Kaine Touches on Young Voters and 50 State Strategy While Answering Questions from Americans

Tim Kaine, the governor of Virginia and President-elect Obama’s choice to be Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, released a YouTube video on Friday of him answering questions sent in from all over the country. I thought I’d share the video, and then take a bit to point out a few interesting answers.

Kaine gives young voters some recognition at about 6:35 in. While he’s quick to include “first-time voters” in his answer, Kaine explains that the Democratic outreach efforts have been especially successful over the last couple years, due to Howard Dean and Obama. Dean’s 50 State Strategy led Democrats into deserted territory, reintroducing the party to some Americans who got used to seeing the GOP as the only option. Kaine noted that Obama’s campaign built on this by raising efficacy among potential voters — each voter’s donation or time spent volunteering mattered, and he used whatever tool he could to send that message. With that in mind, Kaine explains that he wants to bring Obama’s message of engagement to voters, but with governance in mind.

Hopefully this means that Kaine will be incorporating even more technology into the day-to-day operations of the Democratic Party, in order to attract more and more young voters. I’m a bit concerned that Kaine was so quick to lump young voters in with “first-time voters.” I’d like to hear more of Kaine’s plan to mobilize young Americans.

About 19:34 in, Kaine answers a question asking for simple things the questioner can do to help. Kaine notes that the first thing they can do is “pitch in and help your neighbor,” which made me think of Democrats Work’s suggestion for the DNC to reorganize around the idea of service to others. Kaine’s answer revolves around “communal responsibility,” as the governor points out that many non-profit organizations are experiencing difficulty getting donations in these hard times.

If Kaine means what he says, infusing the party with a service-focused theme would be a great move. With the current state of the economy, the exhaustive list of volunteers the Obama campaign was able to collect this summer and fall, and the coming-of-age of service-loving Millennials, Kaine is in a position to establish and strengthen bonds with both newer, older, and younger voters. The political benefits would be outstanding, but more importantly, the Democratic Party would be tangibly giving something to Americans, not just asking for money or time on its own behalf.

Kaine speaks more about the 50 State Strategy at 23:00, saying that he will continue the strategy, while conceding that it may not look the same, as he and the DNC try to improve on Dean’s efforts.

Finally, Kaine answers a young questioner asking how to “get started” in politics. Kaine repeatedly notes that everything starts with “a desire to serve others,” explaining that that’s what made him leave his job as a civil rights lawyer to pursue politics — more people to serve.

I applaud Kaine’s use of YouTube in answering these questions, and I hope it continues. I hope that Kaine will put much of what he says in this video into action, and that the Democratic Party will continue and broaden their efforts toward engaging every American.

Any thoughts/comments?

Dartmouth student beats well-known Republican for County Treasurer in New Hampshire

Since Election Day, many a journalist has written pieces cautiously exploring the changes that Millennials will bring to electoral politics, given their “sudden” emergence. Some conclude that Obama has raised expectations too high. One comically questions whether or not it was a good thing for young people for Obama to win. There’s a story in New Hampshire, though, that gives all of us a clue on the kind of transformative change we’re in for thanks to civically-engaged Millennials.

Grafton County, New Hampshire contains the town of Hanover, home of Dartmouth College. A Republican, Carol Elliott, has held various local government positions over twenty years; she probably figured running for county treasurer would be a walk in the park, even if it was 2008 and she’s in the GOP.

But Vanessa Sievers, a 20 year old Dartmouth College student (also a member of the DNC Youth Council), decided to give Elliott a run for her money (no pun intended). Sievers paid $42 for a Facebook ad aimed at Dartmouth and Plymouth State students. The Dartmouth College Democrats backed her up with a superb voter registration and GOTV operation:

Hanover registered 2,436 new voters this year, and David Imamura, the president of Dartmouth College Democrats, yesterday said 2,268 Dartmouth College students voted in the election, about 30 percent of Hanover’s record turnout.

Town officials yesterday confirmed more than 2,000 Dartmouth students voted in the election and said that would be a record.

Sievers could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Imamura said she and other active Dartmouth Democrats went door-to-door on campus to tell students about candidates on the ballot other than Barack Obama and victorious U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen.

