community service

I have always been interested in politics. I could recite the presidents in order when I was in the first grade. I was fascinated by the red/blue maps they would show on TV on election night. The first time I really remember being captivated by politics -- knowing what was going on and what the ramifications were -- was when I watched the results of the 2002 congressional elections in my residence hall room with my Republican hallmate and friend (he's now a Democrat). As 2004 came, I remember being obsessed with the election and closely monitoring it on both the internet and television. I was frustrated during both cycles -- Democrats were showing a remarkable ability to fight the battle exclusively on Republican ground. Issues like gay marriage, abortion, and immigration were complemented by weak Democratic positions on the war in Iraq. Voters were offered no compelling narrative to balance the Republican platform -- so given the choice between Republicans and impostor Republicans, they chose the real thing.

Things are different in 2008, though. The gloss to these superficial issues began to wash away in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina. No longer could we pretend that immigration, right to life issues, or same sex marriage were real priorities for this country. Poverty was devastatingly linked with actual people; America got a glimpse of why it is ineffective and heartless to talk about wedge issues rather than solve the actual problems our country faces. There were Americans who were suffering and were gagged; career politicians didn't care to hear their cries for help. In 2006, after Republican scandals further decimated the notion that the GOP's way of doing things would be good for the country, Democrats ran a populist campaign largely based on the issues the country cared about, and they were wildly successful, reclaiming both the Senate and the House.

Young people were enthused by the campaign in 2006. In 2004, Kerry won 18-29 year olds by 54-45 margin over Bush. In 2006, 18-29 year olds voted Democratic by a 60 to 38 margin. Candidates like Jim Webb in Virginia and Claire McCaskill in Missouri ran campaigns that appealed to the gut. Webb's State of the Union response only twenty days after he was sworn in demonstrated why he had so much success while beating former Republican senator George Allen. It was short and to the point, focused on the issues that were relevant. In 2005, after he lost his bid for the Democratic Party's nomination in the previous year, Howard Dean was elected as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and he immediately announced plans to broaden participation among rank-and-file party members, creating a fifty state strategy aimed at mobilizing the people. This call to action combined with a focus on shifting the debate back to the problems affecting people's lives led to a Democratic landslide in 2006 and set the stage for something bigger in 2008.

This year, we've been blessed and/or cursed with a protracted primary battle between two candidates. One candidate in particular demonstrated his understanding of the culture of America's youth. Embracing technology, creating opportunities to serve, and emphasizing the solving of problems led to a surge in support of Senator Obama among the youth community. Democrats, following Howard Dean's and Barack Obama's lead, have made participatory politics chic. Whether they both had read Millennials Rising or not, the change in political approach was exactly what was needed to capitalize on this new civic-minded generation.

We've been reading over the last several months now about how Barack Obama can not close the deal. We've been reading about how American voters may still entertain racist feelings because they're unsure of Obama. We've been reading about how people are worried that Obama might be elected and destroy the government. We've been reading about how Obama isn't patriotic because he doesn't wear a small piece of metal on his jacket. We've read a lot. But while we've been distracted on these issues -- defending Obama's patriotism and his capacity to lead us -- the strategy over the last couple years has actually put us in an enviable position.

This Democratic Party, one tending to focus on youth, on service, on technology, on being connected to one another, on solving problems, on getting involved, on taking responsibility for your community, is a winner. When we ask people to sacrifice and articulate why it's important they do so, that is an appeal to the best Americans have to offer. When we all participate, we're all better off. That is, in my mind, the message that differentiates this Democratic Party from those of years past.

Peter Levine, the director of CIRCLE, wrote on Thursday about the momentum behind the service movement, given that Barack Obama and John McCain have both agreed to appear and participate in a September 11th summit on national community service in New York City. Levine notes that this signals how far service as an American priority has come over the years. Both candidates will make statements -- they will not debate -- on a variety of philosophical and financial questions about the service movement.

This is once more evidence of the Democratic Party, the Left, whatever you'd like to call it, being successful at reframing the debate to talk about issues that are more tangible to the American people. This is also an example of the current foresight of our Democratic leaders -- forcing a discussion on a topic that is hugely important for our future leaders. Our up and coming generation has had a long love affair with volunteering and helping others. Many cite service's immediate impacts as the appeal (although youth seem to be becoming more patient with the process and getting politically involved as well). Of course, it will only help that Sen. Obama was a community organizer when he speaks next month.

