GOP trying to stop people from voting (again)

Looky here, the Republicans are opposing an important voting bill!

A pair of Democratic bills in California would ease voting for the youngest voters by allowing voter preregistration for those ages 16 and 17 and by letting 17-year-olds vote in the primary if they will turn 18 by the general election.

Some states already let 17-year-olds vote in the primary under such circumstances. (When I was 17, I read in the newspaper that Kentucky did, but I assumed that was a misprint. If I thought it was true, Gatewood Galbraith would have gained an extra vote in the gubernatorial primary.)

But Republicans are so fearful of people (gasp!) voting that they're doing everything they can to block the California measures.

Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams says he hates the bills because he thinks younger voters are more liberal. "You start to see problems as you get older. As you get older, you get wiser," Adams said.

Right. Which is why I've gotten more liberal as I've gotten older. Honestly, every time I was confronted with new problems and started to feel wiser, I always got more liberal.

I don't think it's true that younger voters are necessarily more liberal. If so, why has the country generally gotten more and more conservative for 25 years? Americans who are my age are quite often more conservative than their parents. We were brainwashed in school with Reagan crap. I mean that literally.

I think it's disputable what party the California bills will benefit in the long run. I also question why a voting age is even needed at all. There's a couple of states where even imprisoned felons can vote - but kids can't.

It must be because of the fear that kids might not be mature enough to make informed voting decisions. But obviously adults aren't either, judging by what happened in 2004.

So maybe - just maybe - it really is time to take a serious look at lowering or abolishing the voting age.

(Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/05/BA5A11F1L5.DTL&tsp=1)