DNC Youth Council

The DNC Youth Council is petitioning the Democratic Change Commission for a more youth-friendly primary and caucus process. You can read the text of the letter sent to the commission below:

DNC Youth Letter

I believe the fundraiser is to collect money for the DNC and show the party committees that young people can help it raise money (which in turn, theoretically raises the power of young people within the committees). Here's the press release/invite:

You are cordially invited to join the College Democrats of America and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Youth Council for our 2009 Summer Fundraiser at Tabaq in Washington, D.C. on July 23 from 8 PM -11 PM!

Come meet Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH), DNC Vice Chair Raymond Buckley, DNC Political Director Clyde Williams, Organizing for America Political Director Addisu Demissie, former Obama for America Youth Vote Director Leigh Arsenault, and young staffers from the Obama administration to learn about the amazing career opportunities available in Democratic politics.

Tickets are limited, so register early to ensure your attendance at the young professional networking event of the season! Hors d'oeuvres and great drink specials will be available for all attendees. Tabaq is located at 1336 U Street NW and features a glass terrace overlooking the Washington Monument and the Capitol.

You can purchase your ticket three ways:

1. Online at https://www.democrats.org/page/contribute/cda09fr

2. During the CDA National Convention registration on Thursday, July 23, from 12 to 4 at the DNC Headquarters

3. On-site at Tabaq July 23rd until 8:30 PM.
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Prices:
-Students: $10 pre-register (student ID required at check-in)
-Students: $15 on site registration (student ID required)
-Young Professionals: $25
-Young at Heart: $35

Host Committee Sponsorships:
-Host ($1,000 contribution includes 20 tickets to the Reception, recognition on the invitation, and special recognition at the event)
-Co-Host ($750 contribution includes 15 tickets to the Reception, recognition on the invitation, and special recognition at the event.)
-Benefactor ($500 contribution includes 10 tickets to the Reception, recognition on the invitation, and special recognition at the event.)
-Sponsor: ($250 contribution includes 5 tickets to the Reception, recognition on the invitation, and special recognition at the event.)

Please contact DNC Youth Council Director A’shanti Fayshel Gholar at GholarA [at] dnc [dot] org for more information on being on the Host Committee.

You can also check out the Facebook group at: http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=209126495074

We hope to see you there!

Want to be a member of the Democratic National Committee? The DNC Youth Council is now accepting resumes from young people interested in becoming At-Large members:

Dear Young Democrat ~

Every four years the Democratic National Committee makes its appointments for 75 at-large members. The individuals selected for these positions are some of the best and brightest in our party. In keeping with the mission of the DNC Youth Council, it is our goal to ensure that young people are represented on the DNC including as at-large members.

The Youth Council will begin to accept resumes of young people interested in applying for these DNC at-large positions. Please use your networks and resources to reach out to young people who are interested in applying. Numerous people apply for at-large appointments and it is extremely competitive, so ensure that you are targeting young people who will standout above the rest. Please note that the DNC at-large appointments should not be confused with our DNC Youth Council at-large appointments process which will begin in July.

Interested individuals (who must be registered Democrats) should send a resume that includes their name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and a short statement of interest to YouthCouncil [at] dnc [dot] org. We will compile these resumes and submit them to the DNC’s Office of Party Affairs to be included as people to be considered for at-large positions. All resumes must be received by 5:00 PM EST on July 1st, 2009.

Note: Mike wrote about this story on Thursday, but I wanted to dig deeper into the story. You can read Mike's post here.

Since Election Day, many a journalist has written pieces cautiously exploring the changes that Millennials will bring to electoral politics, given their "sudden" emergence. Some conclude that Obama has raised expectations too high. One comically questions whether or not it was a good thing for young people for Obama to win. There's a story in New Hampshire, though, that gives all of us a clue on the kind of transformative change we're in for thanks to civically-engaged Millennials.

Grafton County, New Hampshire contains the town of Hanover, home of Dartmouth College. A Republican, Carol Elliott, has held various local government positions over twenty years; she probably figured running for county treasurer would be a walk in the park, even if it was 2008 and she's in the GOP.

But Vanessa Sievers, a 20 year old Dartmouth College student (also a member of the DNC Youth Council), decided to give Elliott a run for her money (no pun intended). Sievers paid $42 for a Facebook ad aimed at Dartmouth and Plymouth State students. The Dartmouth College Democrats backed her up with a superb voter registration and GOTV operation:

Hanover registered 2,436 new voters this year, and David Imamura, the president of Dartmouth College Democrats, yesterday said 2,268 Dartmouth College students voted in the election, about 30 percent of Hanover's record turnout.