As this campaign heats up over the next couple months, please notice the difference between this Democratic Party and the one that we had to suffer through five or six years ago. And then, please think about the difference between this Democratic Party and the one we will build five or six years from now. There are problems with funding the youth arm of the left's infrastructure as Mike as done a great job of noting here, so in order for this to happen, we still need to make sure we're backing it with all the resources we have. But if we do, and if we make a commitment to talking about these issues, the goal of creating a future majority among youth couldn't help but be met.

As part of my gig with MTV as one of their Street Team reps for the 2008 election cycle, I cover politics and young people in Nebraska.

Candidates in Nebraska are getting dirty…in rivers and parks that need to be cleaned up.  Come meet some of the candidates running for office in Nebraska that are taking part in new brand of politics—the politics of service.

The candidates talk about what service means to them, why young voters are so important this election and what each of us can do to take a stand as a generation.  Democrats Work is a national organization, founded by two  young people Thomas Bates and James Carter, that encourages individuals and campaigns to live and show their Democratic values through service.  A chapter was started here in Nebraska by Natalie Benson.

Candidates getting dirty in Nebraska include:

Heath Mello, State Legislature, NE-05

Jeremy Nordquist, State Legislature, NE-07

Jim Esch, House of Representatives, NE-02

Scott Kleeb, US Senate

Get Involved with Democrats Work:

www.democratswork.org

Jane Fleming Kleeb is the Executive Director of the Young Voter Pac which helps Democratic candidates and State Parties win with the 18-35 year old vote through endorsements, on-the-ground support, training, strategy and money. She is also a MTV Street Team rep for Nebraska.

Don't wait for the future. Build it.

When I first joined the community service projects hosted by Democrats Work, I knew that at the end of each day my small corner of the world was a little bit changed; a few homeless people were fed, a few bags of trash were cleaned from a park, some cans had been recycled, some graffiti painted away. I always came home feeling pretty good, but in the back of my mind was the thought that in a few hours the hungry would be hungry again, the gangs would have tagged the walls, and the trash would already be piling up along the fence lines. I would console myself by believing that even if I wasn't making the world any better, at least through my actions it was getting worse a little slower. Thinking like that kept me going long enough to finally see the real difference being made.

I already knew that the benefit from each tree I helped plant would grow over time. As the tree grew in size and beauty it would scrub carbon from the air and pull toxic metals from the earth. When my car drove beneath its shade, I would not run my air conditioner and my gas would go 20% further. A shadow across a Southern wall would save a home owner hundreds of dollars. I appreciated that the small action of planting a tree could yield large results. What I didn't yet grasp was that an even more basic action - the action of taking a small action - could change everything. I wasn't just planting a tree. I was working together with a team of people to plant a tree, and while what we were doing was giving life to a growing thing, how we were doing it, and why we were doing it, was something equally alive and growing.

Paint a wall if you want to make the world look a little better. Paint the wall of a school if you want to make the future look a little better. But, if you really want transformative change, see what happens when you bring a neighborhood together to paint a school. That is what happened on Saturday in Colorado.

Cole Middle School was designed for failure. For much of Denver's history, the families of black workers were segregated into a narrow patch of North side neighborhoods. Long after the law ceased to permit it the real estate agents still knew where red lines circled the map and showed which houses were reserved for white buyers. After years of determined efforts, those racist times were pushed into the background, but the socio-economic problems remain visible. The Cole neighborhood is still struggling with low incomes, scarce local retail, and under-funded schools.

In an inspirational moment, Mayor Hickenlooper promised a middle school class that if the students persevered the city would pay their State University tuitions. By the time that class would have that chance, the middle school had closed due to failing standardized test scores, the high school had shut its doors due to dropping enrollment, high pregnancy rates and low graduation rates took their toll, and when the final survivors stood up this year and showed they had made it through the gauntlet, and showed that they could pass the entrance exams, ten of the remaining few discovered that what they could not show were the immigration documents to prove that they were ever legally eligible. Many other disappointing chapters of the School’s history were written in that demoralizing style.

Cole Middle School closed its doors after a history made final by 'No Child Left Behind' and Colorado's 'CSAP' tests, but the course had been set years before by poverty, despair, and a community that looked like it was done trying. The city struck a deal with KIPP, a charter school corporation that had been started in Dallas with the early support of Texas Governor George W. Bush and seed funding from the GAP Corporation. Giving credit where it is due, successful KIPP schools are famously good. They go into low income areas and usually change the game. There is a bleaker side to their track record, however. Sometimes when it looks like a school might pull down Kipp’s average they very abruptly leave.

