around the tubes

Don't know how much I'll be posting this weekend. Playing it by ear, taking a break. Maybe do a little reading. I'm guessing y'all are doing the same. If you can't shake the political junk, this just might tide you over for the day:

• The campaign for the presidency of the College Democrats is underway. Hopefully I'll have some College Dems blogging about the race in the coming weeks and months. - Facebook
• Danah Boyd - self described Third Wave feminist - on why all this Hillary Sexism stuff is bull. - Apophenia
• Democrats Work is teaming up with General Wesley Clark for a community service project in the district of a Democrat running a tight race. Go vote on where the General will "serve." More on this later in the coming days. - Democrats Work
• Obama and "None of the Above" wins the "beer vote" this time around, according to a Rock the Vote poll. - USA Today
• McCain's courting of youth has limits. - International Herald Tribune
• Social Networks, Political Weapons - Washington Post
• DNC blunts GOP microtargeting lead. - The Politico
• I've noted this before, but these are really cool so I'll do it again. The Obama campaign has found a lot of grassroots support from graphic designers who are pumping out some awesome campaign swag. - My Barack Obama
• The RNC is running a voter-generated video contest. Winners will air during the convention. Oh yeah, and they're still using that weirdo zombie-elephant logo. - GOP Convention 2008
• Meanwhile, the FBI is attempting to infiltrate dangerous "vegan pot-luck" networks who could potentially disrupt the proceedings in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Seriously. - Boing Boing
• This is awesome. Reminds me of the old-school Nintendo days. Hat tip to Josh Levy at Tech President:

A few quick hits this morning:

NPR takes a closer look at non-college young voters and posits that they are being "left behind" in the surge of participation we've seen this year. What was most interesting to me about this story was that they include college graduates/young professionals in the category of "non-college." I always assume that the term applies strictly to young people lacking a college degree and not currently attending university. It's weird because the graphic on the right seems to support my interpretation, but the article itself is quite unclear.

Peter Levine, the Director of CIRCLE, has an interesting post on his blog outlining the many levers of power in our democracy (non profits, voting, the arts, academia, etc.) and analyzing the pros and cons of using each to accomplish major change. I think he is slightly off when looking at the "cons" of blogging and the arts - there is ample evidence of blogs leading to offline action (see Donna Edwards' win just a few weeks ago), and the arts can be more influential than he thinks. But of course I'm biased. I wish the chart Levine constructed was an image - it would be a good thing to post around as a conversation starter, and it's certainly something all activists should at least look at and think about.

The Wall Street Journal gives props to young voters in a pretty good article in yesterday's paper.

• Via Justin Elliot at Campus Progress, the Washington Post outlines how student protests have been effective at shutting down (or minimizing the efficiency of ) the Alberto Gonzalez Legal Defense Fund:

  Even before the CIA tapes scandal, Gonzales had become the subject of angry editorials and protests on campuses near and far. At the University of Florida last month, he was viciously heckled to the point that two students wearing black hoods and orange jumpsuits blaring the words "civil liberties"- impersonating prisoners at Abu Ghraib - walked on stage and stood next to the former attorney general as he spoke. (Until they were arrested.)

  It was a tough way to make $40,000. And it stands to get tougher. Gonzales is scheduled to speak on Feb. 19 at Washington University in St. Louis, where more demonstrations are expected, according to the student body president.

  The talent agency Gonzales signed up with to get him speaking gigs at colleges and universities doesn't seem to be having a ton of luck. The agency, Greater Talent Network, based in New York, sent out a blast email to schools pitching Gonzales as a top-notch get - without mentioning, of course, that he's raising money for his legal defense fund. (Given the uproar, it's a good thing the agency promises its clients "the experience to handle any crisis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." Though one crisis the agency cannot handle is questions from reporters about Gonzales' popularity - or lack thereof - on the speaking circuit. "No one here would answer questions from a reporter," snapped one of the associates who answered the agency's phone, before she hung up on us.)

