# Is the Obama campaign mobilizing the "foodstamp vote?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946 "2012-09-17T05:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/21 "2012-09-17T17:34:20Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Most people on food stamps probably don’t vote at all. Indeed: [http://www.fairvote.org/voter-turnout#.UFdehY5Yzbw](http://www.fairvote.org/voter-turnout#.UFdehY5Yzbw) > [@](#): > > Furthermore, there are enormous disparities that exist in America across income levels in all forms of participation, particularly voting. A study on these disparities found that 86% of people with incomes above $75,000 claim to have voted in presidential elections as compared with only 52% of people with incomes under $15,000. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/22 "2012-09-17T19:02:43Z")
“Foodstamp vote” is a dogwhistle to the Republican base that the you-know-who’s are getting a handout they don’t deserve. I know a lot of people on this board don’t (and shouldn’t) take Ayn Rand’s analysis of capitalism seriously, but let’s not forget a lot of folks on the right do. They want to associate Obama with the [“moochers” and “parasites”](http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/dallas-tea-party-dennis-phillips-calls-); inflammatory rhetoric like this is their method; don’t look for any objective logic behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/23 "2012-09-17T19:26:43Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > “Foodstamp vote” is a dogwhistle to the Republican base that the you-know-who’s are getting a handout they don’t deserve. I agree to an extent, but I am genuinely curious to know whether there are any numbers to back it up, even if those numbers are then wantonly misinterpreted in order to give credence to a politically convenient conspiracy theory. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/24 "2012-09-17T19:43:27Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > I know a lot of people on this board don’t (and shouldn’t) take Ayn Rand’s analysis of capitalism seriously, but let’s not forget a lot of folks on the right do. Reminds me of that quote that’s been going around for the past few years: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: _The Lord of the Rings_ and _Atlas Shrugged_. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/25 "2012-09-17T20:10:05Z")
> [@CannyDan](#): > > Is “it” that Republicans might use war or at least hyper-nationalistic frenzy to benefit their electoral chances? (I’d be hard pressed to disagree with you, if so.) > > Or is “it” that the same pundits would be pointing this out, an assertion I would find hard to credit. I’ll take curtain number one, Monty. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/26 "2012-09-17T22:51:18Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Only one problem; it’s complete and utter hogwash. Anyone who thinks a sitting president would deliberately tank the economy to improve his re-election chances has no connection to reality. Not that I buy into this theory but you seem to have it backwards. **Since** the economy is in the shitter **Then** people on government benefits would vote for those more willing to hand them out. No need to tank the economy to get the desired effect. This would be capitalizing on a down economy. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/27 "2012-09-17T22:53:51Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Sure, people on food stamps, to the extent that they vote, tend to vote Democratic. Sure, Democrats tend to favor government aid to the poor more than Republicans. > > The flip side of this token is that Republicans tend to be stronger on funding the military than Democrats, and military members tend to vote Republican. Are these same pundits accusing Republicans of starting wars in an effort to get out the Republican vote? Funding the military is not the same thing as going to war. You can have a very strong, well funded peacetime military and still get the military vote. One could argue that going to war could piss off all those military people. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/28 "2012-09-17T23:01:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So Republicans don’t have the smart people, they don’t have food stamp people, and they don’t even have enough angry white men. Who _do_ they have left in the big tent? Slightly miffed beige dudes. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/29 "2012-09-17T23:29:27Z")
> [@Kyomara](#): > > I agree to an extent, but I am genuinely curious to know whether there are any numbers to back it up, even if those numbers are then wantonly misinterpreted in order to give credence to a politically convenient conspiracy theory. Suppose, just suppose, it is absolutely true. What then? Were these people potential Republican voters who are being enticed away? I can hear the Romney campaign, “Damn! Just when we had the welfare queen vote sewed up, along comes Obama and steals them away! Curse him and his nefarious ways!” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/30 "2012-09-17T23:33:19Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > Not that I buy into this theory but you seem to have it backwards. **Since** the economy is in the shitter **Then** people on government benefits would vote for those more willing to hand them out. No need to tank the economy to get the desired effect. This would be capitalizing on a down economy. Well, the theory as described in the OP is that he’s trying to get more people on food stamps, not to just capitalize on those who are already there. One way, which I hadn’t really considered, would be to make eligible people aware of the program, and to get them to enroll. The other, which first occurred to me, was to make more people eligible. That would mean tanking the economy, which is traditionally not a good strategy for re-election. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/31 "2012-09-17T23:58:29Z")
As I hear it, Congress came within a whisker of passing a “No Food Stamps for Cadillacs” provision, but General Motors threw a fit. A lot of Dems have auto union support, a lot of Pubbies own stock, so the bill quietly died in committee. And thus are we ruled. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/32 "2012-09-18T10:29:29Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > Funding the military is not the same thing as going to war. But in order to expand military funding, a credible threat must be established. Otherwise conservatives will turn back to their copy of Bastiat or Mises decrying war for economic reasons. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946/33 "2012-09-18T14:52:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > As I hear it, Congress came within a whisker of passing a “No Food Stamps for Cadillacs” provision, but General Motors threw a fit. A lot of Dems have auto union support, a lot of Pubbies own stock, so the bill quietly died in committee. > > And thus are we ruled. This is a joke, right? You don’t really believe this, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-obama-campaign-mobilizing-the-foodstamp-vote/634946.md?page=1)