Politicians appealing to voters via WWE

[Guest slacklet]

http://www.thehill.com/news/042004/pelosi.aspx

 

Pelosi, Clinton in WWE smackdown

By Hans Nichols

 

In an effort to capture the elusive youth vote, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) will get into the ring tomorrow with two World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) competitors, superstar Chris Nowinski and the brawny women’s champion, who goes by one name — Victoria.

 

Joined by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Pelosi and Clinton are hosting the first “Next Generation Democratic Summit” for some 250 young leaders on Capitol Hill.

 

Democrats hope to gain coveted airtime on one of two TV shows — “Smackdown” or “Raw” — that are popular with the 18- to 29-year-old male demographic. Those shows have a combined audience of about 19 million, said WWE spokesman Gary Davis.

 

The lawmakers, wrestlers and youth leaders will be joined by MTV News’s Gideon Yago. Haitian-born Wyclef Jean of the Fugees was expected to come but canceled because of a scheduling conflict.

 

The summit is part of the WWE’s nonpartisan “Smackdown Your Vote” program, which has also sponsored events with Republicans such as Rep. Bob Ney (Ohio).

The lawmakers and young leaders will discuss higher education, the economy and national security, according to Pelosi spokeswoman Jen Crider.

 

Rising Democratic stars such as Jean-Marie Lawson, a Kentucky business executive who organized voters in the recent House special election won by Democrat Ben Chandler, and Andrew Gillum, a Tallahassee, Fla., city commissioner, will share their political success stories and urge young voters to become more involved.

 

Pelosi’s Thirty Something Working Group, the 13 Democratic members of the House under the age of 40, will participate in sessions on issues such as education, the environment, jobs, the economy and national security.

 

The “Thirty Something” group has already conducted outreach efforts on college campuses in Louisiana, Alabama, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Florida and Michigan.

“It’s important that we reach out to this group because their participation is crucial to the Democratic ideas we believe in,” said Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), the youngest Democrat in the House. “But in the short run, their participation can turn the election in 2004.”

 

Both parties recognize the importance of the “Smackdown demographic,” according to Ney, who has already held two WWE voter-drive events this year. “Our young people are our future, and it’s so important that we reach out to them and they become engaged early on in the democratic process.”

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

Just for fun they should show clips of these politicians talking up the WWE then show clips of men beating up women, drinking beer and necrophelia, just to make the politicians looks stupid. Of course that would only make wrestling look more stupid, but hey, it would be worth a laugh.

[SuperJerk 0]

Since both parties seem to want to associate with the WWE, I don't forsee a lot of mudslinging over accusations of guilt-by-association.