Town officials yesterday confirmed more than 2,000 Dartmouth students voted in the election and said that would be a record.

Sievers could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Imamura said she and other active Dartmouth Democrats went door-to-door on campus to tell students about candidates on the ballot other than Barack Obama and victorious U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen.

“I think Dartmouth students have a genuine interest in how government works in New Hampshire,” Imamura said. “It wasn't just us going out there saying ‘vote straight Democratic' … it was a big effort to educate Dartmouth students about why they should vote down ticket.”

All of this came together in the form of an Election Day surprise:

Sievers won 21,389 votes across the county to 20,803 for Elliott. Sievers' largest margin of victory was in Hanover, home to Dartmouth, where she defeated Elliott by 2,438 votes. The Democrat also won 411 more votes than did Elliott in Plymouth, home to Plymouth State University.

It's quite obvious that Dartmouth College students were responsible for Sievers's victory. What isn't so obvious to Elliott and the county GOP chairman -- much like their national party compatriots -- is that they lost because they've either chalked up young voters for the Democrats and not pursued them or they're outright hostile to their political participation.

Elliott, doing her best to emulate Sarah Palin's patriotism, whined a bit about the loss:

Elliott yesterday said the heavy college turnout doomed her candidacy.

“The real people … ” she stated, “with a 600-vote (margin), it was the brainwashed college kids that made the difference.”

[...]

“You've got a buffoon for a register of deeds, and you've got a teenybopper for a treasurer,” Elliott said. “I'm concerned for the citizens of Grafton County.”

[...]

Meanwhile, Ludlow Flower, has no interest in actually doing his job and trying to attract people to the Republican Party, because, well, these people don't count.

Grafton County Republican Chairman Ludlow Flower yesterday also did not embrace Elliott's comments about her opposition, but said he was concerned that college students who live in Grafton County for a limited time were tilting elections for county offices.

“I think it's a terrible shame that the Dartmouth student vote is able to distort the outcome of the vote for Grafton County officers,” Flower said. “I have no problem with them voting for national political tickets, because they do have a stake in this whole country, but they don't have a stake in our local community here.

“Nothing against Ms. Sievers, but she's a 20-year-old college student,” Flower continued. “By comparison, Carol Elliott is a public servant of some 25 or 30 years, with a lot of public experience. It just seems a shame that we have yet to figure out a way to make this democratic process for county offices more reflective of our local circumstances.”

Of course, we know that the Supreme Court decided in 1979 that college students do have the right to vote wherever they go to school.(SYMM v. U.S, 439 U.S. 1105 (1979)) So why spend time griping about a ruling that's been static for nearly three decades; why not try to stem the tide against the national party and pursue these young voters who, more and more, are joining an ever-solidifying and powerful political coalition in the Democratic Party?

The "local circumstances" talk is hilarious, given the snowbirds who only live there for part of the year, never questioned by the GOP. Also, quite frankly, I think it's a "terrible shame" that, as a leader of that community, Flower doesn't want to keep people in Hanover after they've graduated from Dartmouth, expanding the tax base and improving the economy. But then again, Mr. Flower is exhibiting that "country first" attitude, provided the country looks, thinks, and acts like he does.

This is a perfect example of what will happen to the Republican Party should it continue on its current course. Joe the Plumbers are starting to leave us, as younger, browner, and more progressive voters expand. If the GOP refuses to adapt, they're screwed. If the Republicans don't act, the crystal ball becomes clearer: the GOP becomes irrelevant while Millennials run the country as progressive Democrats.

Short story? Carol Elliott and the GOP has come to realize what change means thanks to an enterprising Millennial, and they're stomping their feet, covering their ears, and crying because they don't like it.

Advice? Grow up. Literally.

Update: A correction has been issued for this piece. Two young people did address the convention on Monday and Tuesday. Read the full correction here.
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My final write-up on the DNC.

On Thursday, Senator Obama finished the long primary process and accepted his party’s nomination in front of 75,000 supporters. In no small part, Senator Obama stood on the podium at Invesco field thanks to the hard work, and votes, of millions of young voters, many of who cast their first ballot in support of his campaign.

Turnout among young voters in the Democratic primary was double the level recorded in 2004, and young voters broke heavily in favor of Senator Obama. In the Iowa caucuses, young voters performed on par with the "reliable" senior vote, and were widely credited with providing Senator Obama’s margin of victory.

That trend continued at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, in which young people played a larger-than-usual, though still not proportional, part in the proceedings. Young people made up a record 16% of all official participants in Denver, including 631 delegates. This represented a huge increase over 2000 and 2004, when young people made up 9 and 11% of convention participants, respectively.

