By now, we’ve all seen the numbers about the incredible youth vote turn out—23 million young people voted, representing about 52 percent of the under-30 population, and 18 percent of the total electorate. But what does that mean? It means the question du jour is no longer “Will they turn out?” but “Will they stay out?”
So as I see it, the real question is, was the youth vote ever about the election, or something larger?
Enter a November 6 panel discussion at the Center for American Progress titled “Are Today’s Young People Political Game-Changers?” , where many participants stated that election or not, young people are organically creating a movement that challenges status-quo power structures, requires transparency, and demands accountability in the government and across institutions.
From grassroots organizing to online rallying , young people got out the vote in unprecedented ways to demonstrate their commitment to having their voice heard in the election, and they undeniably impacted the outcome in the process. “Youth smashed, I mean destroyed, I mean beat down the ‘kiddie table’ mentality of politics and took it into their own hands,” said Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr. of the Hip Hop Caucus .
So now that the election is over, how do we continue to capitalize on the contributions of young people? Furthermore, now that politicians have your vote, will they continue to listen to the youth voice?
“Power concedes nothing without demand,” David Madland of the Center for American Progress Action Fund said, quoting Frederick Douglass. “So the work now is to take that turn out and turn it into a demand.”
Kat Barr of Rock the Vote cited several things young people can continue to do to ensure their voices are heard loud and clear, including helping develop policy proposals on issues that most directly effect them, including the war in Iraq, college affordability, and health care. She also indicated the critical importance of organizations bringing youth to the table to find out what is going on a local level and jointly develop a national plan of action.
Reporter Amanda Carpenter of
Townhall.com repeatedly cited technology and opportunity innovation as being major contributors to Obama’s ability to engage and empower young people, earning him 66 percent of the demographics’ vote. “The internet was a revolutionary force in this election through online organizing, MoveOn.org, and online contributions—younger people are more acclimated to use those tools, so it seems pretty simple to me... so long as people are still innovating in that political space, they’ll have the power.”
Hopefully, President-Elect Obama’s intent to appoint a White House Chief Technology Officer means opportunities for innovation in engagement on issues in and outside of the government will continue to grow from the exception to become the rule.
Comments
Millennials are "game changers." They just need to be given the chance to do so. Behind the scenes are thousands of innovators and thought leaders, waiting for their moment to change our political framework.
Mobilize.org seeks to give some of these "game changers" the opportunity to get started a little more than a week before we enter a new era in American politics with a new president at Constitutional Convention: Building Democracy 2.0, January 9-11, 2009 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Along with Declare Yourself, the National Constitution Center, Change.org, the National Conference on Citizenship, and Why Tuesday?,”
Constitutional Convention: Building Democracy 2.0 gives these future game changers the opportunity to sustain the election momentum they created in the 2008 election to ensure that the civic and political dialogue around major issues affecting them continues and results in action that causes systemic and lasting positive change.
Millennials will get the opportunity to use interactive keypad voting technology and other technology-savvy methods to engage in interactive dialogue about the election, Democracy 2.0, and building their influence, as well as the the opportunity to compete for funding over the three-day summit, and receive up to $10,000 in grants.
Visit the Convention website at http://www.democracyupgrade.com [10] for more details. For further information, contact Mobilize.org at [11].
I personally look forward to meeting fellow game changers in Philadelphia this January.
PolicyPitch.com also gives young people the opportunity to make a difference at the local level. PolicyPitch provides a platform for individuals to "pitch" specific ideas for local policy change, collaborate and connect to resources, and provides tools to transform that online communication into real world action.
Visit the website http://www.policypitch.com/ [12] and take action!
Thanks, Christina and Zach, for bringing these great opportunities to our attention! It's important that individuals with ideas they are passionate about can be given the opportunity to develop and express them in a way that's supported with the infrastructure to help make them happen! Keep up the great work!