future majority
Tuesday Open Thread
- AlexUA at Future Majority posts about prezzy candidate Chris Dodd's community service program proposal.
- The DARE Generation. I like this blog.
- How U.S. cities will adapt to global warming.
- Afghanistan?
Candidates Should Mobilize Students for Education Reform
Cross posted to Future Majority John Edwards and Barack Obama released their education plans this week. Both are proposing solid first steps to reduce the burden that rising tuition places on students and eliminate some of the most egregious abuses of the government/corporate lending system. The plans are both good (and I'll post a head to head review of both plans later this week) but I'd like to see the candidates take it a step further. As Jonathan Singer and Peter Levine have both noted, Obama and Edwards are taking a somewhat original approach to organizing their campaigns. In addition to asking for traditional campaign support - volunteer hours, donations, and local organizing - these campaigns are asking their supporters to take action on specific policy issues. John Edwards has been doing this for months - indeed, his entire campaign is designed around the idea that he and his supporters need to be the change they want to see. That's the whole idea behind OneCorps, Edwards' dual community service/campaign organization. So far, OneCorps has asked members to support the troops by stopping the war and reduce their carbon footprint, among other actions. Barack Obama's campaign seems to be following suit. He recently asked his supporters to contact their Senators and Congressmen to end the war. In short, these candidates are organizing their followers to impact policy before they are elected to higher office as a way of campaigning to attain that office. Nobody's hit a home run with this type of organizing yet, but so far I like it. Seeing a candidate engage in direct action before attaining higher office can help defuse the initial skepticism of politicians and politics that many voters - particularly younger voters - feel. These action campaigns show voters that the candidates are about more than words. This isn't "trust what I say, not what I do." Rather than force voters to take it on faith that a candidate will live up to his/her rhetoric once they are in office, these campaigns are showing now how they would act on some of the major issues of the day for young voters. That's why, following on the release of their education plans, I'd like to see these - and all - candidates organize students to take action on two major policy proposals new before Congress: the Student Loan Sunshine Act and the renewal of the Higher Education Act (pdf). Here's what I think that would look like:
Who Will Rock the Vote in 2008?
Cross posted at Future Majority
I'm a little embarrassed that I found out about this from the Midday Open Thread over at Daily Kos, but Linkin Park has a new video that's got a political/social edge to it. I loathe Linkin Park, and there's a lot that's not great about this video - there's no coherent thread connecting the various social and political problems it depicts, and there's no "ask" or action item at the end. In short, it's no Mosh, but its encouraging to see nonetheless. At this time in 2003, artists were petrified of getting entangled in politics, and a video like this - as unfocused as it is - would have been unthinkable.
Seeing this video got me thinking, who will Rock the Vote in 2008?
Don't Drop the Ball: Democrats, Policy, and Young Voters
Cross-posted at Future Majority.
In 2004, John Kerry made a huge mistake. While touring colleges and universities,he delivered long-winded speeches about medicare and social security to audiences of teens and twenty-somethings whose main concerns were rising student debt, shrinking employment opportunities, and their friends, busy fighting an ill-conceived land war in Asia. As a result, one of the more popular sites during the '04 election was called John Kerry is a douchebag but I'm voting for him anyway.
And we did vote for him. We didn't sit it out, we weren't apathetic. Young people gave John Kerry a 10 point margin over Bush - the only age demographic to choose Kerry. But we weren't happy about it. He was still a douchebag, and nothing showed that more than his indifference to the issues that we cared about so deeply.
Be The Media - Make Internet TV
Cross posted at Future Majority.
This came about as the result of some conversations we had about Imus and domination of the media by Baby Boomers.
A Young Voter's Response to the Democratic Strategist
Cross posted at Future Majority
The Democratic Strategist has an interesting piece in this month's issue on how the Democrats can capture the partisanship of the "MySpace Generation."
From an historical standpoint, its a great article. Lots of information about partisan ID of young voters between 1976 and 2006. Watching the youth vote swing from Democrat, to heavy Republican, and back again is fascinating (yes - in the 1980's, the Republicans owned the youth vote). It also reiterates a few key points that have been made before on Future Majority:
- Most political activity by youth comes through contact with nonprofits, not the Democratic Party
- A lot of the progressive swing we are seeing among young voters is do to Bush and the war, and may evaporate post 2008. There is no Millennial Ideology with which Democrats can forge a longterm connection with young voters.
- We are approaching the first of many thirds, but partisanship is not yet a lock, even among this first wave of Millennials. This is a rolling process that must continue beyond any one election.
At the end of the article, the authors pose a series of questions asking how Democrats can reach out to and capture the partisanship of the Millennial Generation. Here are my answers to those questions, as well as a question of my own that I pose to the authors:
Writing Contest; Free Campaign Training
Cross posted at Future Majority
Two interesting opportunities:
Free, On Campus Training Opportunity
Hi all,
Thought the community would be interested in this - a free, networked training on effective campus activism offererd by the Center for Progressive Leadership. They've worked with MoveOn and Camp Wellstone in the past. This effort - called Youth Train - is in partnership with Campus Progress, Young People For, the Center for Community Change, and a number of other groups. They are even promoting Future Majority as a partner (so I'm a little self-interested).
Deadlines to apply to host a training (not a ton of work) are Friday. Details below the fold.