  Pomona College in southern California is one school that has decided Gonzales isn't worth the $35,000 cost or the headache. Politics Professor Heather Williams lit the firestorm with an Op-ed in the school paper titled "Alberto Gonzales Is a Disgrace, Not a Speaker."

• The Drum Major Institute has named Opportunity Maine, a project in part of the League of Young Voters, as one of the ten best progressive policies of 2007. (h/t Generation Debt)
• CNN figured out that Iowa students might actually caucus and their votes might even matter. Way to go guys!
• Two Iowa students involved with the PIRGs and Rock the Caucus have had their letters, admonishing David Yepsen for his attempts to illegitimize young voters, published by the Des Moines Register.

Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine I'm starting to recover. Here's a whole bunch of stuff I missed while laid-up in bed:

• Over at It's Getting Hot in Here. Julianna Williams has an excellent run down on what has bene a busy 6 weeks in the youth climate movement. If you're looking to find out what young people have been doing to stop global warming and contribute to the international movement to halt climate change, read this piece.
• Hang around in lefty campus politics long enough, and you'll hear stories about liberal bias among professors and probably encounter the work of David Horowitz. Well, apparently unable to find any real discrimination against conservative thought on campus, one student at Princeton just decided to make some shit up, going so far as to fabricate an assault and threatening emails. Police are now investigating. You've got to admire the intellectual honesty of campus conservatives.
• Rock the Vote and AT&T have announced a plan to register 2 million young adults, in part through text messaging.
• There was an attempt in Maryland to disenfranchise (from the primary) 17 year olds who will by 18 by November 2008. Opposition from Fair Vote and both the Democratic and Republican Parties has caused the state to reverse its decision. Kat Barr at Rock the Vote Blog has the story.
• Ron Paul is encouraging Iowa students to come back to the state for the caucus, and he's putting up some of his new-found cash to help them make the trip.
• The Des Moines Register reported on the work of Rock the Caucus - a partnership of Rock the Vote, the Iowa PIRGs, and the Iowa Secretary of State's office - to prepare high school students for participation in their first caucus.
• WireTap runs down the 10 biggest victories in 2007 for youth actvists on issues ranging from climate change to Jena and college affordability.
• We're Going International. The UK's Liberal Democrat Party has hired Brian Eno to help the party reach young voters.
• The Nation ran an excellent piece about privacy and activism on Facebook.
• Finally your moment(s) of Zen via Mike Gravel's latest ads. The first mixes schoolhouse rock and 60's acid culture to create a video that is tele-tubby-esque in its mesmerizing capabilities. The second, Mike Gravel raps. 'nuf said.

Some quick hits for a lazy Sunday:

• The Hill reports on the Fall 2007 survey from the Harvard Institute of Politics and the douchebaggery of Charlie Cook is revealed:

  Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report said the recent rise in the youth vote is nothing more than a blip on the screen.

  “Sure, young people voted in higher numbers in 2004; so did left-handed people, albinos and battered-husband advocates,” Cook said. “People under 25 always vote in disproportionately low numbers, and I don’t think that will change.”

  Unbelievable. More on the IOP survey tomorrow.

• A new study of teen political behavior yielded some interesting results:
  

  The percentage of students who identified as extremely conservative decreased 5.6 percent from the first time the students were interviewed to the second, in red states. The students who identified as extremely liberal increased 8.6 percent, in red states. Furthermore, the percentage for those who identified as a Democrat increased about 5 percent, from before the elections to after.

  McDevitt emphasized the differences between partisanship and ideology. Identifying as a Democrat or Republican is not synonymous with identifying as a liberal or conservative. It was in this discussion that the practice of activism arose. McDevitt sees activism as a tool for young people to explore political ideologies, both liberal and conservative. In his study there are interesting figures to help illustrate this activism exploration by youngsters, especially in a time of political importance (election periods).

  I'm gonna try to get my hands on the actual study to look at this more.

• Joe, we hardly knew ye! In the Wall Street Journal, John Harwood unnecesarily genuflects to the conventional wisdom of David Yepsen, and Joe Trippi notes his own failures at attracting young Iowan's to the Dean campaign:
  

  But Des Moines Register sage David Yepsen warns Edwards would suffer if Obama and Clinton succeed in attracting college students and older women who are novices to caucus process.