A concerned parent’s group looking at the organization hadn't even rated KIPP as their second choice, but the city liked the contract terms and handed over the money and the keys. After two years, KIPP pulled the plug. The only reason they gave the stranded community was that they had difficulty finding a permanent principal.

Denver Public Schools could have looked outside the community again, but instead they did something harder and smarter. They made a commitment to building the right way. Students, parents, teachers and neighbors were invited to help plan a new school. This time starting fresh with a K-8 elementary, they even let a 'kid-ocracy' vote on the school colors and mascot. Being just as happy as the adults to make a break with the past, the old Cole Eagle was retired and the new school would be the home of the Dragons.

The old building needed paint, and so they went to the neighborhoods and found high school students already wanting to give back to the place that had given them their start. They found young parents who wanted 'their' school to be more than just a place to drop their children for a few hours. They found teachers - and yes even the principal that KIPP could not find - who wanted not only to pick up a paycheck in the new institution, but who wanted to use their hearts, and hands, and paintbrushes, and sanding blocks to give this school a new identity and rebirth.

And they found Democrats Work; volunteers like me that want to do something positive on one afternoon that might bring something positive in the future. People like me who might look up on some days and realize that it was never a painted wall that would give this school a chance. It was never even a painted school that would give this neighborhood a chance. It was one neighborhood, uniting with hope to build the future, which had already planted something amazing.

Guest blogger Aaron Silverstein can be found at asilverstein@democratswork.org

We all know the importance of targeting and engaging young voters. In addition to well-established approaches – you know, like actually talking to young voters about issues we care about and using peer-to-peer outreach to do that – we have seen a number of successful non-traditional outreach methods. One of those tools is community service.

Young people volunteer for community service at much higher rates than they volunteer for traditional political activities. There is a culture of service in the Millennial generation that is rooted in the belief that community service is an effective way to solve important issues, locally and nationally. Our friends at Democrats Work are harnessing that passion for service and linking it to politics.

As many of you know, Democrats Work connects grassroots Democrats to community service projects. Through this service-based approach, Democrats Work is moving politics onto the turf of young voters, making community service an integral part of political activism. Their latest efforts to build the “politics of service” movement is an innovative contest with General Wesley Clark.

The “Serve with the General" contest will send General Clark to a competitive Congressional district to do a Democrats Work community service event helping returned veterans, painting a public school that needs it, supporting our troops, cleaning up a neglected part of town. We have a chance to send Clark to a district where a youth-friendly candidate is running for Congress.

You can vote to send General Clark to a Congressional district where the candidates are already making young voters a priority. I want to point out a few: Darcy Burner (WA-08), Bob Lord (AZ-03), Ashwin Madia (MN-06 MN-03), Gary Peters (MI-09), Dan Seals (IL-10), and Gary Trauner (WY-AL).

Take a look at these districts when deciding where to send General Clark. You can cast your vote here: www.democratswork.org.

P.S. We hope to have a candidate or two here in the next few days talking about how his or her campaign is targeting young voters. Stay tuned.

Jane Fleming Kleeb is the Executive Director of the Young Voter PAC which helps Democratic candidates and State Parties win with the 18-35 year-old vote through endorsements, on-the-ground support, training, strategy and money. She is a regular on Fox and is part of MTV’s Street Team ‘08 representing Nebraska. She is married to Democratic candidate for US Senate Scott Kleeb.

Traditionally partisan youth political organizations have been based solely on promoting the party and its candidates. Membership has been dominated by hyper-political and super-active aspiring politicians, staffers, activists, and party leaders. With the rise and coming of age of the new Millennial generation, we must branch out and expand membership to those that are not necessarily die-hard party politicos.

First, organizations need to welcome members that are more casual politically than traditional members. I have seen chapters of organizations that are extremely active scare off potential members by not truly accepting those that are not dedicating every waking hour to politics. With the concepts of the Pareto Principle (20% of your members will do 80% of the work) and The Long Tail (the small actions taken by the many less active members will be substantial in aggregate), we have to accept that not every member is going to be super-active and that casual members are valuable.

Second, integrating community service into your organization's activities will expand your appeal. Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, authors of Millennial Makeover, write "Eighty percent of Millennials have done some sort of community service in high school. Eighty-five percent believe that directly contributing something to the community is an important way to improve it." In an earlier Future Majority post Alice wrote about the Culture of Volunteerism among Millennials.The appeal of community service to young people can draw members into your organization if you integrate community service into your program. Organizations like Democrats Work have been very successful, and Sen. John Edwards used community service with his One Corps program to draw people in. Not only can a community service program help you find new members, but will also associate your organization's brand with giving back to the community and possibly result in earned media.

