Responses to Washington Post Op-Ed Published

Responses to Catherine Rampell's Op-Ed in the Washington Post, which trashed youth orgs - particularly Rock the Vote - were published in today's edition of the paper. My own LTE didn't run, but three others did - one from Rock the Vote, one from the Student PIRGs, and one from USSA:

Galvanizing Young Voters

Saturday, April 5, 2008; A13

Catherine Rampell's March 30 op-ed column, "Why Obama Rocks the Vote," falsely framed recent surges in turnout of young adults -- voters ages 18 to 29 -- and failed to recognize the important work done by nonpartisan organizations such as Rock the Vote.

Turnout of these young voters in fall elections increased by 4.3 million in 2004 and by another 2 million in 2006. Far from being an anomaly, 2008 is set to become the third major election in a row with an increase in turnout among young voters.

While Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is doing excellent work engaging young adults this year, our research shows that registration is a major step toward participation. In 2004, 82 percent of registered young adults voted, up from 74 percent in 2000. In 2004, Rock the Vote registered nearly 1 million voters, and already in 2008, more than 500,000 young adults have used our online tool to register to vote. Like the Obama campaign, Rock the Vote's message embraces the hopeful spirit of the millennial generation, and our tested and proven strategies of peer-to-peer mobilization reflect youth culture.

We're seeing unprecedented engagement in the primaries and caucuses so far and are confident we'll see this continue through November.

-- Heather Smith

Washington

The writer is executive director of Rock the Vote.

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Catherine Rampell's analysis of trends in youth voting was misleading. Youth voter turnout was on the rise long before the 2008 elections. In 2004 alone, turnout among those ages 18 to 24 rose at a rate nearly three times that of the general population.

Rampell also ignored a vast body of research that points to the efficacy of canvasses, phone banks and other on-the-ground grass-roots methods. It's likely that this research, combined with the increase in turnout, persuaded most of the candidates to pay more attention to young people this primary season, turbocharging the youth vote even more.

By ignoring this correlation, Rampell missed a chance to explain the exciting continued increase in young voter turnout.

-- Sujatha Jahagirdar

Los Angeles

-- Carmen Berkley

Washington

Sujatha Jahagirdar is program director for Student Public Interest Research Groups' New Voter Project, and Carmen Berkley is vice president of the U.S. Student Association.

Since the hold is now off, here's what I submitted to them for publication. I think I exceeded the word limit . . . :

In her recent Op-Ed on the youth vote (Why Obama Rocks the Vote, March 30), Catherine Rampell trafficked in some of the worst stereotypes about young voters and conveniently skipped over significant events in the last 5 years that thoroughly disprove the bulk of her argument.

Ms Rampell is right to note that Sen. Obama is playing a crucial role in increasing youth turnout this election cycle, but rising youth turnout is not a new phenomenon. It began in 2004 when young voters created dozens of new organizations – partisan and non-partisan – to target their peers. In 2004, voter turnout among 18 – 29 year olds rose 9%. In 2006, this trend continued and the youth vote rose for the first time during a midterm election sine the 1980s.

Before Senator Obama was ever on the ballot, organizations like The League of Young Voters, the Young Voter Alliance, Music for America and many more were driving young people to the polls in greater numbers. Senator Obama, whose youth operation is staffed with veterans of 2004 and 2006, is building on the successes of these groups.

Ms. Rampell’s piece neglected to mention any of this, preferring instead to repeat stereotypes about young voters and youth organizing that may have held true in the 1990s, during the reign of Generation X, but bear little resemblance to the realities of youth organizing today. In this, she is not alone. The revolution in youth politics I describe has gone largely unnoticed in the media.

As Senator Obama might say, it’s time the media abandoned the (youth) politics of the past and embrace the change that has occurred right under their noses.

Michael Connery
Author – Youth to Power: How Today’s Young Voters Are Building Tomorrow’s Progressive Majority