Democrats at Work
Warrantless wiretapping, the continuing war - the Democrats in Congress don't seem to be getting much work done. Fortunately, other Democrats are picking up the slack.
Connecting community service and political activism is a terrific idea, especially for engaging younger voters who are highly likely to view community work as a more effective outlet for change than the political process. Democrats Work is building bridges to ease those people into the political process while generating a positive image for the party in communities across the country- even in "red" areas like Arkansas. More great news coverage after the jump. Click here to see if there's a Democrats Work chapter in your area.
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

Breaking News
Think Progress:
Minnesota Teachers Endorse ‘Respectful Learning Environment’ Policy For All StudentsMinnesota’s bullying-riddled Anoka-Hennepin School District is on the verge of approving a new “Respectful Learning Environment” curriculum that would replace the troublesome ...Think Progress:
The Great Carbon Bubble: Bill McKibben on Why the Fossil Fuel Industry Fights So Hard Against Climate ActionTo preserve a livable climate, we need to leave most remaining hydrocarbons in the ground. Guess who doesn’t like that idea? by Bill McKibben, reposted from TomDispatch If we could see the ...Think Progress:
Growing Number Of Shareholders Want To Know What Their Companies Are Spending On Political CampaignsPolitico reported today that several corporate boards are facing shareholder petitions calling for increased disclosure of political spending. Shareholders are asking the boards of AT&T, Ford, ...Political Wire:
270 to WinSpecial one day sale: a href="http://bit.ly/uiCj17"270 to Win/a for your iPad.br /img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PoliticalWire/~4/x2adIlP3YLY" height="1" width="1"/Think Progress:
Another Anti-Abortion Smart Phone: Android App ‘Iris’ Calls Abortion ‘Wrong,’ Cites The BibleHellfire and brimstone in the palm of your hand. A few months ago tech giant Apple had some explaining to do when iPhone users discovered that the voice-activated assistant Siri was giving women ...
Featured Video
Recent Blog Posts
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Herman Cain gave his own response to the State of the Union at the National Press Club where he talked about how grateful he is with the endorsement from Stephen Colbert because he wants to keep the ...by: Sarah Burris | 0 comments
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Just a few highlights of things that reference the Millennial Generation. Read the whole thing here "most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition ...by: Sarah Burris | 0 comments
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A great new video that the Illinois Caucus on Adolescent Health youth activists created about how young people need accurate access to information about sex and health to protect ...by: Sarah Burris | 0 comments
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On last night's Colbert Report columnist David Frum called for an economically inclusive, environmentally responsible and socially modern Republican party. He called out Tea Party activists saying ...by: Sarah Burris | 0 comments
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If I knew how to navigate pulling FM for the day in solidarity I would... but instead all I can do is post a blog. SOPA's Scary Facts Stand up to support the internet, pledge your support, contact ...by: Sarah Burris | 0 comments
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awesome
Sounds kind of like OneCorps. This should be the norm.
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[[http://www.losethelabel.org/user/3|-6.00, -4.15]]
A lot like One Corps
Yeah, it's a lot like One Corps (John Edwards campaign/service operation). As far as I know, they started around the same time.
You raise an interesting point. It should be the norm. John Edwards is increasingly looking like a longshot for the nomination (though he's still chugging along in Iowa, so I don't discount him). When Dean flamed out, his campaign formed DFA, which became a permanent hub of grassroots organizing. Will the same thing happen to One Corps? If not, there's a huge opportunity for Democrats Work to step in and capture that group of people.
One Corps and other stuff
Mike, thanks for the post and your thoughts.
You're right, what we are doing - namely making service a visible and sustained part of political action - is like One Corps. In fact, we've worked with One Corps chapters in a few areas to do some joint work together, most notably in Georgia. I suppose our branding is a bit different - we're not linked to a candidate and have chosen to identify ourselves with the Democratic label - but the impulse is the same. Our goal is to make service part of the DNA of what it means to be involved in politics, which is something that Edwards stresses in his speeches and his actions. Just like there was in the Dean campaign (which, incidentally, had a service component called Dean Corps), I hope there is a continued outlet for this type of work for his supporters, regardless if Edwards is president or not. (We've also worked with DFA chapters and Dean Corps folks in California.)
Our model is to work with local progressive and Democratic organizations on the ground to help mobilize volunteers for service projects in their communities. (So, for example, when we have an event in Denver - like we do this weekend - we partner with the Young Dems groups, county party organizations, elected officials, etc., to help them keep their folks active and engaged.) We want to keep working with One Corps members - whether they stay as One Corps or are on the Democrats Work email list or are active with their county party or go to Drinking Liberally or started a service club in their high school - because they clearly understand the power and value of linking service and politics. We hope we can find them and convince them to keep putting their values into action . . . as we like to say.
We are trying to expand what it means to be "involved in politics" to include service, which, as you said in your post, resonates with young people who are much more inclined to be involved in community service than in the purely "political" world. We want to move politics onto that turf instead of trying to drag folks onto the standard "politics as usual" ground. If we can link service to political action, politics - and the Democratic Party and the progressive movement - will be much better for it.
Democrats Work - Putting Our Values Into Action