andrew rice

According to the Oklahoma University paper, students are coming together to help US Senate candidate and FM Youthy Candidate Liveblog guest Andrew Rice online using Facebook to mobilize young voters in Oklahoma.

"Matt Tepper, field director for the Andrew Rice for U.S. Senate campaign, taught volunteers how to use the Rice for Senate Volunteer Center application and spread Andrew Rice’s message. The Facebook application offers another way young people can get involved in a grassroots campaign, he said.

“We’re one of only three campaigns in the country using this,” Tepper said during his demonstration.

Volunteers can add the interactive application to their Facebook profiles. The application provides users with a name and phone number, and they are expected to call the person on the list and follow one of three scripts."

Thomas Friedman eat your heart out....

LINK TO THE APPLICATION (must be logged in)

They were developed by the folks at Nico Networks who are responsible for such things as the Got Tuition? Facebook Application and the Rock the Vote Action Center on Facebook.

It’s an Olympic year, so there’s a lot of torch-passing going around these days. But it’s also a watershed year in which the torch is being passed, once again, to a new generation.

Two years ago, when I ran for State Senate and won, I watched a wave of young progressives sweeping across the nation. I was not just watching history happen, I was part of it with all of you.

This year, however, is proving that 2006 was just a prelude to a national movement, a generational shift that makes our nation’s hope for the future incredibly bright. And once again, I’m honored to be a part of history as it happens. This wouldn't be a pivotal year without your work and your involvement, and I wouldn't be here without the support of young people in Oklahoma.

I’m running for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma in part because I’m inspired by these times. A new group of people who have grown up believing that government can be a force for good in people’s lives are working to make sure that it fulfills that mission. We’re changing our nation from the inside out, from the state house to Washington. And the need for well-qualified and hopeful people to serve in the public sphere has never been greater.

We have to shape our own future. If we want to have Medicare and Social Security available when we retire, we must protect it now. If we want to have clean air for our children and energy sources to fill the void left when oil supplies shrink, we must fight for renewable and clean alternatives now. If we want to have quality and affordable health care available for when we, or our children, get sick, we must change the health care system now.

When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll be fighting for all of these issues, as well as protecting our troops and our veterans, keeping our nation’s security strong, spending our tax dollars responsibly, and ensuring a quality education for every child. My opponent, incumbent Sen. Jim Inhofe, has proven to be out of touch with his constituents on these subjects. Being a voice for the people you represent is the basic job of any legislator, and he’s failing to do even that.

I appreciate the opportunity to come on Future Majority and discuss the issues you care about, as well as my U.S. Senate campaign. If you want to find out more about me and about this race, please look at my website, www.andrewforoklahoma.com . I’ll be happy to take your questions below.

Tomorrow at 1pm CENTRAL, 2pm EASTERN, we'll be hosting a live blog with 35 year old Andrew Rice of Oklahoma. Andrew recently won the Democratic primary in Oklahoma, carrying 60% of the vote. He is now going on to challenge Republican incumbent James Inhofe, one of the most notorious global warming deniers in the Senate.

You can RSVP on Facebook, and please invite others to join us. Here's a video from Andrew's site:

I'm in Denver today. Tonight at 7:30 I'll be doing a book event at the Tattered Cover (Historic LoDo). Stop by if you are around. Later today I'll have a review up of Millennial Makeover: YouTube, MySpace, and the Future of American Politics. In the meantime, here's what's interesting today on the youthy side of the interwebs:

• Voto Latino jumps on the CD-fundraiser bandwagon. For $3.99 on iTunes you can download an album featuring tracks by Ozomatli and a number of other bands. Proceeds will benefit Voto Latino, a mostly volunteer nonpartisan voter registration outfit.
• Fred Stutzman of Unit Structures wonders about the role of "curation" in an age of mashups and social software.
• John McCain does not support the troops. ABC News has him on-record opposing the new GI Bill I wrote about yesterday.
• At WireTap, Karlo Barrios Marcelo explains how the popular vote could help enfranchise more young african american and latino voters.
• On April 20th in Philadelphia, the Hip Hop Summit action Network, Voto Latino, PowerPAC and the Hip Hop Research and Action Fund will team up with rappers and hip hop stars to launch The National Hip Hop Team Vote 2008 campaign. The campaign will seek to turn out young people for the upcoming Pennsylvania primary.
• Joe Garofoli at the San Francisco Chronicle has a great piece about the competition in California for delegate slots to the convention, and how some people ran mini campaigns on the ground and on the web to rustle up support. FM friend and former USSA president Jenn Pae was quoted in the article.
• Kay Steiger of Campus Progress points us to an interesting article about the differing views of younger and older feminists about Sen. Clinton's campaign and the state of the movement.
• Ending on a high-note, young Oklahoma senate candidate Andrew Rice raised almost half a million dollars this quarter, and has passed the 1 million mark for the campaign. Rice is seeking to unseat global warming denier Jim Inhofe. Congrats to Andrew and his staff, and good luck.
  

When I've been in Oklahoma City to visit family and friends for the past several weeks I always stop by and put in a few hours with Andrew Rice's campaign. Sometimes simply because he's another heartland democrat who needs help and has the volunteer mechanism in place to utilize me - and sometimes simply because he's a young democrat who is running for office.

So this week I heard about a rally with the OU YD's that was in part a response to a comment made by Markos (of the dailykos) about Rice's Senate race. I knew then, that I needed to hop in the car and make the schlep to Norman, Oklahoma to support both Andrew and young people. And what I found was astounding.

Neither rain nor sleet nor cold will stop the Oklahoma Young Democrats. Many braved the unexpected weather to hear State Senator Andrew Rice talk about why he is running for US Senate and compound the myth that young people in Oklahoma are less interested.

In the last few weeks young people have seen some serious hatin' going on with Thomas Friedman we saw a serious slam. And this week'sOklahoma Gazette did a huge profile on Rice where Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos blog, was asked to comment on the race.

“Inhofe is a national joke. He is very much a top-tier villain, somebody who could be easy to run against from a national perspective,” Moulitsas said. “(But) I wouldn’t even say it’s a second tier race for us. It’s a third-tier race.”

To climb the ladder, Rice will have to prove he can pull in $25 checks from rural Oklahomans and motivate college students to knock on doors for him.

“If he can do that, this race merits attention. If he can’t do that, then this isn’t going to be much of a race,” Moulitsas said.

Well get ready because the OU Dems have something to prove.

Seven months ago, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe sat in a committee meeting and told former Vice President Al Gore that global warming was a lie. After a rambunctious few moments where Inhofe refused to let VP Gore answer any of his accusations or questions, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who was leading the hearing, informed Sen. Inofe that elections have consequences.

Seven months later, State Senator Andrew Rice is banking on that being the case as he ramps up his 2008 US Senate race against Inhofe.

Why should this matter to FM readers? Because Andrew is half Inhofe’s age, twice the stamina, twice the grassroots/netroots savvy, and most importantly, if elected Andrew Rice will become the youngest Senator in the country by nearly 10 years.