Youthocracy
Bumped. We certainly need more campaigns reaching out to young people like Obama did. If these guys can make it happen even in a few local campaigns, that's a good thing. --Mike
With Barack Obama's unprecedentedly large margin of victory amongst young voters, it is quite clear that a generational shift is occurring in front of our eyes. As such, campaigns, now more than ever, will need to focus on the youth vote in order to either solidify or reverse this trend. After years of being referred to as an apathetic generation, the time has come for Millennials across the country to join together and take advantage of this unique opportunity.
The convergence of several factors will soon enable the youth to take charge in the present in order to create a more beneficial tomorrow. With campaigns looking to the youth now more than ever, we have become an invaluable resource. In many cases, without our support as volunteers and activists, it will become increasingly difficult for campaigns to sustain themselves. Thus, all campaigns will be looking to benefit from what we have to offer: excitement, support, and care for the future. Therefore connecting with the youth through concentrated outreach efforts will become more widespread than ever in an attempt to follow up the success President-elect Barack Obama had with our generation.
This presents an unbelievable opportunity for our generation, the Millennial Generation, to sculpt our future to our benefit in the long term. Seeing as campaigns will be looking to connect with the youth, we have the invaluable knowledge of how such an operation is most effectively completed. In this situation, campaigns will be more receptive than ever to including us in their campaign strategy and message. Not only will we be able to increase involvement in campaigns amongst the youth, but also we will be able to have more of an effect on what comes out of these campaigns, thus reshaping the future of campaigning and policymaking for our generation. While volunteering and grassroots efforts are of crucial importance, it is vital that the youth take this opportunity to enter into previously unchartered territory—campaign strategy. Imagine the possibilities and the change we can effect from the top instead of the bottom.
Our importance to the transformed political landscape has caused campaigns to seek our support more than ever, a notion that will make them more receptive than ever to our knowledge of where we live technologically, politically, and practically. This convergence of factors has led me and some of the most politically active youth our country has to offer to set out on a journey to create our nation's first youth-led political consulting organization, Youthocracy. If you feel the urgency of this moment, the opportunity of this scenario for our generation, then it is crucial you visit our website at www.youthocracy.org and jump on board.
2008 Youth Vote in Context
The following charts and graphs are meant to contextualize the unique role that young voters played in the 2008 election, and their increasingly important role in a winning electoral coalition:
2008 Youth Electoral Map

2004 Youth Electoral Map

Youth Vote Partisan Advantage: 2000 - 2008

Youth Vote Historical Support: 1976 - 2008

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I think what you're saying
I think what you're saying is absolutely true. However, I feel that the real challenge we face as a generation is figuring out what how to channel the enthusiasm we feel for Obama into other perhaps smaller, and more local efforts. It seems that the momentum created by the Obama campaign has the potential to diminish now that we have a victory, and every effort must be made to utilize the vast potential, and resources of our generation.
♥Mima
Mima, I definitely agree
Mima,
I definitely agree with you. From Youthocracy's standpoint, while we may be organizing nationally, our State Field Directors definitely value the grassroots, localized approach that has proven to be so successful for political campaigns. Specifically, we will concentrate from the ground up as we hope to have our operatives approach campaigns on their own personal, local levels. This momentum, or this convergence of the youth and politics as we like to refer to it, definitely can dissolve. If it does, we would be missing out on the opportunity of our generation's lifetime to actually sculpt our futures. As such, we recognize the vastness of our generation's resources and how expansively they can be used. But, I hope you know that Youthocracy intends to use them on a much larger basis only through a collection of smaller, localized efforts. This is the most effective way to involve young activists and the best way to create a larger coalition devoted to our cause. I hope that better explains our mission.
Please visit our website at Youthocracy.org if you have any more questions. Also, feel free to email me at Stephen@youthocracy.org
Sincerely,
Stephen Ratner