The Youth Vote Turns Out For Huckabee—Or Is It Chuck?

Wed, January 09, 2008 - 9:27 PM

There’s been a great deal of media buzz over the last week about Barack Obama’s ability to attract young voters to events, but I think we have underestimated the ability of Mike Huckabee to do the same.

The event at Furman University tonight was packed with college kids. Huckabee joked that many of them were only there in case Chuck Norris showed up.

And it turns out he was right, at least for a few. If you do not already understand why a bunch of college kids would show up just to see an aging Kung Fu star, well, I probably won’t be able to make you understand.

But I’ll try. Norris has become a pop-culture icon far bigger than himself. On the Internet, there are whole pages devoted to “true facts” (read: “not true facts”) about Norris that make him sound like a force greater than any god.

For example: “There are no endangered species, just a list of animals that Chuck Norris allows to live.” Google “Chuck Norris” – there are thousands more. And the kids – college students, adults with too much time on their hands, um, me – find it hilarious.

Norris is a big conservative, too. He endorsed Huckabee, appeared in a wry ad with the former Arkansas governor mocking his Internet persona, and shows up at campaign events from time to time.

Anyway, Davis Corey Hopkins (below, purple shirt), a sophomore at Furman and Michael Ollen, a freshman at Furman (below, gray shirt), and a bunch of friends were hoping for a Norris appearance. They brought homemade signs, one featuring Chuck Norris’ face and another of Huckabee with a little devil Chuck Norris and a little angel Chuck Norris on opposite shoulders.



Chuck Norris did not show up, but the crew still got Huckabee to sign their posters, which they will hang up in their dorm.

Turns out neither are Huckabee supporters. Hopkins is a Republican, but remains undecided in the race.

Ollen is a Democrat. “I’m from Maine,” he said, by way of explaining his political leanings. And though there are lots of Republicans in Maine – both of the state’s senators, for example – I get his meaning. Republicans in Maine tend to be pretty moderate, and would probably be Democrats if they lived in the South.

I ask them why they’ve become obsessed with the Huckabee-Norris nexus.

Hopkins: “I mean, it’s Chuck Norris.”

Ollen: “I just do what Chuck tells me to do.”

Apparently he doesn’t do everything Chuck tells him to do, otherwise he would vote for Huckabee. If I were Ollen, I’d be very afraid of a roundhouse kick to the head in the near future from a certain aging Kung Fu star. (Roundhouse kicks to the head are a big part of Chuck Norris Internet lore).

Perhaps hoping to avoid this punishment, he offers me some nice parting words about Huckabee: “The fact that he’d come play bass and get Chuck Norris to endorse him is pretty cool.”

The Huckabee bus left about an hour ago for Myrtle Beach, site of Thursday night's Republican debate. That's where I'm headed tonight too -- a five hour drive. Whoever said South Carolina was a small state was wrong.

--Sean Mussenden