Watching election returns last night proved to be a very interesting evening. What became consistent was the impact of the lack of outreach on the youth segment of the electorate and the diminished rate of enthusiasm.
In Virginia
“Only 1,973,868 of a total 4,955,755 voters participated in the gubernatorial race — “a miniscule number when you consider there were 3.7 million voters in the 2008 election,” said Isaac Wood, assistant communications director at the University Center for Politics… He added that generally one-third of Virginia voters in presidential elections choose not to participate in gubernatorial elections, and that, as such, yesterday’s voter turnout was even lower than usual.”
One difference this year than in 2008 was young voters had a candidate at the top of the ticket who actively sought their vote. This isn’t generally the standard in other elections, despite our efforts to teach candidates otherwise. Outreach is so important, asking young people for their vote is key, and peer to peer outreach is a must. All of these things happened nation wide in 2008, in large part because the Obama campaign placed a high importance on getting out the vote for young people.
Let’s also not forget the huge outreach done by non-party groups like HeadCount, Rock the Vote, and state youth groups around the country. I did receive a “Go Vote” email from HeadCount yesterday but didn’t receive a text messages from Rock the Vote, and no facebook reminders from any groups. There just wasn’t the kind of work done this year that was done last year from national youth groups. (I did receive an email from Rock the Vote saying they did send texts out to target areas, no word on if those target areas were NJ and VA but not Maine or who they “targeted”).
This was echoed in a brilliantly articulated piece in the Washington Post
“It doesn’t seem to have been enough, and one immediate lesson from these off-off-year elections is already clear: Democrats have a lot of work to do to bring Obama loyalists to the polls, particularly the young. Early exit polls suggest that the share of the electorate represented by voters under 30 will be cut roughly in half compared to 2008. No one expects that young voters will be as excited by this year’s election (or by next year’s midterms) as they were by Obama’s own candidacy. But Democrats are more dependent on young voters than ever before – something I wrote about earlier this fall. Virginia should bring home to them the imperative of mobilizing the millennials with more than just a nice ad toward the end of a campaign.”
The October 2009 CIRCLE report has been released about college students and voting. Here are some of the findings:
* Students can be diligent voters with high turnout, both by absentee ballot and in local voting.
* Students who can vote in their home state or their college state are strongly influenced in that choice by the closeness of the presidential election.
* Even in the internet era, in-person voter drives reach many students who would not otherwise vote.
The report was based on a peer-to-peer voter drive done at Northwestern University during the 2008 election. During this voting drive, campaigners encouraged students from Presidential swing states to register back home as opposed to in Illinois. Students contacted by the campaign chose to register back home and vote absentee instead of locally by an 8:1 ratio. Of the students that registered through the drive, 80% voted.
I have mixed feelings about encouraging students to vote absentee over locally. For most students, the political decisions that are going to have the greatest effect on their lives will be made at the state and local level in their college district. State legislatures decide university funding, and that in turn determines tuition increases.The October 2009 CIRCLE report has been released about college students and voting.... more
It's no secret the Republican party is struggling with an identity crisis and, well, foundering. Now they have launched their new Web site, GOP.org. It is likely an attempt to follow the lead of the Dems and Obama in their efforts to attract the younger demographic. Perhaps they believe it will allow them to tap into a conservative base of potential new voters who have been apathetic about their civic duty. Or maybe they think they'll be able to steal some disgruntled former supporters of the Obama administration...
Here's what YPNation contributor Ewan Watt has to say:
"So, was the surge in the youth vote an anomaly? Perhaps. Will the Democrats start losing the youth vote to Republicans? Probably not. That being said Republicans do have an opportunity to make up for lost time and engage more with the younger voters.
Some analysts have stated Obama's successful 2008 run can be attributed to his campaign's utilization of new media and the Internet, a source of voter mobilization that perhaps the GOP has failed to fully exploit. And with the Internet likely to become a common campaign tool for voters in every age bracket, its full potential has yet to be realized.
...