“I think Dartmouth students have a genuine interest in how government works in New Hampshire,” Imamura said. “It wasn’t just us going out there saying ‘vote straight Democratic’ … it was a big effort to educate Dartmouth students about why they should vote down ticket.”

All of this came together in the form of an Election Day surprise:

Sievers won 21,389 votes across the county to 20,803 for Elliott. Sievers’ largest margin of victory was in Hanover, home to Dartmouth, where she defeated Elliott by 2,438 votes. The Democrat also won 411 more votes than did Elliott in Plymouth, home to Plymouth State University.

It’s quite obvious that Dartmouth College students were responsible for Sievers’s victory. What isn’t so obvious to Elliott and the county GOP chairman — much like their national party compatriots — is that they lost because they’ve either chalked up young voters for the Democrats and not pursued them or they’re outright hostile to their political participation.

Elliott, doing her best to emulate Sarah Palin’s patriotism, whined a bit about the loss:

Elliott yesterday said the heavy college turnout doomed her candidacy.

“The real people … ” she stated, “with a 600-vote (margin), it was the brainwashed college kids that made the difference.”

[…]

“You’ve got a buffoon for a register of deeds, and you’ve got a teenybopper for a treasurer,” Elliott said. “I’m concerned for the citizens of Grafton County.”

[…]

Meanwhile, Ludlow Flower, has no interest in actually doing his job and trying to attract people to the Republican Party, because, well, these people don’t count.

Grafton County Republican Chairman Ludlow Flower yesterday also did not embrace Elliott’s comments about her opposition, but said he was concerned that college students who live in Grafton County for a limited time were tilting elections for county offices.

“I think it’s a terrible shame that the Dartmouth student vote is able to distort the outcome of the vote for Grafton County officers,” Flower said. “I have no problem with them voting for national political tickets, because they do have a stake in this whole country, but they don’t have a stake in our local community here.

“Nothing against Ms. Sievers, but she’s a 20-year-old college student,” Flower continued. “By comparison, Carol Elliott is a public servant of some 25 or 30 years, with a lot of public experience. It just seems a shame that we have yet to figure out a way to make this democratic process for county offices more reflective of our local circumstances.”

Of course, we know that the Supreme Court decided in 1979 that college students do have the right to vote wherever they go to school.(SYMM v. U.S, 439 U.S. 1105 (1979)) So why spend time griping about a ruling that’s been static for nearly three decades; why not try to stem the tide against the national party and pursue these young voters who, more and more, are joining an ever-solidifying and powerful political coalition in the Democratic Party?

The “local circumstances” talk is hilarious, given the snowbirds who only live there for part of the year, never questioned by the GOP. Also, quite frankly, I think it’s a “terrible shame” that, as a leader of that community, Flower doesn’t want to keep people in Hanover after they’ve graduated from Dartmouth, expanding the tax base and improving the economy. But then again, Mr. Flower is exhibiting that “country first” attitude, provided the country looks, thinks, and acts like he does.

This is a perfect example of what will happen to the Republican Party should it continue on its current course. Joe the Plumbers are starting to leave us, as younger, browner, and more progressive voters expand. If the GOP refuses to adapt, they’re screwed. If the Republicans don’t act, the crystal ball becomes clearer: the GOP becomes irrelevant while Millennials run the country as progressive Democrats.

Short story? Carol Elliott and the GOP has come to realize what change means thanks to an enterprising Millennial, and they’re stomping their feet, covering their ears, and crying because they don’t like it.

Advice? Grow up. Literally.

Usher’s ‘I Can’t But You Can’ Campaign

Quite a bit different from P Diddy’s work in 2004.

This year, in an effort to mobilize voters in this historic presidential election, Usher launched the “I Can’t But You Can” voter registration campaign geared towards youth ages 17 and under. This nationwide campaign began this summer in Atlanta with 350 youth registering nearly 1,000 new voters. The Campaign will be expanded to 8 cities simultaneously on September 27th and is projected to educate more than 4,000 youth and register 17,000 new voters nationally.

