Forward Montana

The author prepares for Trick or Vote in 2007

Pop Quiz Time:

1. What is the single most effective way to mobilize voters?
   a) Visibilities
   b) Sitting on a couch and bitching
   c) Talking to ‘em face-to-face
2. What holiday always immediately precedes Election Day and has a built-in tradition of door-knocking?
   a) Halloween
   b) The 4th of July
   c) Festivus
3. What does everyone love?
   a) Rick Rolling
   b) Costumes!
   c) Voting
   d) All of the above

All of us who work in the field of youth engagement face big competition. The biggest competition we face – for volunteers, for attention – is not from one another’s organizations either. It’s from the Wii (which is sweet) and the bar scene and friends and loved ones. Our biggest challenge is overcoming that noise and building a politics that is fun and exciting and relevant to people’s lives.

That’s what makes Trick or VoteTM so freaking sweet. It’s the Best Way on the Best Day.

It’s actually such a sweet idea it doesn’t even really need an explanation. But here it is in a nutshell: Get some people who are a bit too old to trick or treat (go as young as high school and as old as the retirement home for your recruitment), rally ‘em in costume, meet in a centralized location, train these folks to canvass effectively, and knock some doors.

In short, we combine a cultural more (knock doors on Halloween) with hard-minded political research (knocking doors is an effective voter mobilization tool).

The result?

• More volunteers. In Portland in 2004, 850 canvassers assembled for the largest mass canvass in the history of the state. By all accounts, this year will be even bigger.
• More virgin volunteers. Out of that same crowd in Portland, more than one-in-three were first-time political volunteers who came out of the woodwork for a program well-suited to help our fellow citizens lose their voter virginity.
• More conversations. On Halloween evening, people are home – either waiting for trick-or-treaters or getting ready for their parties. They’re even prepared to open the door. And they’re definitely ready to engage in a conversation. All of which means that we don’t just hit more doors, we hit more doors in a more effective manner.
• More voters. Do the math -- more canvassers, more conversations, and more doors? More people are hitting the polls.

The Bus Federation wants to take Trick or VoteTM national this year – and we can do it with your help. If you’re part of a local or national organization that is serious about doing Trick or VoteTM, get in touch soon so we can coordinate our efforts. Contact Alex Aronson at the Oregon Bus Project @ 503-233-3018.

Just looking for a project for the fall and think you could pull off a kick-ass Trick or Vote in your hometown? Or even just want to assemble 15 of your closest friends and friends-of-friends and friendly-friends-of-friends’-friends and go hit some doors? Drop us a line. I swear to you, you’ll be glad you did.

Major props, by the way, to our friends at the Bus for this innovative program -- Trick or Vote is their brainchild.

Answers to the pop quiz: 1-b, 2-c, 3-a

Matt Singer is the CEO of Forward Montana, dedicated to training, mobilizing, and electing a new generation of progressive leaders. Forward Montana is a charter (get it?) organization of the Bus Federation.

Today is Super Tuesday, but it is also Fat Tuesday, the peak of Mardi Gras. Fully cognizant of the fact that these should not at all conflict, the folks at Living Liberally, Young Voter PAC, Forward Montana, New Era Colorado, Democrats Work, and Traction are throwing election watching parties all over the country tonight.

From the Super Fat Tuesday website:

Super Fat Tuesday. Because election day should be celebrated. Because people want to experience politics together. Because New Orleans needs to be remembered. Because these campaigns have been so excessive, they are super fat...

So far there are over 27 parties scheduled in 19 states.

As for myself, this morning I schlepped over to the Municipal building in Downtown Brooklyn and cast my ballot for Sen. Obama. Tonight I'll probably stop by the Drinking Liberally party at the Tank in lower Manhattan before heading home to cover the results late into the night. Maybe I'll see some of you there.

Mike posted the quick link for this piece but I wanted to go through and talk about all of the points that Carol Costello raises.

But first let me say that I am so exhausted from this kind of crap. It is so ridiculous that today reporters won't use the valid information they can get from a simple google search. There is no excuse for this kind of reckless journalism. It makes me think that perhaps it isn't that they get it wrong its that they WANT to report a specific story about young people and they want to fit the research to that story.