The GOP, usually so quick on the draw with new technology, has lost a great deal of yardage to the Democrats in terms of online mobilization of the younger demographic. But with even a small spike in the number of disgruntled youth voters who supported Obama last year, the party has an ideal opportunity to kick this new online strategy into action. The level of content on GOP.org in the next twelve months may well give some indication as to whether this is strategy has come to fruition."It's no secret the Republican party is struggling with an identity crisis and, well,... more
I'm getting real tired of reading columns like this about the youth vote. Just look at the activity on this site and across the Web. We care deeply about what happens. Real reform to the system is what's needed. It's not our fault the system sucks.I'm getting real tired of reading columns like this about the youth vote. Just look at... more
This "Group" will intend for the people of the next generation (Middle School - High School), to express their views and outlooks on major social and political events happening in the world today. The voice of youth, will provide new insight seen from another prospective, but in some instances their voice will echo their parents views, providing both new and older thoughts on situations. Lets hope I can keep this going.This "Group" will intend for the people of the next generation (Middle School - High... more
Scrubs’ dynamic duo, J.D. and Turk, aka Zach Braff and Donald Faison, aka the loves of my life, have something to say to young Americans. They’re teaming up with Rock The Vote for their health care campaign, urging young people to stand up for health care reform. As if I needed a reason to love them more!Scrubs’ dynamic duo, J.D. and Turk, aka Zach Braff and Donald Faison, aka the loves... more
'Earth Peace' is about taking care of our Human Rights to be able to live on Terra (our earth) also its an introduction to my character Amethyst who is sitting on the scortched earth forgot about the "UNIVERSAL LAW of RIGHT and BAD" and that is hungry to remember again too stay alive.
Created by The Renaissance KID age 11'Earth Peace' is about taking care of our Human Rights to be able to live on Terra... more
I taught myself animation, how to draw and much more.
September 02, 2008
I was working on a groups short - that is full of dinosaurs.
I work with diffrent visual aspect. I was trying something new on Internet.I taught myself animation, how to draw and much more.
September 02, 2008
I was... more
"I couldn't attend the Inaugural events in person because my school scheduled our final exams for this week, starting Tuesday but January 20th has significance to me (us) all the same.
Obama's election has brought great Hope to America and with it an awakening among its electorate of the Purpose and Opportunity born of the seeds of Hope that made this country the envy of many around the world and that brought them here with visions of attaining their greatest potential."
(read the whole article at the link)
Adults have made their feelings about the Inauguration well known. What about the scores of teens across the country who may not have been old enough to vote this time around? What do they think about this Inauguration? Are they paying attention? Does it have significance for them as the young man in the article above asserts? Let's hear more comments from the generation that will vote in 2012 for the first time on how they feel about this year's Inauguration of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden as President and Vice President."I couldn't attend the Inaugural events in person because my school scheduled our... more
The NYC Bridge Project is a program that teaches young people of color photojournalism. We got together with our students on November 4th '08, to photograph the people of Harlem, and find out how they were feeling about the historic day. What we came away with was more than we could have hoped for, and what our kids came away with that day will be with them forever.The NYC Bridge Project is a program that teaches young people of color... more
President-elect Barack Obama did not answer MTV’s question about whether he wears boxers or briefs during the campaign, but there are no hard feelings. MTV is hosting an inaugural ball for him, The Associated Press reported. A flock of organizations are hosting all manners of balls and parties on a day when some have estimated that a million people will arrive in the capital in hopes of getting a glimpse of Mr. Obama. MTV’s event will be called “Be the Change Inaugural Ball” and will be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on Jan. 20. The event will be televised live on MTV and feature artists, celebrities and government officials. To celebrate the large turnout of young voters in the election, MTV said that hundreds of young people will be invited based on their history of volunteerism in the just concluded campaign.President-elect Barack Obama did not answer MTV’s question about whether he wears... more
Tommy Spain, a young college student, addresses Barack Obama and John McCain one last time before election day on November 4th, 2008. He asks for answers, specifics from the candidates. Tommy has yet to hear what he needs to decide which U.S. Senator will receive his vote.Tommy Spain, a young college student, addresses Barack Obama and John McCain one last... more
Senator Obama talked about green jobs and the promise of a new energy economy. I posited that government’s bipartisan management of ethanol, a single energy product, has been so clownish and corrupt as to bring into question goverment’s ability to manage an entire energy economy, one that will presumably have lots of products, many of them more complex than corn-gas, and most of which presumably do not yet exist. I ask if this gives Miss Williams pause. It gives her none. Her response, which is expected, is that if only we get the right people into office, government will be good at doing things that government has never been good at doing before. She really, really seems to believe this when she says it. Sen. Obama seems to believe it, too. I ask Miss Williams how the government should go about bringing us into the clear bright day of green jobs. She answers: training. I ask her if she means that the government should begin training people for jobs that do not exist. She answers in the affirmative. She smiles.