  “Expanding the universe…is a difficult thing to do,” notes Edwards strategist Joe Trippi, who advised Howard Dean four years ago. The 2004 caucuses set record with 124,000 participants, but an Iowa State University poll suggests Jan. 3 contest could draw as many as 175,000.

• According to Silicon Alley Insider, ABC (political) news on Facebook is a bomb.
• Lots of ink has been spilled over the complications of an early caucus for Iowa students. Now the Boston Globe takes a look at the similar challenge facing New Hampshire Students.
• Young People For has announced its new class of Fellows.
• Ben Adler at The Politico notes the important rise of a new caucus within YDA: the Disability Caucus.

I'm getting ready to travel for the big holiday (I've got a morning flight to New Orleans to join my girlfriend's family for Turkey Day), so I've only got a few quick posts today, and tomorrow will likely have no blogging. I should be back online Friday.

• In a new national poll conducted via telephone and web survey, Zogby and Reuters say that Obama now has a 40 point lead over Clinton among voters aged 18 - 29 (60% - 20%). That seems ridiculously high and is so far outside what other pollsters have found that I've got to question the validity of the poll. The overall Democratic sample was composed of 545 voters with a 4.3% margin of error. I have no idea as to the sample size of 18-29 year olds, but it's possible that the youth sample was under 100 respondents, making it extremely volatile. It's worth mentioning in case other polls start finding similar results, but until then I'm regarding this as an outlier.
• Paul Waldman has an excellent article on the youth vote over at The American Prospect: The Youth Vote, The Culture Wars, and Barack Obama.
• I wish this was a story from The Onion, but TPM Muckraker informs us that, just in time for the Holidays, wounded Iraq veterans are being asked to return their signing bonuses because their injuries prevent them from fulfilling their contract. Seriously. I guess the Pentagon didn't get the memo about supporting the troops.
• Rock the Vote 2.0: RtV Executive Director Heather Smith has penned a column about the organization's resurgence for Esquire magazine. It's worth a read as a history lesson alone.
• A group of students and professors at Allegheny College have started the Soapbox Alliance, an organization dedicated to ending the use of students as props for campaigns through tightly controlled (and invite only) townhall events. The group notes that such practices are not only demeaning to students, but against the principles of open discussion upon which our universities are founded.
• Game Politics notes yet another instance in which conservatives are showing more cultural savvy and (and surprisingly rational thinking) than Democrats on the issue of video game violence. In today's version of this all-too familiar story, the culprit is Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and the unlikely hero is conservative pundit Adam Thierer, who calls Rockefeller out for making illogical claims linking video game violence and criminal/anti-social behavior. Game Politics does a really good job of keeping up on this stuff, including all legislative issues pertaining to video games and gamer culture. I highly recommend the site.
• Finally, Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey coma.

Sorry things have been slow the last few days. I'm literally writing the conclusion to my book, which will be completely finished within the next two weeks. Content production will pick up considerably around then, but might be spotty for the next couple weeks.

Here's some stuff I've been sitting on:

• Ben Adler has written two fantastic pieces about the role of young voters in the Iowa Caucus: Youth Vote an Untapped Source of Support and Caucus Hurts Youth Turnout (a great exploration about how the format itself disadvantages younger voters).
• If you aren't reading it already, you should be checking out It's Getting Hot in Here, the unnoficial blog of the student climate change movement.
• A few quick thoughts about Obama's turn in the MySpace/MTV Dialogues:
  1. Was it just me or does even Obama - the youthful candidate (in years) - sound a little out of touch talking about Teh Google and Teh Facebook? We've got a long way to go yet before we really get a candidate who understands the internet. In the meantime, yay on Obama for supporting (and trying to explain) Network Neutrality.
  2. WTF was up with those two softball questions at the end? You know, the ones about who would play Obama if his life was a movie and what he thought about Stephen Colbert's candidacy? Those were scripted questions - MTV and MySpace knew and approved of them. WTF? Did they really run out of substantive issues to discuss in only one hour? There were a whole lotta folks in that auditorium taht didn't get a chance to speak. I'm betting a lot of them could have asked more substantive questions.
  3. The format seemed to be driven a lot more by questions from online, and the voting was modified to take into account users opinions to an even greater degree. That was good to see,and I can't wait until a Republican gets in the hot seat.
• Scoop 08 is set to launch in 3 days. It will be a newspaper about the presidential election run completely by high school and college students. I'll be interested to see what they can do.
• Some new polling also came out, but I'll try to write up a real piece on that later tonight.

