Justin Krebs's blog

One of the shortcomings of efforts aimed at young voters has been the reliance on celebrities. There's this assumption that if a famous person tells a young person to vote, he or she will vote. That's just not true.

Peer-to-peer contact is far more effective than celebrity directives. What famous people can do is help draw attention to a topic, create content that peers might forward around, and generally create some buzz.

Two weeks ago, I was critical of a "Vote" video that relied on star-power. I thought it was bland; they repeated the same quote multiple times; they had no irony nor absurdity; and they made no effort to give reasons for voting. They just kept saying platitudes, without suggesting any real connection to the issues that draw people to the polls.

I gave my prescription. And who knew: Steven Spielberg must read the comments thread on Open Left. Because he released this video that adds a new twist. The Hollywood faces are more self-effacing; they bring a level of self-awareness that makes them more human; and, in a surprisingly authentic segment, they actually tap into issues that would propel them -- and us -- to our precincts on November 4th.

It's a little long, but here it goes:

Right? Harrison Ford makes a good point. Tom Cruise comes off as not a jerk.

Compare it -- if you have a few minutes to burn -- with the other one...which got 75,000 views.

At least Hollywood learns from its mistakes. Better than we can say for many of the industries in the news these days.

What do a a progressive third party, a group of satiric political-theater agitators, an increasing number of New York City Council Members and I have in common? We're all a little skeptical of Mayor Michael Bloomberg right about now.

Back in 2004, I wasn't a fan of Mayor Bloomberg. He had invited the GOP to our city for their convention, then handed them ownership over our symbols and tragedy while letting his police department infiltrate peace groups, deny protest permits, and round up and lock up non-violent demonstrators.

Then, over the years, he renounced his Republican partisanship, he announced a forward-thinking vision about urban sustainability and he kept up the fight against illegal guns, the tobacco industry and fast food. And many of my friends came to like him.

I moved from dislike to neutral, but was never really convinced. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not a fair-weather enemy...I've opposed him in good times and bad.

Maybe you've had a sit-in. Or taken part in a teach-in. Well, now, you can join a "lie-in."

Which is probably a less absurd phrase than a "nose-in" -- even though the concept is about that absurdity level.

You see, folks have decided it's time to call the McCain-Palin ticket out on their lies. And what better way to do that than with long, rubbery noses.

They call it Pinocchio Politics. If McCain's going to have a speak-no-truth approach to campaigning, these Pinocchio Posses are going to point it out...with their noses.

Seriously, it's a weird idea; an entertaining website; and it might even become a catchy idea. A man in a chicken suit followed the first George Bush around, until the President of the United State snapped at him...giving the fowl friend far too much credibility. In 2000, "Tax Man" hounded Hillary Clinton's opponent Rick Lazio for not releasing his tax returns. And, of course, in '04, the GOP delegates waved flip-flops and wore purple band-aids to mock service to our country.

So, weirder stuff has happened. Who, ahem, nose how this will turn out?

There are those who organize. Then, there are those who organize organizers.

John Raskin is one of those meta-organizers. When the Republican Party decided "community organizers" were there new welfare queens / flag-burning hippies / married gay people / human-animal hybrids (basically whatever group they mark as the "other") at the GOP Convention, they forgot one thing: when organizers are attacked...they organize.

So Raskin (who organizes in my neighborhood, Hell's Kitchen) launched "Community Organizers Fight Back" to give a voice to this suddenly-maligned field.

And now, they are using Sarah Palin's name in vain (or at least, in absurdity) to raise funds for community organizers. The Sarah Palin Action Fund for Organizer Training is going to send folks to serious training sessions at the Midwest Academy. Then they are going to send the soon-to-be-failed VP candidate a big old thank you card.

Who knew Palin would become the poster child for the organizing movement?

John also works with ACT-Now in New York, which gets boots on the ground in close races (it got it's name by being a volunteer arm of America Coming Together, which it has far outlasted), and founded Democracy in the Park in 2004, the first time I'd ever heard of people using their cell phones to phonebank from wherever they are (now a common practice).

He was also just named one of City Hall Paper's 40-Under-40 "rising stars" in NYC politics.

So in other words, check out the Sarah Palin Action Fund...or else John will come and organize you.

It was Primary Day, or was supposed to be, seven years ago in New York City, when word came: first, a freak accident; then, clearly something more. By the time the 1010 WINS radio reporter sobbed "Oh my god, my god, it's gone, the tower is gone," we all knew that something new, frightening, unanticipated was happening.

We put the elections on hold, and New Yorkers sought out their loved ones, found their way home, and tuned into their televisions. Except for Lower Manhattan, it wasn't chaos on the streets. It was quiet, almost eerily so -- everyone found the people and places they loved the most and waited.

The next day, as New Yorkers emerged from their apartments, the cloud of smoke hanging above the city and a burning smell present miles from the site, we found our way to common ground, such as the vigils in Union Square. We found each other.

We had put our elections on hold, and engaged in our civic life in other ways -- checking on neighbors, lining up to give blood, sharing tears and looking at photos of missing people in the open churches our parks had become.

