Friday, April 18, 2008
Possible lead
With the 2008 Presidential race fully on its way presidential nominees are turning to a source often overlooked for numbers in the polls, the youth population.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Interviews...
Well, my topic has changed slightly since I last posted. I am now focusing on the youth vote in the 2008 presidential election, rather than super delegates.
Jason Rae was actually the inspiration for this topic--I have had techinically difficulties posting the interview with Rae on the blog...when I do figure it out however, it will be on here!
Meanwhile, check out an interview I conducted with Will Haun, the President of the American University College Republicans.
Haun had a lot to say about the youth vote, see transcript below:
ANNA: As a student, and the President of the College Republicans, how important do you feel is the youth vote in the upcoming 2008 presidential election?
HAUN: As a youth voter, I can’t emphasize the importance of our involvement enough. All of the issues facing the country today-the war on terror, social security, tax reform, health care, the supreme court-are all issues that are going to require long-term solutions that will shape the world I get a job in, have a family in, and become a leader in. There is no single voter demographic that will be more affected by the issues of this election than my own. And so, just for the sake of our own self-interest, it is crucial that we get out and vote. As a political activist, I would not, and would not encourage any candidate, to rely on the “youth vote” to put me past the post. For as much hype as this issue garners, it has never translated into young people showing up at the ballot box. Politically active students like those at AU will show up, but we don’t decide the elections. Put yourself in the shoes of the average 20 year old. I am in college, and I share a car with my family. I also am working to put myself through school. Sure, I can wave a sign on the weekends and knock on some doors, but do you honestly think I can skip class/take off work, borrow the car from mom and dad, use gas money/beer money to drive to the voting booth, wait in a long line to vote for someone that I have been hearing so much negative garbage about for the past 10 months that I just don’t care enough anymore. Honestly, until voting becomes an online phenomenon, or the issues facing America’s 18-24 year olds are right up in their faces as opposed to long-term problems, you won’t ever see an across the board explosion of youth turnout at the ballot box.
ANNA: In 2000, when the public truly realized that their "vote didn't count" and only the electoral college makes the decision, many young voters were turned off to the voting process on the basis that "if my vote doesn't count, why vote at all..." Do you think this will effect the upcoming election at all? and that people will have the "my vote doesn't count" mentallity and not bother?
HAUN: I’m sure the “my vote doesn’t count” mentality may play a role with some people, but as I alluded to in my first answer, I really think it is a question of convenience. We live in a culture of now, for better or worse, and for a lot of younger people, voting is just seen as having too many complications. While that is a problem on many levels, it also demonstrates a level of seriousness people have towards voting generally. They know its not just something they should throw away, and may just figure “well, if I don’t know enough about the issues, why waste time in making a decision?” We may not like that point of view, and we should work to change the cultural attitude, but its not an illogical or irrational position.
ANNA: How do you suggest we get young voters more involved in the election?
HAUN: I think we have to explain the stakes. Politicians on both sides of the aisle as of late have tried to do as much as possible without inconvincing anyone. There is no greater proof of that than the War on Terror. In War’s past, Americans were encouraged to take part in the sacrifice on a daily basis and in the way we lived our lives. Compare that to today. How quickly were we told to just “go about our business” and act like nothing happened? Honestly, you could argue that if you did not know someone who was serving in the military and if you did not watch the news, you could go the whole day without ever thinking about the fact that our nation is at a war over our civilization, values, and our lives. This is the case on issues like social security and other entitlements as well. People need to be motivated to act if you want them to get involved, and thus far, politicians have tried to down-play problems to prevent that from happening.
ANNA: Statistics show that very few people under the age of 21 vote. In your opinion should the voting age be raised again to the age of 21? Or should it remain at 18. Why?
HAUN: I really don’t know if it would do anything if we returned it to 21. If no one under 21 is voting now, wouldn’t raising the age back to 21 just officiate the results we have seen since its been turned to 18? Personally, I believe in the classic “if you are old enough to die for your country, you are old enough to decide what your country calls you to die for” argument.
ANNA: Do you think this election differs from previous Presidential elections in terms of the youth vote?
HAUN: It does in the sense that every major issue affects our age demographic more than any other. That and as many young voters tend to be Democrats, the enthusiasm on their side is higher due to being out of the White House for so long.
ANNA: What role do you think the College Republicans will have both on this campus and nationally in the election?
HAUN:I am confident next years CR’s will engage in voter registration drives, campaign trips, offer volunteer opportunities, and bring the campaigns to campus through candidate visits. I am excited to see what the new leadership does with the club. We have a campaign hour record that is quite impressive, and I’d like to see the bar raised in 2008.
