Young Voters

A new group Eklectyk Creative Media with Napalm Clique has produced an Obama hiphop video/mashup posted on youtube this week.

The video begins with an excerpt from Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech, and launches into a multimedia collection of the political candidate. It has strong video-editing and lots of creativity behind it. video have truly raised the bar for independent Hip Hop artists. In this production, real Hip Hop is used as a vehicle to inspire youth to vote and become involved in national politics.

According to the release "the director of the video is at the Democratic Convention to spread the word about his project."

uploaded as fast as i could.
see more at Flickr Page

Really great retell of a situation Jackie Borchardt from Politics West recalls of her first evening of DNC08

""We need more young people like you," a California delegate said to me while I slurped a lemonade outside the convention hall.

I set the record straight: I'm not here for Democratic Party business. I'm a journalist here to learn about the relationship between the news media and politics.

Still, he said, the world needs more aware young people.
Message to other 23 year olds who might be walking around the Pepsi Center this week: you are carrying a lot of weight. Whether or not the "youth vote" exists, people are paying attention to the presence of youth in this convention."

She's right. There seems to be a powerful lip-service in the air, like all the politicians got the memo and talking points. Tonight's Gavel to Gavel featured a lot of conversation about things like college affordability and veterans - two big issues to young people care deeply about.

I wish someone would have passed the memo onto Hollywood because they were reluctant to discuss young voters further than to say they hoped young people voted. This was a direct contrast from the unbelievable appearencees today by Kerry Washington and Will.i.Am who both attended the DNC Youth Council's press avail to talk about service and outreach to young people.

Tonight, however than being with my "people" at a nice political youthy event, I braved the dark tedious night of standing outside the Rolling Stone/Trojan event geared toward conveying the importance of safe sex.

First to roll in was former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, who quite honestly, was the most on topic, well versed person I've seen address the issue of safe sex and comprehensive sex education. No surprise. She related the importance of safe sex to young people and answered my questions about the youth vote.

An hour later..... very few people who came through the door, and possibly two politicians total, Bill Mahr showed up. His interviews were all pre-set and he had no interests answering any questions about young voters or the youth movement. Given his prominence as a liberal media voice, you would think young voters would be something he would be considerably well versed on and eager to talk about. We should send him the memo.

Another hour a steady stream of celebs rolled through following an event for the Creative Coalition a truly unbelievable organization that helps better educate members of the creative community about issues that matter to their community.

Spike Lee was eager to tell young voters to VOTE, Alan Cummings waved a Michelle sign around, Susan Sarandon reminded us all that she has two young voters at home, but it was surprising the last two people who came by me who I'm sure you'll recognize who genuinely articulated their urgency for better health care.

I'll have the video uploaded soon, so you can hear more then. I did get some good video of the Trojan guy talking about the event as well as the Rolling Stone guy all who were well versed on topics about young people and safe sex practices.

What I'm reading this Saturday:

• This history of the culture wars of the last 40 years dovetails a bit with my earlier piece. I think (and hope) we're emerging from this.
• The Times proclaims that "the year of the political blogger has arrived."
• Virginia's young voters are tearing it up. What an amazing development.
• Are younger candidates the answer to getting youth involved in local politics?
• Congressional Democrats zero in on a directive to Veterans Affairs hospitals to prohibit voter registration efforts.
• Incoming college freshmen were born in 1990?!? Find out more about them here.

I just arrived in Denver today for the Convention Extravaganza. I'm here a bit early, mostly to cause more trouble.

In reading the news for the day I saw a great piece in TIME that features some of the youngest delegates that will be voting next week.

"Gilbert-Pederson isn't yet old enough to vote. At 17, he will be the youngest Democratic delegate in Denver--and one of several hundred millennials who will descend on a convention that boasts the most 36-and-under delegates in decades."

But wait... there's more

"Other young Denver delegates will also be busy keeping their networks linked in. Jason Rae, 21, of Rice Lake, Wis.--the party's youngest superdelegate, a co-chairman of the DNC Youth Council and a political-science student at Marquette University--says he has promised to call friends from the floor to "keep them in the process." It's the young wonk's version of holding up a cell phone at a rock concert so a far-away fan can listen.

Sean Stimmel, 19, a delegate from Los Alamos, N.M., will miss the first three days of his sophomore year at New Mexico Tech to blog from Denver for friends and donors. A year ago, Stimmel never read political news, but after a neighbor pushed him to volunteer for Obama, he is flirting with a political career of his own someday."

This might be one of the latest attempts by TIME to cover young people ... which I guess news agencies are starting to do now.

More to come as the week progresses. Hopefully we can meet up with some of these great delegates and get some FM interviews on.

Sunday reading material:

• Jack and Jill Politics reflects on an interview Jesse Jackson Sr. gave, talking about the generational division within the black community and its ongoing battle for equality.
• An impressive piece by a California high school student regarding the political issues impacting teenagers today.
• An article in The Guardian discussing Obama's popularity with younger voters along with a few interviews with Obama supporters.
• Tim Kaine campaigns for Obama in DC's Virginia suburbs.
• Another MSNBC profile of China's young people -- this time, it's about their nightlife.
• A San Francisco law restricting investigations on prostitution forgets about boys and girls trapped within the system.
• A column in the South Bend Tribune criticizes attempts at making a joke of the 1968 protests of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
• The Pottstown Mercury reports on the recent opening of an Obama office in Pottstown, PA.

According to a US News and World Report Wednesday young voters are one of the five voting groups to watch this election cycle.

"The only problem is that voting—or failing to vote—has always been the issue when it comes to youth. Since 1972, the first election in which 18-to-20-year-olds were eligible to vote, turnout among the under-30 crowd has steadily declined. In 2004, this trend seemed to turn around as the number of young voters increased. Get-out-the-vote organizations touted the fact that there were 4.2 million more voters under 30 than there were in 2000.