In conjunction with ServiceNation’s Day of Action ( www.servicenation.org), the “I Can’t But You Can” Campaign will host voter registration rallies and drives in cities across the US on September 27th. Participating cities include: Atlanta, Boston, Kansas City (KS), Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, New Orleans and Oakland. At the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the USC Marching Band will perform, MTV’s Quddus will serve as Emcee for the Voter Registration Rally while KIIS-FM’s DJ Drew will get the crowd pumping. All across the nation, we’re engaging youth to make certain their voices are heard on Election Day!

“This is such a historic election that I wanted to find a way to give youth 17 and under a voice,” says Usher. “I wanted young people to understand, that this election does impact their life. It affects the type of education they receive, if they’ll receive healthcare when they’re sick and if they’ll have help getting into college.”

Count me as a fan.  I like that Usher is 1.) spreading the word that one does not have to be able to vote to be politically engaged, and 2.) reaching young people even earlier in their lives than most GOTV campaigns.  Also, when you think about it, many of those young people too young to vote in this election will certainly want to vote in the next election after registering voters during this cycle.

The more politically engaged young people we have now, the better citizenry we’ll have in the future.

A Call to Action for Millennial Voters

In reading some things this afternoon, I stumbled upon this op-ed in the Stanford Cardinal. Written by Joseph Koss, a Stanford junior majoring in secondary education in social studies, this is one of the more inspiring pieces of writing about youth voting I’ve read this election year. Koss really gets into it after reviewing the youth voting numbers since 1972. It complements what I wrote earlier today.

The baby boom generation has had their chance. They were supposed to be the generation that would indelibly shape the direction of the country for the better. Well, after 16 years of baby boom rule, our country is in the midst of some of our biggest challenges since the Great Depression. We face a dysfunctional political system that seems to be a “tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago—played out on the national stage.”

There is a growing X/Y generational divide forming between those under 40 and those over, and this election is a chance for new voices and new approaches to be heard. But the change must begin with you exercising this right, a right that has seen men spit in the faces of Kings to defend; that has seen free men endure lynchings and unspeakable atrocities to defend; seen grandmothers, mothers and daughters suffer decades of humiliation to defend; and seen Reverends giving speeches about dreams that bring tears to grown men’s eyes to defend. It is a right so easy to exercise that all you have to do is wake up one morning every two years with the determination to find your local polling place and cast a ballot. Yet it is a right so venerated, so exceptional, that people have died just for the opportunity to say they did it. Tuesday, November 4th is your opportunity to help shape this country in your image. Please vote.

To recap:

Yes, the importance of this election is unparalleled (we hear this a lot each cycle). But it’s not just because of the problems mounting in front of us.

It’s because those in power — those who have their voices heard on a regular basis — can’t seem to get away from the small rhetoric that is simply not capable of fully appreciating the danger of these enormous challenges.

And it’s also because, for once, we have a generation of Americans willing and capable of solving these problems. Young Americans, like Joseph Koss, are itching to put their optimism, their pragmatism, their obligation to civic duty and give back to others, to use. In order to get the most out of them, we need the right leader — a facilitator-in-chief — in office. We need someone forward-thinking. We need someone that knows how to rally young people, someone that understands young people — and yes, that means being able to operate the internet and understand the leading edge of technology. We need Barack Obama.

But, as Joseph Koss wrote, none of this can happen without that trip to the polls.

Obama leads by a lot and he acts like it

Last week Newsweek came out with a poll showing Obama up on McCain by a 51-36 percent margin.  Today’s LA Times poll reflected a similar fifteen point margin when including Ralph Nader and Bob Barr in the field (48-33).  This, more and more, is looking like a potential landslide.  While we’ve seen similar Democratic leads this early squandered by November in the past, there’s a difference.

As Chris Bowers reflects at Open Left today, Obama is acting like he’s going to be the winner (even if it did mean using this ugly seal) and he keeps doing it no matter what the polls show.  He acts like a man in control, and after eight years of you know what, how could the voters not want that?

One more interesting (and awesome) piece to the first Newsweek poll:  66 percent of voters aged 18-39 are choosing Obama.  Only 27 percent are choosing McCain.  The 40-59 and 60+ age groups are even.  Young voters are indeed making a difference.