Where's the Active Citizenship, Obama?
Peter Levine asks this question in tracing the evaporation of the active citizenship theme from the campaign to the White House.
Service and transparency are not nearly "edgy" enough; there is no fight in them. People are angry - from the Tea Partiers to MoveOn. When citizens try to solve serious social problems, they identify enemies. They do not just hold hands and serve together; they strike back at those whom they perceive as threats. "Active citizenship" reduced to non-controversial "service" or downloading government data completely loses touch with the legitimate anger of the American people.
The White House chose to make health care its major focus and included no aspects of civic engagement in the deliberations about the bill, in its advocacy for the legislation, or in the design of the statute. There could have been real public discussions, instead of sham "Town Meetings" that were really speeches by politicians with time for Q&A. Progressive volunteers could have been encouraged to conduct face-to-face dialogues in their communities and to form relationships with one another (instead of merely finding themselves on the receiving end of an email list). The legislation could have included health co-ops as an experiment in engaging citizens in policy.
As Levine notes to close out his piece, the climate legislation, currently "stuck in the Senate," makes for a good starter kit for this new, authentic political dialogue, in which the grassroots is mobilized and the American people are asked to participate. It's audacious in that it could shift the debate away from special interests (or at least make their involvement more transparent), and it could restore more faith in our government. An addendum might be asking C-SPAN to cover these dialogues across America and any administrative meetings in Washington. Obama has already admitted he messed up by not involving C-SPAN in health care discussions.
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:
Pawlenty Likens Federal Gov To A Drug Dealer, Implies Minnesota Towns, Businesses Are AddictsOutgoing Minnesota governor and potential Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty appeared on Fox News and Fox Business last night to defend his recent executive order prohibiting the state ...WireTap:
Lone wacko reminds us how sane the environmental movement really isIt looks like a headline from The Onion, but it is entirely true: Hundreds of Millions Remain Peaceful In Face of Annihilation As the story of the Discovery Channel hostage-taker makes it’s way ...Rock the Vote:
News Round-Up: Thursday, September 2, 2010Hey Rockers, In today’s press clip… break open that piggy bank and invest in the economy (?)…sore loser sues…. peace talks begin…. and, perhaps most importantly, THE ...Political Wire:
Quote of the Day"I already have the votes to be re-elected as Republican leader, and will be re-elected."-- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in an interview with ABC News, insisting he will not be ...Tech President:
The Art of Designing "Obama"Designing Obama is out, and online. The book chronicles the art and design of the 2008 Obama presidential run, from the perspective of Scott Thomas, the campaign's online creative director, and was ...
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Originally posted on Citizen Orange. The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. ...by: kyledeb | 0 comments
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Originally posted on Citizen Orange. The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. ...by: kyledeb | 0 comments
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The "DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama" is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and ...by: kyledeb | 0 comments
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Thomas Goldstein and Thomas Bates, Executive Director of the Washington Bus and Vice President for Civic Engagement at Rock the Vote respectively, penned an op-ed published in today's Seattle Times. ...by: Craig Berger | 0 comments
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