I can see why Republicans would want to do this as much as possible because suppressing the youth vote means more success for them. Which is why you saw it for the city elections in Georgia.

What a lot of people don't understand is that when you get stats like this wrong - it impacts campaigns, consultants, and candidates. It makes them think that they should not be targeting young people.

When they don't target young people they don't get young people to go out and vote.. so it perpetuates the fallacy.

Further it makes candidates have to get more republicans to vote for them which influences their policy. So basically, they have to be more conservative in their votes and the bills they push because they think that is representative of their district... when in reality... it might not be.

These things impact us at levels that go beyond turnout and elections it goes to the very laws that we are passing and the votes cast in Congress.

So here we go:

Carol Costello: "It seems like Americas Youth has a loud voice when it comes to Presidential Politics

We do. See Rock the Vote, MTVs Choose or Lose, Forward Montana, New Era Colorado, The Young Democrats of America, Traction in North Carolina, the League of Young Voters, the Oregon Bus Project, the Washington Bus, the Roosevelt Institute, the Democracy Institute of America, or the zillions of other organizations that work to get young people involved.

Carol Costello: "Republican outsider Ron Paul has a lot of young fans. And many have been so creatively effective online they've parlayed passion into cold hard cash for Paul's campaign and helped raise his profile. That's Power!"

She says this like its new. Hello... see Howard Dean... see Al Gore's Live Earth Concert.

Carol Costello: "But Ron Paul aside, the Democrats boast they have they have youth on their side...." then they run b-roll of Howard Dean quoting youth statistics.

Our candidates do tend to be younger than the 800 year old white men who are running on the Republican ticket. But dangling modifier aside.... something tells me that wasn't what she meant.

Read more.... then EMAIL CNN!

While I was in hibernation, we had an election. Who knew.

We've talked in the past about the Long March, the rate at which Millennials are expected to assume leadership roles at the municipal, state, and federal level. Last Tuesday saw some solid steps forward on that front, and I wanted to give a shout-out to what I'm sure are just a few noteworthy victories by young people (defined here as 35 and under, though I note ages when I can) in local, state, and federal elections.

From Martina Hone, who won a school board position in Falls Church Virginia, to Lisa Wong, the 28 year old (and first minority) mayor of Fitchburg, MA, and Luke Ravenstahl, the 27 year old Mayor of Pittsburgh, PA (that's right - mayor of one of the countirey's largest urban centers), young people had a successful year on the campaign trail. I've got reports about almost 30 victories by young people (all listed below), and I'm sure these are just a drop in the bucket. These victories are to say nothing of the many close races that young progressives lost, like Dayne Walling, who lost the mayoral race in Flint, Michigan to incumbent Don Williamson by just 581 votes. It was the closest race in 30 years, based in large part to Dayne's courting of young voters in Flint.

There's no national information available yet on young voter turnout, (though I'm sure that's coming), but from what I hear so far, it was a good off-year for young voters at the ballot box as well. In Missoula, Forward Montana helped swing the city council to progressives for the first time in years with its Candidates Gone Wild and Pink Bunnies campaigns, and The League is reporting that in Portland, Maine, all three of its endorsed candidates were elected, giving them their second major victory in 2007.

Before I get to the full list of winners, I want to say that even though running for office is intimidating, it's doable, even for someone in their early 20's. All of these victories prove it. Anyone looking to run (or even those winners who now need to think about how they will govern and, unfortunately, get reelected in just a few short years), there are many resources available to you. The Young Elected Officials Network will help anyone under 35 attain, hold and competently perform their duties in elected office. Started by Andrew Gillum, who was elected to the Tallahasse City Council at the age of 23, YEO teaches the basics, from reelection to learning the ropes of your new job, and provides a support network of peers to America's youngest representatives. Camp Wellstone also offers numerous trainings new elected officials and those looking to make their first run at public office.