As Crystal Strait, political director of the California Democratic Party and active Young Democrat noted during a press conference by the DNC Youth Council, young people were still not represented in the convention at the levels in which they participate in Democratic politics. Young people made up 19% of the Democratic electorate in 20004, and under the DNC Charter, should also make up 19% of the delegates at the Democratic Convention, 3% higher than the record levels found in Denver.

Off the convention floor, though, young faces could be found in abundance. The College Democrats of America held their own national convention in Denver, concurrent with the DNC. The group flooded the city with hundreds of student activists who came for trainings, speeches from top DNC officials, and perhaps a chance to view Senator Obama’s acceptance speech live.

During the day, panels coordinated by the DNC Youth Council – a board consisting of leaders from College Democrats, Young Democrats, Democrats Work, and Future Majority (myself and coblogger Kevin Bondelli are both members), as well as all members of the DNC under age 36 – provided access to elected officials and party leaders like Howard Dean and Scott Kleeb, as well as advice on best practices for organizing young voters or running for office.

Non-partisan youth organizations, such as the Bus Federation and Rock the Vote, were also in attendance, throwing parties at night and flooding the street with viral campaigns during the day. It was hard to walk down the street without noticing Bus Federation volunteers dressed as vampires, angels, or devils to raise awareness about Trick or Vote, their national Halloween GOTV canvass. Often not more than a few yards away, Rock the Vote street team members handed out cryptic black postcards with white numbering. The numbers changed each day, and represented important statistics on young voters.

Despite this unprecedented youth involvement at the convention, young people were more likely to be seen than heard by the delegates and party officials in Denver.

Though they are the official youth arm of the Democratic Party, the College Democrats were unable to provide the vast majority of their membership in Denver access to the first three nights of the convention. The Young Democrats and DNC Youth Council had similar problems obtaining credentials for their members early in the week, and young Democratic organizers in Denver needed to rely on their state parties or personal connections to obtain credentials to the Pepsi Center. The situation was much improved for Thursday night's events at Invesco Field, for which party youth organizations were mostly able to provide access to their members.

Most surprisingly, the one place young voters were completely absent at the Democratic National Convention was at the podium. During my four nights at the convention I did not see one young voter or youth organizer – from CDA, YDA, SFBO or otherwise – address the convention. Young Democrats looking forward to Chelsea Clinton’s introduction of her mother as a kind of passing-the-torch to the next generation moment were disappointed when the former First Daughter’s role was reduced to narrating a video about her mother’s life.

Thursday at Invesco Field was no better. Not one young person took the stage that night – not even during a brief period in which the party introduced half a dozen “regular folks” to talk about the problems they face. It was a curious and conspicuous omission considering the economic plight of “Generation Debt.”

The closest the Party came to including young people during the night’s proceedings came during the speeches of Al Gore and Sen. Obama, both of whom acknowledged the unique role of young people in pushing for change during this election.

To the extent that this is a change election, it is also generational election. Age was the greatest predictor of how someone would cast a vote in the primary process. Unfortunately, the convention organizers chose to talk at young people this week rather reward them for their activism with a place at the podium. Young voters are pushing the Democratic Party towards victory, yet it appears that the convention organizers still adhere to the old adage: children should be seen, but not heard.

Another day filled with more events than anyone could possibly attend. Here’s a rundown of what happened on my end during the first part of the day.

After some abortive attempts at blogging and another trek to the no-man’s land where they hide the credentials, the first event of the day was the DNC Youth Council’s panel on youth organizing.

I think the event went fairly well, though it could have been better. We smartly skipped over presentations and went straight to Q&A. There was more than the normal share of crazy questioners who go to the mic more to rant than to ask a question, though to be fair, a young Hillary delegate did stand up and make a great call for unity - among young Democrats and the delegates in general. Other questions ranged from how best to learn the ropes of the inside rules and protocols that makes local party politics function, to best practices for getting young Latinos to the polls.

Thomas Bates of Democrats Work had a brilliant retort to the question about inside politics, that essentially boils down to: start your own organization, rally your friends, and change the way the inside politics works in your neighborhood. Considering the successes of Democrats Work these past few years, and my own experiences in politics, which essentially consists of telling people they were wrong until people paid attention and changed the way they operated, I think he’s got a pretty solid leg to stand on.

With regard to the format, though, it seems like the DNC Youth Council should be able to get more time for events and smaller panels that are more focused. There were ten of us on the panel and it was hard to get a word in edgewise. Any combination of 4 of us probably could have fielded all the questions that came our way. Pretty much the only thing I managed to say was a brief call for people to check out MoveOn's Vote Poke tool and a call to make Election Day registration a future project for youth orgs after November. I think more focused, smaller panels might be a more productive route in the future, though I understand that it gets harder to marshal press to multiple events during what is already a busy week.