ANNA: How, as President, are you working with the group to gain support for John McCain, the Republican frontrunner?
HAUN: We are really in a stand-still at the moment. Technically, John McCain is not yet the nominee of the party, and with the Democratic race still undecided, there is not much of a fray for us to jump into. The best we can do right now is to articulate our principles and values in a way that will encourage undecided voters to give Senator McCain and other Republicans their vote in the fall.
ANNA: Barack Obama came to campus earlier this semester, although that speech was not associated with the College Democrats it rallied a lot of democratic support on this campus. Are there any plans to invite John McCain, or another prominate Republican to campus to speak on the Presidential Nominee?
HAUN: We have extended a few invitations to Senator McCain during the primaries, and while he is interested in coming, his own primary/fundraising schedule has made a date difficult to accomplish. I will be passing along the contacts I have been working with to next years CR leadership with the hopes that they will be able to bring Senator McCain to campus. I am confident we will continue the great speaker series we have begun this year, brining numerous GOP candidates and surrogates. From what I hear Virginia Senate candidate Jim Gilmore is already on the list for fall speakers.
Jason Rae was actually the inspiration for this topic--I have had techinically difficulties posting the interview with Rae on the blog...when I do figure it out however, it will be on here!
Meanwhile, check out an interview I conducted with Will Haun, the President of the American University College Republicans.
Haun had a lot to say about the youth vote, see transcript below:
ANNA: As a student, and the President of the College Republicans, how important do you feel is the youth vote in the upcoming 2008 presidential election?
HAUN: As a youth voter, I can’t emphasize the importance of our involvement enough. All of the issues facing the country today-the war on terror, social security, tax reform, health care, the supreme court-are all issues that are going to require long-term solutions that will shape the world I get a job in, have a family in, and become a leader in. There is no single voter demographic that will be more affected by the issues of this election than my own. And so, just for the sake of our own self-interest, it is crucial that we get out and vote. As a political activist, I would not, and would not encourage any candidate, to rely on the “youth vote” to put me past the post. For as much hype as this issue garners, it has never translated into young people showing up at the ballot box. Politically active students like those at AU will show up, but we don’t decide the elections. Put yourself in the shoes of the average 20 year old. I am in college, and I share a car with my family. I also am working to put myself through school. Sure, I can wave a sign on the weekends and knock on some doors, but do you honestly think I can skip class/take off work, borrow the car from mom and dad, use gas money/beer money to drive to the voting booth, wait in a long line to vote for someone that I have been hearing so much negative garbage about for the past 10 months that I just don’t care enough anymore. Honestly, until voting becomes an online phenomenon, or the issues facing America’s 18-24 year olds are right up in their faces as opposed to long-term problems, you won’t ever see an across the board explosion of youth turnout at the ballot box.
ANNA: In 2000, when the public truly realized that their "vote didn't count" and only the electoral college makes the decision, many young voters were turned off to the voting process on the basis that "if my vote doesn't count, why vote at all..." Do you think this will effect the upcoming election at all? and that people will have the "my vote doesn't count" mentallity and not bother?
HAUN: I’m sure the “my vote doesn’t count” mentality may play a role with some people, but as I alluded to in my first answer, I really think it is a question of convenience. We live in a culture of now, for better or worse, and for a lot of younger people, voting is just seen as having too many complications. While that is a problem on many levels, it also demonstrates a level of seriousness people have towards voting generally. They know its not just something they should throw away, and may just figure “well, if I don’t know enough about the issues, why waste time in making a decision?” We may not like that point of view, and we should work to change the cultural attitude, but its not an illogical or irrational position.
ANNA: How do you suggest we get young voters more involved in the election?
HAUN: I think we have to explain the stakes. Politicians on both sides of the aisle as of late have tried to do as much as possible without inconvincing anyone. There is no greater proof of that than the War on Terror. In War’s past, Americans were encouraged to take part in the sacrifice on a daily basis and in the way we lived our lives. Compare that to today. How quickly were we told to just “go about our business” and act like nothing happened? Honestly, you could argue that if you did not know someone who was serving in the military and if you did not watch the news, you could go the whole day without ever thinking about the fact that our nation is at a war over our civilization, values, and our lives. This is the case on issues like social security and other entitlements as well. People need to be motivated to act if you want them to get involved, and thus far, politicians have tried to down-play problems to prevent that from happening.
ANNA: Statistics show that very few people under the age of 21 vote. In your opinion should the voting age be raised again to the age of 21? Or should it remain at 18. Why?
