College Democrats of NY Plan Ambitious GOTV Efforts

The College Democrats of NY have ramped up their efforts for Barack Obama and the Democratic ticket with less than a week left to go before the election.

Over 600 college students will be on the ground in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Hampshire for this Get Out The Vote weekend and through Election Day. A total of 140 students will be going to Virginia for five straight days, while 420 will be going to Pennsylvania and another group of students is heading to New Hampshire to campaign for Jean Shaheen for Senate and Obama for America. Even more students will be calling into swing states across the country reminding students to vote for Senator Obama.

The ambitious GOTV efforts for the upcoming week mark the culmination of student activism across the state and country among young people in the College Democrats organization. In 2004, 70 students from NY were mobilized to swing states to aid John Kerry. In 2006, 75 college democrat members helped get Michael Arcuri and Kirsten Gillibrand elected to Congress. Three weeks ago, 150 students traveled to central Pennsylvania to canvass for Obama. With 600 students participating, this also makes the College Democrats of NY one of the most active state federations in the country.

An additional hundred students will be staying in NY to retake the State Senate for the first time in 40 years and swing four key Congressional seats from red to blue in the NY-29, NY-26, NY-25, and NY-13.

This week CDNY is launching their "Text the Vote" campaign in which college democrats from across the state will be reminding their friends to vote on November 4. The idea is for each college democrat member in NY to text message 5 of their friends, reminding them to vote for Barack Obama and the Democratic ticket. The potential and reach of the project could be enormous in GOTV efforts for young people.