I was a little disappointed to see that more College Democrats didn’t attend the panel. To be sure, it looked like CDA composed a decent portion of the audience (press and young delegates made up the rest), but considering that CDA’s national convention is happening concurrent to the DNCC, I would have hoped for a larger audience from the college crowd who are a big part of the future of youth organizing. I’m not sure what the story is there.

Kevin and I were discussing and it seemed like the second panel of the day, featuring young candidates and elected officials like Tim Ryan, Scott Kleeb and Congressman Greg Meeks seemed much more focused, and offered a good accounting of what it takes to run for office. The questions were also much more focused, and I have no doubt that helped as well.

Later in the day there was a panel on Hip Hop Politics, which I wanted to attend - especially in light of my recent post, which is getting some positive and negative reactions offline - but blogging duty called and I had to spend a few hours hunkered down at the Big Tent.

That turned out to be a pretty good move, as I got interviewed by the Chicago Sun Times about blogging. That was a little weird. I’m used to talking to media about young voters, not blogging. It was an adjustment and my talking points weren’t quite as polished. Hopefully it came out OK. By happenstance, I was interviewed at the same time as Georgia10 from Daily Kos, who stepped in with great answers when I got stumped. I also got shot for B-roll by ABC News. I guess they wanted to see “blogging” in action. Maybe you’ll see my mug or the Future Majority logo on the TeeVee. Let me know if you do. And if anyone attended the Hip Hop panel and wants to blog about it, shoot me an email.

I'm somewhat at a loss as to what to write about the first day at the convention. The convention is so big that it's pretty much impossible to encapsulate. The actual convention is just the most visible part of what is going on. Even before the convention gavels in at 3pm each day, there are dozens of panels, networking events, and protests. While the convention conducts its business on national television, there are watch parties all over the city - for youth, bloggers, activists, anyone not able to snag a credential into the Pepsi Center that night. Long after the convention ends each night there are dozens of parties as organizations try to build their brand name, budding politicos try to climb up the next rung in the political ladder, and insiders hold private meetings with senators, major donors and political figures.

It's an incredible circus of activity created by insiders and outsiders all looking for their piece of the pie in this election cycle - from the crazy activist hawking buttons on the street to the major elected officials and delegates in on the floor. So it's hard to give show anything more than the tiniest slices of what is going on. That said, here's my .02 on what I experienced on the first day and what it's like covering the DNCC.

Credentials
You can't do anything or get anywhere without a credential at the convention. The first thing every morning is getting your credentials for the day, which are usually located in far-flung locations not near mass transportation. Walking is your friend and you do a lot of it in order to collect your credentials.

Youth Council Press Conference
The press avail arranged by the youth council seemed to go quite well. The room was packed with young delegates, activists and Press alike. About 15 groups gave an overview of their work in 2 minute shorts, and I hear that some decent press hits are starting to come out of it. Will.i.am showed up at the end to do his own briefing on the importance of the youth vote. Sarah will have video of this later today I think, and I'm working with Remix America on getting some footage as well - hopefully individual 2 minute clips of everyone's presentations for people to embed on their websites and pass around.

Probably my favorite speech during the press avail came from Crystal Strait of YDA. Crystal used her two minutes not to pump up YDA (though she could have), but rather to highlight that even though youth representation at this convention is higher than ever - 16% of all participants - it is still not on par with young voter's share of the Democratic electorate. Young voters could be 20 - 25% of the electorate in 2008. In 2004 we were 19% of all voting Democrats. It's important to continue to highlight that disparity and push the DNC to continue down the path of greater inclusion and support for youth engagement within the party structure.

Starz Center/Sea Change Forum
Progressive Strategies and a few other organizations have set up a private mini conference within the confines of the Pepsi Center perimeter set by the Secret Service. You can only get in if you are a credentialed delegate or have an all access pass to the Center. I was able to snag one of those all access passes by agreeing to participate in a panel on Wednesday about the youth vote.

Yesterday I got the chance to go see Drew Westen present on his book, The Political Brain. If you haven't read it, the book is about the role of emotion in political messaging and offers practical advice on how to properly frame political messages to invoke the emotions on which most people base their vote. Westen's presentation created a compelling argument that Democrats have lost ground for 30 years because Republicans successfully branded the words "Liberal" and "Democrat" with negative emotional meanings. In response, Democrats offered not appeals to emotion, but to logic and facts, acronyms and policy wonkery. That is, when we respond at all.

