Remix culture

Awesome. I love remix culture, and this goes right to what Josh (Koenig) was saying the other day over at TPM Cafe:

I just finished watching 18 in '08, a documentary about young people and the political process created by David Burstein, himself only 19 years old, and 18 at the time of filming. Long and short - it's great. The documentary captures the many doubts that many people - old and young - have about the process, but is careful to note that things are rapidly changing. Just when I thought Burstein would violate one of the 11 Rules of covering the youth vote, he'd offer counterexamples that note rising participation and action by Millennials.

With a decent soundtrack and a run time of about 30 minutes, it's the perfect primer for why young people should participate and how they have been in recent years.

I spoke with Burstein a few weeks ago about his plans for promoting and using the movie as a GOTV and motivational tool in 2008. Burstein and his coproducers are working with a variety of partners to screen the film across the country: College Democrats, Young Democrats, College Republicans, Mobilize.org, Declare Yourself, Unity 08, Why Tuesday, Vote Smart, Generation Engage - basically all the major non-partisan players as well as the youth arms of both the parties.

Beginning in January, the producers will work to get at least 500 DVDs into the hands of teachers, CDA or CRA leaders, and others who will screen the film, register viewers to vote, and ask others to became evangelists, hosting their own screenings. This work will also include a 50-campus tour, and complementary outreach strategy online via YouTube, MySpace, and FaceBook. If you want to host a screening, you can order a copy of the DVD via their website, and they are getting ready to launch a DIY toolkit for would-be promoters.

Creating fun, effective tools for basic civic education in schools is a great goal - and surely necessary at a time when most high schools and college have foregone civics education altogether. However, most interesting to me is their plan to open-source their material and make 100+ hours of interview footage - with elected officials, celebrities, and regular youth - available online for anyone to remix into their own PSAs. Judging by the video, there's some good footage available. I can't wait to see what the remix culture - or even partner organizations - can make of that.

• I don't know where I found it, but check out this trailer for Beautiful Losers, a new documentary about DIY culture in the 1980s. We need to be bringing this ethic and cultural sensibility into youth politics.
• On a related note, Danah Boyd is asking whether or not MySpace profile cut and pasting qualifies as remix culture.
• Moving from outsider nerd art to uber-political geek, the FEC is fining America Coming Together, the giant 527 GOTV operation funded by billionaires in the 2004 election. The now basically defunct group must pay $775,000 for improperly using soft money to support the election campaign of John Kerry. I wonder if any other 527s from 2004 are going to come under the gun of the FEC . . .
• In a throwback to the 2000 election, some may remember that Gore voters in Blue States were using the internet to trade votes with Nader voters in swing states. A court has ruled that such "vote swapping" sites are now legal.
• Blog for Democracy wants to know why no College Democrats or Young Democrats caucused together at the recent Nevada America Majority Partnership meeting in Las Vegas. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Nevada Young Dems are now looking for a new Executive Director . . . ?
• Meanwhile, California Progressive Majority notes that they are making big strides in incorporating CDA and YDA into party activities:
  

  Still, the California Democratic Party refuses to take the youth vote for granted, and is continually taking proactive steps to solidify support from young Californians.

  For instance, the CDP is currently establishing new partnerships with the California Young Democrats and College and High School Democratic clubs to build upon the successes of 2006 among young voters. In 2006, the CDP recruited over 2000 students from 160 high schools across California becoming Democratic Activists for the first time.

  And this year, the CDP raised its goal for youth representation in the California delegation for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

• Conservative author and Campus provacateur D'nesh D'Souza got into a brouhaha at my Alma Mater during a debate with professor Alan Wolfe. Read about it here and then head over to Campus Progress to contribute to their Conservative Course Catalog Contest. The winner receives $250.

In a diary on MyDD, Adam Conner dissects the viral spread of the "Obama"1984 Apple Remix ad, showing how this phenomenon spread. Even more interesting than this anatomy of a remix, he also manages to find a nugget of wisdom in the reporting of Time Magazine's Joe Klein:

This is pretty amazing, and very effective, I think. It's increasingly apparent that the Great Divide in 2008 isn't black v. white, or male v. female, but young v. old.

By the way, I could put together a reel of Obama sound bites that sounds every bit as trite as Hillary in this guerrilla mashup. But I wouldn't have the skills or sensibility to do it this way; very few in my generation would. I disagreed--quietly, in a loyal and seemly fashion--with Time's Person of the Year last December. But ads like this one, which will have an impact on this campaign, indicate that I was wrong. You are, apparently, not only the Person of the Year, but also the Political Consultants of the future. Wonder how Hillary's paid help will respond.

Sounds about right. Only I'd add this - it's not just young people. We'll probably end up leading this charge, but eventually this will be the province of all people.