paul over at the dick howe site has expressed confusion as to the youthful optimism that buoyed obama to victory four years ago and is so inexplicably (to him, anyway) absent this time around. i replied in a comment there, but thought i'd give it a few words here as well.

paul's telling canard/punchline is "the choice between obama and romney is a stark one". i don't doubt he feels it that way, and i won't disagree on its face that such is so. but my comment can speak for my fuller understanding: "the choice between obama and romney is a false one", and i know that youthful voters can see it just as clearly.

ron paul is considered a gadfly by republicans, and unworthy of coverage by the media, but his support base is dramatically skewing towards college age voters, who don't see their choices to be limited to the two major party candidates who are, let's face it, supporting the same "big government" approach, complete with abuse to the bill of rights, illegal foreign wars, and economic policies that are demonstrated to benefit only the wealthiest among us. (any democrat confused about obama's complicity in this should note that the wealth disparity statistics made no pause in the last four years, and are more dramatic now than at any time in our history since 1929, and soon to be ever). democrats who want to know where all those fresh-faced and eager supporters they enjoyed to have four years ago have gone need only go to a ron paul rally to meet them.

romney or obama? you mean romney AND obama. that's only one option. the other is smaller, more responsive and caring government, with full respect for citizenship rights and a fair and level playing field for individuals otherwise being raped economically by corporations, labor unions and PACs, currently argued by the major parties to be more important and privileged.

think about it: if you're college-aged right now, as is my son and soon to be his younger siblings, you're staring at responsibility for a national debt that is staggering in its size and in its implications. you know your parents will never live to see it paid off. and you know that the major party candidates are positioning you and your generation to pay for it, while they defend the social security, medicare and medicaid programs, and now obamacare, that are bankrupting things to the benefit of those retired and retiring now. you know the republicans are a farce, but you know the democrats care little more about you beyond your vote. and you're not stupid.
more at link: http://mindtivo.blogspot.com/2012/10...outh-vote.html