chalupa]

Fire it up! :hat

[Nbadan]

They would take steps to recruit/encourage more volunteers long before they would institute a Draft.

:rolleyes

Yeah, I'm sure the recruiters are at Reagan High School today.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Come on Dan, address the fact that Democratic senators are the ones pushing for the draft.

To me that says it's not a matter of who is elected president, but who walks through the doors on Capitol Hill next session.

[Joe Chalupa]

I'm against the draft.

No Military Draft if Democrats Win (http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-15-edwards_x.htm)
From USA Today:
Edwards: No military draft if Democrats win
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived.
During a question-and-answer session, the mother of a 23-year-old who recently graduated from West Virginia University asked Edwards whether the draft would be reinstated.

"There will be no draft when John Kerry is president," Edwards said, a statement that drew a standing ovation.

The current force is all-volunteer, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said he opposes reinstating the draft. But the Pentagon has taken several steps that have drawn criticism.

In June, the Pentagon recalled to active duty 5,674 members of the Individual Ready Reserve, soldiers who have served specified tours of duty but have years remaining in their enlistment contracts.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

And of course, presidential and V.P. candidates have never gone back on a campaign promise before...

[Spurminator]

Dan's using scare tactics...

SCARE TACTICS!! SCARE TACTICS!!


Maybe you and Dick Cheney aren't so different after all.



There will be no draft.

[Joe Chalupa]

What if there were?

If you have a child eligible for the draft and is in college?
What say you?

I know I registered when I turned 18.

[SpursWoman]

Read my lips: No draft.

[Spurminator]

"What if it were?" What if there were a nuclear attack on every major metropolitan city in the United States?

If there's a draft I will gladly join NBADan and DeSPURado and the millions of others in protest, but for now it's an unrealistic hypothetical. Despite what you see on Internet message board, most people do not completely align themselves with a party or President. If either party brought back the Draft, they would lose almost all of their Independent voters. When was the last time a party did something that risky?

[Yonivore]

Reasonable people don't play such hypothetical games.

There's not going to be a draft. The only people proposing one are the minority Demoncrats in the House...

[Joe Chalupa]

No shit.

That's why I don't like it when Cheney uses his hypothetical scenario and claiming that if Kerry is elected there will be another terrorist attack.

Or how people were making hypothetical scenarios about Gore not defending the country if he were in office on 9/11.

But I was just asking.....I'll shut my pie hole on this for now.

"Read my lips"....hummmmmm

[Yonivore]

"That's why I don't like it when Cheney uses his hypothetical scenario and claiming that if Kerry is elected there will be another terrorist attack."
Cheney was making a characterization based on his knowledge of Kerry's Senate voting record and based on statements Kerry has made, during the campaign, regarding reliance on the U.N., reverting to a Law Enforcement posture, etc...he wasn't playing hypotheticals, he was making an assertion based on his opponents prior behaviors and statements.

It's called defining your opponent.

But, to answer your question, I would require my three sons to register for the draft and I would encourage them to join the military instead of waiting to be drafted...unless they qualified for some legitimate deferrment and then, I would encourage them to pursue the deferrment but serve eventually when the reason for the deferrment no longer applied.

I registered with the selective service.

[Tommy Duncan]

The likelihood of a draft is less than those CBS memos being real. The rumors of a draft are being fanned by some liberal Democrat congressmen and various extremist nutballs on the Left and Right.

[Nbadan]

Yeah, an already stretched military is gonna bone up and be a serious threat to Iran or N.Korea. I'll believe that the day W actually vetos a spending bill. Estimates are that we need at least a minimum of 250,000 troops to reclaim the situation in Iraq, something the * administration has been putting off doing till after the first week of November. We are moving troops out of South Korea for God's sake. It doesn't take a truck to hit me to tell me that an all volunteer force just isn't sufficient to continue W's war on terrorism past our current engagements.

Anyone who doesn't see this is in la-la land.

[Joe Chalupa]

I would encourage my sons NOT to seek a deferment but to be men and serve their country.

[Yonivore]

I agree.