This year, there's perhaps even more hype surrounding the youth vote, and it could actually be warranted. Primary turnout among young people doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled in many states, compared with primaries in 2000 and 2004, according to Rock the Vote, a youth-oriented voter registration group that often partners with entertainment companies. In some communities, more young voters are registering, and anecdotal reports suggest more young people are volunteering for the campaigns as well. "You don't write off anyone," says Matt Segal, the executive director of SAVE, who encourages both of the candidates to ramp up their efforts to attract the youth vote. "Young voters are susceptible to the politicians who reach out to them." A swing state like Wisconsin might go to Obama if young people turn out in large numbers, as some suggest they will. If they're right, that really would be a change."

Other groups, not surprisingly include women, African Americans, Hispanics, and Evangelicals. All groups we like to talk about here on FM because all of them can also fall within the group of young people.

Women are always targets, call them soccer moms, security moms, or the recent revelation about single women, women are more than half of the population. A good friend said it best, "Piss off a man, he just ain't gonna vote for you. But you piss off a women not only is she not gonna vote for ya, her husband ain't, her kids ain't, her friends ain't, and everyone at the beauty shop sure as hell ain't. Women are powerful."

Ok, antidotes aside, African Americans are energized by issues and certainly by the fact that the first African American in the general election is on the ballot. AA's also more inclined to be younger.

Average age of Latinos is also younger and there is a pretty good broadband penetration rate for their demographic.

Evangelicals, tend to be older, of course, but young evangelicals are a voting bloc as we've seen that tend to be more interested in Obama's message. His campaign is ready to go after them, and while the whole of the demographic might not go for him, young evangelicals might.

So, of these 5 demographics I think its fair to say that 4 of the 5 include young people or include youth elements to them. And with young evangelicals I'd say that makes up 4.5 of the top 5 voting groups to watch that have a youth component to them.

See... I told you...

Since I last posted about Young Evangelicals becoming a new targeting group in battleground states FoxNews, who I'm certain reads FM on a regular basis, has picked up the story.

"Three swing states — Ohio, Missouri and Colorado — could tip the scales if religious youth show up the way they have in recent elections, said John Green, director of the Bliss Institute at University of Akron in Ohio.

"These 'battleground states’ are good reflections of the nation as a whole," Green told FOXNews.com. "The youth vote — both religious and non-religious — are likely to show the same patterns at the national level. If they [religious youth] can have an impact nationally, they will have an impact in the battleground states."

But a new poll by the Barna Group shows Obama leading McCain among all faith groups, except for evangelicals.

"Obama maintaining a substantial 43% to 34% lead among those who are likely to vote in November, with 5% selecting minor party candidates. That lead is a decline for Sen. Obama’s since early June, when he led his Republican rival 50% to 35% among likely voters. In the past two months, more voters have gravitated to third-party candidates (5%) and a higher proportion is now undecided (up from 15% to 21%)."

Interestingly enough, the LA Times reports this morning that the two candidates will chill on a stage together at Rick Warren's church in Orange County, CA

"But they will make a brief joint appearance, their first of the campaign, and Warren will interview each separately about the Constitution, poverty, AIDS, human rights and other subjects. . .

Many evangelicals believe that Warren's growing profile, and his willingness to welcome Obama to his pulpit, are evidence that he has emerged as the most pivotal figure in U.S. evangelicalism. . .

The forum with McCain and Obama, he said, is his latest attempt to introduce civility into public discourse, even if it irks some of his fellow evangelicals. Warren faced biting criticism in 2006 when Obama spoke at his church for a global AIDS summit. Last year Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) appeared at another AIDS conference at the church.

Warren has been called perhaps ‘America's most influential pastor,’ an evangelical megastar who leads the nation's fourth-largest church, reaches thousands of ministers through the Internet and crusades against poverty and AIDS. That globe-trotting work -- and his phenomenally successful book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ -- have propelled him into the vanguard of a movement that inspires young and socially conscious Christians."

All very interesting.... we're always bringing you the best info here at FM.

Last week during the Teen Choice Awards, DoSomething.Org honored a young community activist (under the age of 25) that aims to change the world. The winner received $100,000 to continue the community project started prior to the award. Finalists were posted on the Teen Choice website and fans voted for their favorite.

"One amazing young person is going to be recognized for their philanthropic efforts and impact on their community and get the rock star treatment they deserve at the show," said Bob Bain, Executive Producer of TEEN CHOICE 2008.

Do Something is a non-partisan non-profit that believes teenagers have the power to make a difference. They leverage communications technologies to enable teens to convert their ideas and energy into positive action. Their site says "We inspire, empower and celebrate a generation of doers."

"We think young people aren’t just tomorrow’s leaders; many young people are doing amazing things right now," said Nancy Lublin, CEO of Do Something, Inc.

And the Winner is.....

The winner this year winner was 19 year old Chad Bullock who has become the leading youth anti-tobacco activist…and he lives right in the middle of tobacco country. He works with politicians, companies, not for profits and other teens. One of his biggest successes was making the Durham Bulls Arena a smoke-free arena.

This is a unique way for an organization as well as a nationally televised event to convey to young people the impact they can have on the world around them. Young people already volunteer in their communities in encouraging numbers according to CIRCLE.

"44% believe that "people working together" can make a great deal of difference in solving local problems" and "45% believe they can make some difference" by volunteering in their community.

Honoring them and encouraging others to also get involved can continue the civic engagement we now see from the Millennial Generation.

New PSA from our friends over at the Washington Bus

Don't forget to vote in the Washington Primary August 19th!