A number of newsworthy articles around the tubes today:

• US News is running an excellent story that gets the youth vote right. The biggest shock of the story though, comes from Mitt Romney. You may remember that long ago I reported on Mitt Romney's scheme to get young voters raising cash for his campaign by promising them a 10% cut on anything raised over $1000? Well according to this story, that program has brought in $100,000. No word as to whether or not any of the budding fundraisers actually got their cut.
• Ben Adler has a great story at the Politico about what the newly declared January 3rd caucus date means for the Democratic campaign's youth vote strategy. Adler notes that Obama will be looking to have his supporters caucus at home to spread support across the state. Edwards, on the other hand, will look to have his supporters caucus in university towns, where his support is weak. Adler notes that not all students will have a choice, as some dorms may not be open during the caucus.
• On a related note, the Politico just launched a students section: Campus Politico.
• Finally, Shang Ting Lipton takes a look at the role of pop culture (or lack of) in Hillary's campaign in her Huffington Post column: Going Hillywood.

• MTV and MySpace have announced that Barack Obama is the next candidate on tap in their Dialogue series. The Senator will appear live on MySpace and Think MTV on October 29th at 1:30pm. Supposedly all Republican and Democratic candidates will get their turn at the mic, though it's hard to see how that's possible at the current rate of production. Unless MTV and MySpace significantly speed things up, they won't get through more than three more candidates before both the Republican and Democratic nominees are selected.
• You may have heard that Stephen Colbert is running for President. Well here's his FaceBook Group. Help Stephen be the first candidate to actually achieve the "1 million strong" mark.
• Check out Vote Gopher, a comprehensive and slightly bizarro look at the Democratic and Republican candidates put together by students at Harvard.
• MySpace is mimicking FaceBook and opening up its platform to third party developers.
• Finally, Zack Exley recommends that we all read Everything Must Change, a book that is making the rounds and reframing the debate for young evangelicals.

Sorry for missing my post yesterday. Book deadlines are coming on hard and fast this month, and I'll try to have that happen is little as possible. I'll have a couple posts later this afternoon, in the meantime here are a few quick hits.

• The New York Times ran a piece this week about the (lack of) impact that technology is having on the Iowa Caucus. In some respects this is a no brainer - Iowa is all about having a good peer-to-peer ground game and teaching your supporters how to politick at the caucus. But at the same time, the story commits a number of sins. First, it doesn't seem like they interviewed any young people for the story - strange considering that younger voters are the ones most likely to be interfacing with the campaigns through technology. The second sin is that the piece seems to justify this omission by citing a Des Moines register poll that young voters only account for 7% of likely caucus goers.

  We know that likely voter screens automatically disqualify a large portion of young voters, leading to gross underrepresentation in the polls, and if 2004 is any indication, turnout among young voters will likely meet or exceed 17%. That's sloppy work by the Times and one could easily question whether or not data was excluded to fit their preconceived storyline.

• The Houston Chronicle is running one of the best stories about the youth vote that I've ever read this year. It tracks very closely to the things we've been discussing here on FM. Go read it.
• Project Vote Smart is looking to build its brand and get young people more informed about the electoral process. The group has purchased a bus and will be driving across the country to raise awareness and, in partnership with Rock the Vote, register voters. This has lame written all over it.
• The Harvard Crimson has a great op-ed about the folly of legislating video games.
• Look Ma, I'm in the Huffington Post.