At the time, it was unthinkable that life would go on as normal. But 10 days later, a tearful Letterman returned to the air; sooner than that, people had returned to their offices; the subways never stopped running for long.

But our politics didn't get back to normal.

What's more fun than watching an inspirational speaker deliver soaring oratory as he historically accepts his party's nomination?

Doing so with drink in hand, of course.

So sip if he says "hope" -- really when he says it -- and enjoy the other rules below to share a celebratory toast as you drink liberally tonight.

Take a Sip when
He Says:
- hope
- change
- community organizer
- Bush
- Hillary Clinton
or when:
- he says how much he loves America
- he tells a joke that actually makes you laugh
- he implicitly/explicitly compares himself to MLK
- compliments Michelle for being accomplished

Yesterday, Mazhira Black -- Young People For Fellow and Living Liberally intern -- posted about starting off your school year on the left foot.

It got us thinking: it's not just the annual tradition of buying new gear, books and attire that deserves a how-to guide with a sustainable slant and lefty lean. There are dozens of events in the calendar year (holidays, Election Day) and in the human life (rites of passage) that would be well marked with a scoop of social consciousness.

So we're kicking off a Liberal Lifecycle Series...and we'd love your help. Whether it's bringing a baby into the world or wishing dearly departed farewell, we hope you'll send us suggestions for those life moments that could use a liberal lilt.

And here's the post that got us thinking this direction...(good luck back in Waco, Mazhira!):

Are you concerned that your free-thinking tyke will forget his liberal roots this fall in the classroom? Why not equip her with all of the essential back to school items that a liberal pupil needs? When you're bombarded with ads telling you what type of parent you are if you don't shop at Walmart to buy your kid the newest Hannah Montana threads or what sugary fruit drink you should pack in their lunch it can be easy to get lost in the crowd.

OK - it's time to nudge your friends to vote...it's time to pester them about registering as frequently and lovingly as you bug them about going with you to the movies or to a party. And fortunately, "I Vote, You Vote" agrees it should be just as easy.

A recently-launched project of the American Democracy Institute and the National Campaign for Fair Elections, this site allows you to

• send email and text encouragement to friends;
• invite them to register;
• remind them to vote;
• track whether they've taken action.

That's right: you have your "My Voters" page which tells you which of your friends have followed through (they also tell me that they are savvy enough to prevent one person from receiving redundant invitations from multiple friends...I'm ambivalent on that -- maybe it cuts down annoyance, but hearing from multiple sources is a good way to feel peer pressure).

In another gutsy move, they have a public tracker of recent actions telling you who has been sending requests. Right now, this new system doesn't have a dramatic amount of use, but it will be fun: if it goes viral, that tracker will look more like a ticker.

I say it's gutsy because it's so transparent -- we can see whether people are actually using it or not. But that transparency is good for this kind of work. We should know what tools out there are useful.

There's the CREDO tool to register to vote online (which this system is built upon; there is VotePoke from MoveOn that allows you to check on your friends; and in NY, there's Voter Search, which allows you to check your registration and get info on the next elections. And last cycle, if I recall, Craig's List had a "register to vote" link (though they don't seem to right now).

Which of these work? Which are getting traffic? Which are becoming popular? Is it because they are easy? Fun? Convincing? Partisan or objective? Youth-oriented or general?

It's great to have another tool in the market -- one that's attractive and easy, gives you reason to return again and again, and makes everyone's actions so open.

Now, let's put it to use.

At Netroots Nation, this year's Screening Series just kicked off. Films, shorts, discussions and workshops, the series touches the variety of places where film/video and political activism connect.

The lead-off offering: The Media That Matters Film Festival, an annual collection of shorts on social justice and awareness that are made available online so anyone can stream their own film festival.

The opening film drew applause -- and here's why I'm writing about it here. "Battleground Minnesota" features an 18-year-old Minnesotan who convinces every major state office-holder -- Dem and Republican -- to talk with him about why young people should care about voting.

He then remixes the interviews into a hip-hop music video -- where original rap is interspersed with Mark Dayton wearing "Dem" bling," Norm Coleman unbuttons his shirt to hang out, Tim Pawlenty is turned into a supporting role rapper, and Walter Mondale gets his turn on headphones.

It's hilarious, and inspirational -- it plays with the cultural and generational gaps between past generations and the current one, but also the power of music, technology and mischief to bridge that divide.

Check it out -- (and if you're at Netroots Nation, come by) -- and thank Media That Matters for making its festival free and open to the public.

New York City has outlawed dancing-without-a-license since 1926. Seriously. Bars and restaurants require cabaret licenses -- originally a measure to crack-down on interracial couples -- if people want to shake a leg. And, in some cases, proprietors have been fined for failure to stop dancers.

All that may soon change, as Mayor Bloomberg is said to be planning a repeal of these arcane laws.

As ridiculous as it was that these laws have existed -- putting NYC in the lonely anti-dance camp only otherwise occupied by religious extremists -- it's more ridiculous that it took so long to tackle them. Despite efforts from advocates like Scott Jeffrey of Legalize, there has never been a really strong, public, dynamic, effective movement to make this change...despite being in a strong, dynamic entertainment-fueled city of conscious, creative-class warriors.