It is also important to reach out to allied issue organizations. There are a number of strong youth environmental movements that could be partnered with. Net neutrality communities are often overlooked by youth organizers. Standing for issues that are attractive to Millennials and partnering with those issue organizations will serve your organization well in recruiting members and expanding your reach.

What other steps can youth political organizations take to expand their appeal and move beyond pure party politics?

For the past two weekends, students at over 100 university campuses across the country have volunteered their time and raised money to fight hunger and homelessness on the local, national and international level.

The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, coordinated the event raising over $70,000 and bringing together 2000 volunteers.

Students at Fairfield, the University of Washington, Rutgers, and so many others but the largest was at Fairfield University which brought together 500 people and raised nearly $10,000.

At the same time 30 Students from Boston University will spend their summer bicycling from Rhode Island to Washington state as part of a promotional program called Bike and Build to help end poverty

"Each summer, 210 bikers embark on seven cross-country routes, giving presentations on the nation's affordable housing problem, granting money to small organizations and occasionally constructing homes.

"I'm excited because we don't bike the days we build houses. It's sort of our day off," Ashley Hoesing, a CAS sophomore, said. "I've never done anything like it before. Especially now with the economy the way it is, I'm pretty excited that I can help those less fortunate."

Since its 2002 inception, Bike and Build has raised more than $1 million for affordable housing organizations across the country, according to its website."

As CIRCLE (pdf) often reminds us volunteerism is native to young people. 60% of 15-25 year olds have volunteer or continue to volunteer on a regular basis. Opportunities like these help create a culture of volunteerism and community involvement.

I wonder the extent to which shows like Idol Gives Back, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Oprah's Big Give also help create that same volunteerism or "give back" attitude, particularly with older demographics. Just thought I'd throw that out there - see if anyone has any thoughts.

It's been a shady week here at FM. Content has been light as I've been sick most of the week, and struggling through a major work crunch at both my day job and with the book. To top it all off, the site was down for an hour this morning. Sorry about that.

Next week I hope things will be back to normal, and I expect that I will also finally roll out that second big announcement I alluded to a couple weeks ago. In the meantime, here are a few stories you should check out:

• In a piece at Huffington Post, Jason Carter, grandson of the former President Jimmy Carter, lays out a case for a new, service-oriented politics, and promotes an organization we've profiled here at FM before: Democrats Work.
• The new student aid bill we blogged about earlier this summer emerged from conference committee yesterday. The bill, which is slated to reduce lender subsidies and substantially increase need-based student aid, will now go back to the House and Senate for approval. Details on the bill, how it came to pass, and the process moving forward can be found here. The Project on Student Debt has a fact sheet.
• The League has a new website. When things quite down, maybe I'll give it a review.

Warrantless wiretapping, the continuing war - the Democrats in Congress don't seem to be getting much work done. Fortunately, other Democrats are picking up the slack.

Connecting community service and political activism is a terrific idea, especially for engaging younger voters who are highly likely to view community work as a more effective outlet for change than the political process. Democrats Work is building bridges to ease those people into the political process while generating a positive image for the party in communities across the country- even in "red" areas like Arkansas. More great news coverage after the jump. Click here to see if there's a Democrats Work chapter in your area.

Update: I've got this cross posted at MyDD and Daily Kos. Please give it a recommend.

We've talked a lot lately about young voters. How they turned out in near record numbers, and broke heavily democratic. Pollsters, bloggers and strategists are also busy promoting the fact that if a someone votes for a party 3 times (before they turn 30),they are likely to become a life-long voter for that party. The new conventional wisdom is this: "youth voted Democratic in 2004 and in 2006. If we get them in 2008, we've locked a generation the size of the baby boomers for life."

While technically correct, there are some assumptions in that statement that need to be challenged.

First, I think that the "2/3 shooting for 3/3" frame is the wrong mindset with which to approach the upcoming election. "Young voters" are not a solid block. The category is fluid by its very nature. I'm a cusp Millennial - 28 years old. After one more election I will no longer be a "young voter." From now on, every election will be 1/3, 2/3, or 3/3 for somebody, and we should create institutions and strategies that organize around that principle. Second, we need to recognize that, despite our recent successes, our current methods are inadequate to that task and adjust accordingly. Young voters still volunteer in their communities far more than they participate in politics. We can do better. And if we do, we'll win even bigger. In whatever strategies we adopt, our goal should be closing that "volunteer gap."

So let's talk about this.