The belief that having the Right People in office means that we can repeal reality is, of course, superstition. But there is nothing of the messiah-seeker in Miss Williams. She doesn’t make one think: drooling devotee. She makes one think: community organizer.
Organizing for what? The answer to that can be found here at the “I’m Voting For ...” site put together by Campus Progress. On this site, youngsters deliver short video sermonettes on the issue that matters most to them in the upcoming election, e.g. “I’m Voting For ... a New Foreign Policy,” “I’m Voting For ... College Affordability.” The website catalogues the invincible sense of entitlement that characterizes progressive politics, particularly among the young. One poor dear moans, Michelle Obama fashion, that he is going to have to borrow money to pay for law school. Another speaks very sadly of her late mother’s health-insurance travails. At some point, it became obvious to these young people that the chief administrative officer of the federal government is ex officio responsible for loaning them grad-school money and overseeing their moms’ health-insurance plans.Senator Obama talked about green jobs and the promise of a new energy economy. I... more
Rock The Vote still rocks after 18 years! VC2 producer, Chris Lewis catches up with the Rock The Vote Bus Tour at the University of Cincinnati to see what the artists are doing to encourage the youth vote.Rock The Vote still rocks after 18 years! VC2 producer, Chris Lewis catches up with... more
The youth vote. Much touted when it turns out, much maligned when it doesn't. If the democratic primary is any indication, young people will be turning out en masse in this year's presidential election.
David Burstein is a 19-year-old who was frustrated that young people were not out in droves in 2004. He started to make a film, and ended up with a peer-to-peer voter education movement that's registered 23,000 new voters to date. 18 in '08 is Burstein's directorial debut targeted at 17-24 year olds, getting their first chance to vote in a presidential election this year.
18 in ‘08 explains what is at stake for young people in the 2008 election, how decisions made in Washington today will affect young people for years to come, the issues and ideas that engage our generation, what turns us off, why we are so cynical about politics, the role of new media in engaging young voters, and candidates who have inspired youth. There have been a few.
The film is ultimately a call to young people to overturn traditional under-representation in election campaigns, get involved in the political process, and vote. In addition to the film's web site, 18 in ’08 is on a university tour, and screening the film at forums with candidates, activists, students, and politicians, followed by voter registration.The youth vote. Much touted when it turns out, much maligned when it doesn't. If the... more
Steven shows us why young people should stay home on November 4th. Hilarity ensues.
"I always wanted my first time to be special... Instead, I just gave it away to Michael Dukakis." Steven shows us why young people should stay home on November 4th. Hilarity ensues.... more
Story Highlights:
Rock the Vote gathered young adults at Hard Rock Cafe to watch debate
Some in attendance had already made up their minds
Others say nominees' responses were unsatisfying
"It's a matter ... of who you don't want," one young voter saysStory Highlights:
Rock the Vote gathered young adults at Hard Rock Cafe to watch... more
A group of Florida teens have started a chapter of the National Youth Rights Association and are fighting to make Florida the first state in the nation with a voting age of 16.A group of Florida teens have started a chapter of the National Youth Rights... more
We're the National Youth Rights Association of Southeast Florida, a chapter of the National Youth Rights Association, and we're fighting to lower Florida's voting age to 16. Watch the video and visit www.16toVote.org for more info.We're the National Youth Rights Association of Southeast Florida, a chapter of the... more
We hear this every election: the youth hold the swing vote! If young people get out and vote, their candidate will win! Numbers are up and up for young people intending to vote! Politics have finally become important to young voters!
"Facebook tells the story. As of last night, Obama had 1,847,187 Facebook friends. McCain had 335,528. On top of that, the campaign has created platforms across numerous internet-networking sites, from Twitter to Faithbase and BlackPlanet. The beauty of the approach is that it is bottom up rather than top down, allowing young people to run their own Obama-supporting groups unfettered by central control."
Alas, in the last three elections, the youth have failed to deliver on all these predictions. Why? We hear this every election: the youth hold the swing vote! If young people get out... more
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