I spent a few years working with an organization that did framing and message research. One of the biggest problems is that Lakoff and most people who work on framing tend to stay in an uber-theoretical framework, offering little in the way of practical messages responding to the current news cycle, so Westen's presentation was a refreshing change.

On a personal, star-sighting note, Morgan Spurlock sat behind me during the presentation. The Sea Change forum has that kinda feel to it - like famous people are waiting around the corner.

Big Tent
The Big Tent is the official blogger headquarters of the convention, and like the Sea Change Forum it is really it's own mini-conference happening at the same time as the convention. As I noted in my post yesterday, this is the place to meet all the bloggers and activists, check out panels on issues like Green Jobs and the war, watch the convention via live stream and recharge your all important laptop batteries.

There are hundreds of bloggers here and we are light years away from 2004, when only a few bloggers were even credentialed for the convention. I wouldn't even be surprised if the vast majority of people sitting in the room with me as I type this weren't even blogging in 2004. The blogosphere has grown up in the last four years and the Big Tent is one of the major hubs of activity here in Denver. Media are here interviewing bloggers, and elected officials have stopped by to acknowledge the contributions that bloggers are making to the party every day.

After Parties
I attended two after parties, one by Rock the Vote, and another by HeadCount. HeadCount's party was at the Ogden, an independent venue here in Denver and was headlined by Robert Randolph and the family band (blues and gospel based pedal steel jam rock). I was super impressed with the event. Despite being a few miles away from the main hub of events, the place was packed with local young people, delegates and VIPs alike. Everyone seemed genuinely into the scene and it had a real authentic, community vibe to it. (Washington Post's The Sleuth agrees with our analysis.)

Talking to Andy Bernstein, the ED of HeadCount, he said the organization is on track to register 50,000 voters this summer on concert tours and at summer festivals.

Across town, back by the convention center, Rock the Vote's party featured N.E.R.D and Fallout Boy. This event was a little weirder. The event was held at the Ellie Hawkins Opera House. It had a schizophrenic vibe to it. In the halls of the Opera House, something of a star-fucker scene was in full force, while inside the auditorium, a very young crowd rocked out to the music. Cringe-worthy moment of the night: when Congressman Meeks came on to talk and asked everyone to get ready for "the Fallout Boys."

Despite a much larger venue, I'd estimate that the Rock the Vote show had an only slightly larger crowd than the Head Count show. The event was also slated to feature the winner of Rock the Vote's DemRockracy contest, but I got there later in the evening after N.E.R.D played and missed the opening act.

Things I missed
I skipped out on the actual convention to get some much needed rest before the after parties. I did manage to get to the Big Tent in time to see Michelle Obama's speech but missed out on the rest. Tonight I will be in the Pepsi Center for the Clinton extravaganza. More on that tomorrow.

The Harvard Institute of Politics released new survey numbers in a press conference held at the same time as that by the Youth Council. I'll have more on those survey results later today.

Here are some photos from Day 1:

The DNC Youth Council has put together a guide to all the youth-focused events (and more) in Denver. I've attached it as a file, or you can download it directly here (pdf).

Lots of good stuff here. Spread widely to folks who will be in Denver. Hope to see you there.

Update: So here's a question. I wonder what youth representation will be at the RNC?
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The DNC Youth Council just put out a press release announcing that young people will make up 16% of convention participants in Denver:

Washington, DC – Growing on the strong performance of young voters during the primaries, young people are set to make up just over 16% of all convention delegates, alternates, standing committee members and pages, at the end of the month in Denver, beating all previous records.

Based on information from the Office of the Secretary of the Democratic National Committee, there are scheduled to be 631 delegates aged 36 and under helping to select the Democratic Party presidential nominee. This record performance tops the 11% of youth delegates in 2004 and the 9% in 2000.

Bear in mind that youth is being defined here as 18 - 36, not the usual 18 - 30 we talk about. The DNC (and YDA) both use that metric as the definition of "youth" for the purposes of internal matters.

Technically, the DNC delegations are supposed to represent youth at levels equal to their share of the Democratic electorate in the previous cycle. According to YDA (pdf), who fought the DNC over affirmative action goals to assure proper representation for youth at the convention, that means that youth should make up 19% of convention participants. So the number should be higher, and we still have a ways to go to achieve full representation.

Nevertheless this is a huge improvement. A big congratulations to everyone who worked to get as many young people as possible involved in the convention - as a delegate or otherwise. The full press release is after the jump.

Hey everyone. The DNC Youth Council is looking to fill two vacant regional slots - one for the West and one for the MidWest. Details below or on their Facebook page: