Home › Blogs › Michael Connery's blog ›

The Cool Candidate

As Mike and Alex mentioned, I am interning for Future Majority this summer, pursuing my interest in politics and becoming more familiar with the blog format. I am a rising senior at Packer Collegiate Institute, a high school in Brooklyn, New York and am thrilled to be helping out

Burnt Orange Report, a Texas-based blog , recently discussed Barack Obama's failure to attend the 2007 Youth Democrats of America’s national convention. The event, which blogger Matt Glazer called “one of the most important youth-related political events of the year,” will feature John Edwards, but Obama has inexplicably declined.

Obama has been heralded for his ability to reach young voters and is the notoriously “cool” candidate, with the most friends on facebook (which, as we all know, is the ultimate measure of coolness). So why would he pass up an opportunity to speak directly to a group of highly engaged young Democrats?

Obama has ingratiated student voters across the country and proudly promotes his youthful image on his website. On June 28th, Obama highlighted a post from the Sacramento chapter blog of SFBO, which described the efforts of many self-determined California teenagers, who have gathered to increase voter turnout in their counties. The post – which made it seem like politically active teens were anomalous – praised one girl for wanting to “have power in [her] life.” The self-congratulatory post ended by reminding readers that Obama is “loved among the youth vote because he actually cares about them ….[and] understands that [teens] need help paying for a ridiculously expensive college education.”

As a sixteen-year-old girl from New York City, I can vouch for Obama’s cool factor. I tell myself to look for the substance in his rhetoric but am too easily swayed by his intrinsic allure. He is young, attractive and ethnically diverse – which I swear would increase US legitimacy in foreign affairs. But is that why my peers are enamored of him? This past fall, in my school’s elections for student government, a vice-presidential candidate ran on the platform “I’m the Barack Obama of High School.” When asked to substantiate his claim, the student was at a loss for words; unbelievably, this uninformed candidate won!

In my opinion, Obama would be well-served to attend the YDA convention. He may even want to discuss something other than college expenses. Teenagers aren’t entirely self-absorbed – we do care about health-care, the War in Iraq, and the economy. Then again, a little “cool” never hurt anyone. First stop: White House. Then, on to senior prom!

Bookmark/Search this post with:
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Propeller
  • Reddit
  • Magnoliacom
  • Newsvine
  • Furl
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Technorati
  • Icerocket
July 7th, 2007 8:07pm
Tags:

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

A Dedication To Youth

Submitted by Tobin Van Ostern (not verified) on Sun, 2007-07-08 14:17.

I just wanted to take a moment to respond a bit to this blog post. First off, I highly commend you for blogging as a high schooler. I started blogging my senior year of high school as well and its a great way to get your opinions out there into the public light. Additionally, one of the best ways to make the youth more relevant to politicians is through any form of youthful activism, such as blogging, interning, or even the basic act of voting.

With that said, as a youth that is dedicated to Senator Obama and what he stands for, and as someone that has seen the commitment he has given to youth in his campaign, I feel compelled to offer my thoughts on a few of the points raised here. Senator Edwards is the only candidate that has announced that they are attending the YDA Convention, which I commend him for. Senator Obama would very much like to be at the event, I assure you, and is sending a fantastic surrogate to represent him at the conference, Steve Westly. Thus, the question is, why is Senator Obama getting singled out for negative attention for not attending? It is not because he changed his mind at the last minute. In fact, only Senator Obama, Senator Edwards, and I believe Gov. Richardson have announced one way or the other at this point. Why not call on the other candidates to at least confirm? Why not call on them to attend the convention with equal vigor as we call upon Senator Obama? We all need to be more skeptical about this way of doing business, it's too easy to fall for classic campaign tactics as opposed to taking a look at the whole picture.

What really compelled me to respond to this post, though, is that I have experienced Senator Obama's dedication to youth firsthand. He is going to be speaking at the National College Democrats Convention, he has set up youth vote staff on both the national and state level whose sole responsibility is to work with the youth. For students, I personally work with Students for Barack Obama. Students for Barack Obama isn't some half-hearted effort, it is an official part of the campaign, which is something that has never been done before.

When policy is being developed, youth are not left out of the picture. Education is one of the main concerns that impacts our generation, but as you mentioned, it isn't the only issue that faces us. That is why, for example, when Senator Obama unveiled his health care proposal, one of its main components was changing the age at which youth could remain on their parents healthcare to age 25. Additionally, when speaking on the matter, Senator Obama often points out that it disproportionately effects youth as we often have hourly jobs.

Thus, in closing, I guess my point is to be fair and view this from a broader perspectie. More than any other candidate Senator Obama is working to include youth in his campaign, and addressing issues in a manner relevant to them. When we host events we often pair fundraisers with low-dollar deals for students, or free rallies altogether. Senator Obama is devoting significant resources to making sure youth are included in the process this time around, and I think we should keep in mind. Perhaps it is because of his continued dedication, that everyone (including Senator Obama) was disappointed that he could not attend the YDA Conference. Keep up the blogging though, bloggers and blogs such as FutureMajority are an important piece of helping youth be more politically active, and I hope you consider the points I raise for a second evaluation of the topic.

Sorry to say this, but woopty friggin doo.

Submitted by Alex UA on Mon, 2007-07-09 09:01.

I'll preface this by saying that, while I personally think that Barack Obama would be a terrible President (think Clinton Part II), I'm very happy to see so many young people getting excited about a campaign. I really hope that this energy can be focused on the many tasks at hand after the primary.

But this is exactly the type of bs that I absolutely hate from Obama and Clinton:

That is why, for example, when Senator Obama unveiled his health care proposal, one of its main components was changing the age at which youth could remain on their parents healthcare to age 25. Additionally, when speaking on the matter, Senator Obama often points out that it disproportionately effects youth as we often have hourly jobs.

Oh boy! Health care until I'm 25! Jeez, we all know that everyone gets health care through their parents and that nobody has health care problems after 25, right? Ugh.

It's no wonder that Obama cannot excite the majority of activists and bloggers-- he's just another good looking, slick talking, triangulating DLC clone.

We need real leadership that can address the root problems we face, not someone who will suck the corporate teet and give us bandaides for our bullet wounds.

I will probably still work to ensure that Dems get elected if either of the two front runners ends up winning, but boy-oh-boy will we all be screwed.

Where art though Al? Your country needs you. The world needs you. BAD!

Substance?

Submitted by Tobin on Mon, 2007-07-09 10:57.

I think you're kind of missing the point of my comment. Fortunately for all of us, the provision I mentioned is not Senator Obama's entire health care plan. The point here is that there tends to be a gap in health care coverage while people in college take hourly jobs but have not yet begun careers and thus do not have work-provided health care insurance. The plan also provides universal coverage through mandatory coverage of children, the creation of the National Health Insurance Exchange, investment in health information technology systems, direct negotiation with drug companies, catastrophic health reinsurance, etc... If you're going to go after a proposal of Senator Obama's, which is fine, I'd ask you to at least read it over (you can do so at: Health Care. And heck, if you see room for improvement, I strongly urge you to share it with us. The My.Policy option on the top right is a pretty innovative and unique way of sharing your with the campaign.

~Tobin Van Ostern

It's called single-payer, or universal, health care...

Submitted by Alex UA on Mon, 2007-07-09 11:58.

I have read Obama's weak plan, and it is... weak. (Just like the majority of his centrist, DLC-light, positions)

The point here is that there tends to be a gap in health care coverage while people in college take hourly jobs but have not yet begun careers and thus do not have work-provided health care insurance.

My point is that there are 50-millions Americans with NO health care whatsoever, and tens-of-millions more who have minimal coverage. Again, like I said, Obama's plan is like giving a bandaid to a person with a gunshot wound. Yes, it will stop the bleeding in places, but the patient will still die.

And, I would say that the real problem is not the specific proposals that Obama makes, since all of them have huge holes in them. The problem is with the candidate himself, who either fails to understand the gravity of the threats facing most Americans (doubtful) or simply doesn't give enough of a shit, in relation to his desire for power, to take strong stands on them (more likely). You may not be old enough to remember Bill Clinton's first campaign, and his tagline of a "place called hope", but I certainly do. I also remember Clinton's DLC bs about "partisanship" and his push of the Democrats towards the corporate wing of the party. Everything Obama says, everything he proposes, and every time I talk to fans about him I get the same impression: here comes another Bill Clinton.

I'm sorry, but our nation simply cannot afford 4-8 years of Clintonian Corporate Democratic rule. Our earth is in the balance, our nation is without health care, we are in a war without end, and all of these take REAL leadership, not someone who makes you feel good (Oh Bill, bite your lip again for me! oh Obama, tell me that hope will save the day!) and who cannot or will not lead on these issues.

My opinion is that there is little substance to Obama, he is the empty vessel that disaffected Democrats are pouring their hopes into.

well stated

Submitted by Sarah Burris on Wed, 2007-07-11 12:55.

I'm with you Alex.

Too - the thing that bugs me - and the reason I'm giving flack to Obama for not being at the YDA thing is that when you're given the gift of being the "youthful" candidate - its also a responsibility. If you have a captive audience it gives you more power to influence and harness that energy.

See Dean 2004. Howard totally embraced the grassroots essence of his followers - and as such trained, courted, engaged, organized, and utilized an entirely new generation of activists who had not previously been as involved in progressive politics. He's the reason I'm involved today!

Obama can do that for young people. He has a gift and he's pissing it away to fuel his own political gains which is fine enough but then what separates him from the other "politicians"? he's making a lot of the same mistakes that first timers make - and why would you want to do that when there are all kinds of new mistakes to make!!

But in all seriousness it is just bothersome that BO isn't choosing to do something with his following. There are so many possibilities open and available to him.