HAUN: I really don’t know if it would do anything if we returned it to 21. If no one under 21 is voting now, wouldn’t raising the age back to 21 just officiate the results we have seen since its been turned to 18? Personally, I believe in the classic “if you are old enough to die for your country, you are old enough to decide what your country calls you to die for” argument.
ANNA: Do you think this election differs from previous Presidential elections in terms of the youth vote?
HAUN: It does in the sense that every major issue affects our age demographic more than any other. That and as many young voters tend to be Democrats, the enthusiasm on their side is higher due to being out of the White House for so long.
ANNA: What role do you think the College Republicans will have both on this campus and nationally in the election?
HAUN:I am confident next years CR’s will engage in voter registration drives, campaign trips, offer volunteer opportunities, and bring the campaigns to campus through candidate visits. I am excited to see what the new leadership does with the club. We have a campaign hour record that is quite impressive, and I’d like to see the bar raised in 2008.
ANNA: How, as President, are you working with the group to gain support for John McCain, the Republican frontrunner?
HAUN: We are really in a stand-still at the moment. Technically, John McCain is not yet the nominee of the party, and with the Democratic race still undecided, there is not much of a fray for us to jump into. The best we can do right now is to articulate our principles and values in a way that will encourage undecided voters to give Senator McCain and other Republicans their vote in the fall.
ANNA: Barack Obama came to campus earlier this semester, although that speech was not associated with the College Democrats it rallied a lot of democratic support on this campus. Are there any plans to invite John McCain, or another prominate Republican to campus to speak on the Presidential Nominee?
HAUN: We have extended a few invitations to Senator McCain during the primaries, and while he is interested in coming, his own primary/fundraising schedule has made a date difficult to accomplish. I will be passing along the contacts I have been working with to next years CR leadership with the hopes that they will be able to bring Senator McCain to campus. I am confident we will continue the great speaker series we have begun this year, brining numerous GOP candidates and surrogates. From what I hear Virginia Senate candidate Jim Gilmore is already on the list for fall speakers.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
With age comes...a chance to be a Super d???
Who would have thought, the young generation actually DOES matter in elections!
Few may believe the 18-25-year-old generation matters when it comes to politics...talk politics with any Great Aunt Mary and you'll get a response along the lines of "you're young, what do you know?!"
...Well Aunt Mary, turns out the youth of America does know a thing or two about good ol' politics!
Take Jason Rae for example. Rae is a young 22-years-old---you're typical college student. Rae worries about midterms, girls, and his decisions for the DNC in August...?
That's right, DNC--the Democratic National Committee. Rae is historically the youngest Super Delegate on record, and he is proving to the world that age does not matter when it comes to politics.
Rae has been spotlighted on various shows from CNN's Anderson Coopers' 360 to John Stewart's daily late night program.
I luckily got a chance to interview Rae via telephone earlier this month (Rae is a Super D from Wisconsin and attends Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI., so unfortunately he couldn't make a trip down to DC just for me...)
Rae discussed some of his experiences as a Super D, why he wants to be a Super Delegate, and how he wants more emphasis to be put on the younger generation when it comes to voting.
You can listen to my interview with Super Delegate Jason Rae Here
Stay tuned for an interview I will be conducting with Joseph Mondello, head of the GOP in New York to hear the republican point of view on the Super Delegate situation...
Few may believe the 18-25-year-old generation matters when it comes to politics...talk politics with any Great Aunt Mary and you'll get a response along the lines of "you're young, what do you know?!"
...Well Aunt Mary, turns out the youth of America does know a thing or two about good ol' politics!
Take Jason Rae for example. Rae is a young 22-years-old---you're typical college student. Rae worries about midterms, girls, and his decisions for the DNC in August...?
That's right, DNC--the Democratic National Committee. Rae is historically the youngest Super Delegate on record, and he is proving to the world that age does not matter when it comes to politics.
Rae has been spotlighted on various shows from CNN's Anderson Coopers' 360 to John Stewart's daily late night program.
I luckily got a chance to interview Rae via telephone earlier this month (Rae is a Super D from Wisconsin and attends Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI., so unfortunately he couldn't make a trip down to DC just for me...)
Rae discussed some of his experiences as a Super D, why he wants to be a Super Delegate, and how he wants more emphasis to be put on the younger generation when it comes to voting.
You can listen to my interview with Super Delegate Jason Rae Here
Stay tuned for an interview I will be conducting with Joseph Mondello, head of the GOP in New York to hear the republican point of view on the Super Delegate situation...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)