I'd also recommend two books. For the nuts and bolts, check out How to Win a Local Election. It doesn't say jack about the internet, but it's great for learning the basic pitfalls and "must-dos" for running a municipal campaign. For inspiration, read How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office, by The League. It's short on specifics, but has some inspiring stories about young people taking the initiative and winning local races.

You'll get the full winners list after the jump. Where possible, I've also noted what youth organizations they come from/are active in. I'm sure this list is far from complete. If you know anymore, please add them in the comments. Journalists occasionally stop by here, and this could be a great story. Let's make it as comprehensive a resource as possible.

As of this writing, Stephen Colbert has become the first presidential candidate to actually pass the 1 million strong mark, with 1,005,608 members in his Facebook group.

In other news, Chris Dodd, who has been a strong progressive voice on the campaign trail lately, is coming out strong against overpayment to corporate lenders by the government on student loans. Dodd wants the total costs of those over-payments recouped and funneled back into the Pell Grant program, which would raise the maximum grant by another $100 per semester.

Also worth checking out this morning - the Missoula Independent has an in-depth profile of Matt Singer, CEO of Forward Montana.

The NBC Nightly News and the Today Show are about to do a piece on the new trend in western states turning blue. They were tipped off by a great piece in the Denver Post about organizations like Forward Montana and New Era Colorado.

"The descendants of the rebels themselves - today's Western youth - are leading the charge for a more Democratic West. If the trends continue, the Republican Party may find itself in a world of hurt."

So NBC is asking what is going on and is the movement in the west a trend or a blip. We talk a lot on here about numbers we see move in various communities. Mike just talked to us about Evangelical Youth dropping their previous support of the President like cold Prada such that its caused a drop overall in Republicanism by 15% nationwide. So many different people and groups and communities are leaving the GOP but it doesn't always equal big win. That said - a win is a win and by all accounts trending red to more blue means a beautiful indigo wonderland of progressivism.

ED of Forward Montana and renown blogger Matt Singer says its due in large part to

"young progressive voters reacting hugely against one party rule"

And how else do you bring the youth to the choices but by utilizing alternative forms of outreach. Such as hosting CANDIDATES GONE WILD!!! Advertised by asking FMT members:

Are you "sick of boring candidate forums? Wish that you could learn about the candidates, have a beer, watch some comedy, and mingle with hundreds of other community members all in one jam-packed evening? You're Gonna LOVE Candidates Gone WILD!"

And from what it seems - they did:

"By making policy process and voting more understandable, we think we can create an atmosphere where caring about issues is cool.”

My question for people in my neck of the woods is how this kind of outreach and this astounding progress out west will effect Heartland trends.

One of the greatest challenges to voter registration particularly for young people is that they tend to be a transient group of voters.

Moving from your parents' house to a dorm then to a new apartment then you get a chance to move into a house with some friends - then have a falling out with the friends and move to a new place then graduate then get another job... well - voting and where you're registered to vote sometimes isn't the highest priority.

Thats why a group called Forward Montana is breaking out the Pink Bunnies

The Pink Bunny Project encourages people to RE-register to vote even if they know they're registered somewhere. This reduces the confusion on election day when one is told - wait... you moved - oh - you have to drive across town to another place to vote or you can fill out this provisional ballot that will be conveniently lost by your right wing county clerk!

So spread the video around and encourage people to re-register or FEEL THE WRATH OF THE BUNNY!!!

This week was a big one for da yoots. (can you tell My Cousin Vinny is on?) Skyline Public Works released a statement and launch of their new youth funding program the Go Grants The Program commits to giving $250,000 contributions to an organization in each state over the next ten years that specifically targets youth participation and engagement in sustaining organizations that continue work for elections and after.

It prompted me to take a deeper look into funding for youth programs, who gives, what they give, how they give, and what the partisan break down of funding to these groups is.

What I found with a simple OpenSecrets is a significant divide between Young Democrats and Young Republicans in funding. If you look under the 527 section you see that the YD’s received about $1.6million for the 2006 election cycle and made about $1.5million in expenditures.

What do you suppose the Young Republicans did?