kansas

Google is doing an interesting experiment by offering free super high speed internet to select cities across the US. One such city that is lobbying pretty hard is Topeka, Kansas.

In a CNN interview Mayor Bunten said his priority is to keep young people in the city.

He "believes so firmly that younger residents of Kansas' capital city will benefit from faster Internet connections that he wants Topeka -- which he describes as a place of many lakes and the site of a burgeoning market for animal-food research -- to change its name for a month."

As a result, the city is renaming itself Google for the month of March in efforts to raise awareness about the competition. Think Big Topeka, a grassroots group has made videos, facebook, twitter, and online outreach to get The Google to the city.

"Bunten hopes the proclamation, which he read at a special City Council meeting on Monday, will catch Google's attention and make the Internet company decide to use Topeka as its guinea pig. The document renames Topeka as "Google, Kansas -- the capital city of fiber optics."

Google declined to comment on whether it's taking the whole "Google, Kansas" thing seriously.

The mayor believes that faster Internet connections would inspire young people to stay in the city and would encourage business development."

It's interesting to see a city recognize the importance of retaining young people and take such great strides to ensure youth are invested in their local cities.

The Mayor is "the first to say outsiders probably view Topeka as "another Midwestern town with not a lot going on," but he's been making efforts to change that. He trying to revitalize downtown with a bar and music scene.

Google would add to all that, making the city more attractive to youngsters, he said.

"To have this high-speed where people can sit down and have lunch and still keep working is a positive for young people," he said. "The young people are the ones that caught onto this and go to the Internet and asked people in the city to sign on as supporting Google coming to Topeka."

This past weekend there was a healthcare reform rally held in Kansas. The rally was primarily organized by the writers of Forward Kansas. The rally was in response to Brenda Landwehr and Mary Pilcher Cook’s proposed legislation to opt Kansas out of any eventual public insurance option. That's right, certain Kansas lawmakers wants to prevent Kansas from receiving any part of the public option before the bill is even passed by proposing a constitutional amendment, the Health Care Freedom Amendment. Despite the misleading title of this amendment it would deny Kansans the freedom to choose a public health insurance option.

Luckily all of Kansas isn't as crazy as some of our electeds are. The people of Kansas are smarter than to believe the misleading language of the proposed amendment. This rally was the second one we have held against this amendment and was a great success!

“We didn’t expect so many people to come out, especially in the cold, but Kansans need health care now. Over 58,000 children in Kansas are uninsured and about 60 percent of Americans want a public option,” organizer Levi Henry said. “It’s great to see so many of those people represented here today.”

My favorite part of it all, is that most the people in attendance were youth. Young kids, college students, young professionals, middle aged folks and senior citizens stood together to stand up for Kansas.

According to a study released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in July about the benefits of the Affordable Health Choices Act being debated in the US Congress:

Over 250,000 Kansans who currently are unable to purchase health care would gain access to high quality, affordable care.

Over 65,000 Kansas small businesses would have the possibility of receiving tax credits to provide for coverage of their employees.

Over 44,000 Kansas seniors would avoid a hole in Medicare Part D that currently exists, drastically improving their care.

Over 4,100 Kansan families would escape the clutches of bankruptcy due to affordable health care.

Rep. Nile Dillmore, Ranking Democrat, Insurance Committee, Kansas House of Representatives singled out Rep Brenda Landwher and her Amendment saying “The sponsors of the Health Care Freedom Amendment are ideological and politically motivated individuals who are on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of their constituents economic and social interests.”

Other speakers included:

Rep. Geraldine Flaherty, Ranking Democrat, Health & Human Services Committee, Kansas House of Representatives

Rep. Delia Garcia, Ranking Democrat, Local Government Committee, Kansas House of Representatives

Dr. Tom Kluzak, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)

Deborah Ballard-Reisch, Fellow at the Kansas Health Foundation

Kansas needs the public option, too many Kansans have had to go bankrupt or even die because of a lack of coverage. It's time we put and end to this and told Brenda Landwehr and Mary Pilcher Cook that we want no part in their propose amendment that is bad for Kansas.

Quoted text is from Sarah's earlier post about the rally.

Last week (Aug 5 - 9) I was in Chicago, IL for the 2009 Young Democrats of America National Convention. Aside from being in an awesome city and being around tons of young people with similar beliefs, the convention proved to be an incredible learning and networking experience. YDA is more than a social club it is a respectable organization dedicated to motivating young people and making them a more powerful political force Nation wide. YDA achieves this through various training sessions offered throughout the week and bringing in great speakers like Dr. Howard Dean.

During the week thousands of Democrats (young and old) gathered in Chicago to attend the great training sessions and see the speakers. The training sessions offered at the YDA convention ranged from sessions on "Community Organizers Running for Office" to "Finance 101 and Finance 202". As a result of the top notch training many young democrats returned to their states ready to work and better trained to make a difference (full list of training sessions at the end of post).

This year the Kansas delegation consisted of seventeen great Young Democrats from various areas of the state. All of us attended multiple training sessions and we all left Chicago excited and ready to get started. The training we received in Chicago was extremely valuable and it was only because of the great donors we had statewide that we were able to go. The donors enabled all of us to return home armed with the know how needed and the hopes of helping to turn Kansas a few shades bluer.

Kansas Delegation list: Tyler Longpine, Colin Curtis (me), Skye Coleman, Chris Terry, Jamie Epstein, Chelsea Mertz, John Moreau, Merriam Langdon, Erin Doughty, Ben Cohen, Andrew Rickel, Amar Gupta, Molly McGuire, Andrew Mertz, Shane Gagnebin, Jimelle Austin, Anthony Martinez.

Part of the Kansas delegation is pictured below

YDA presents youth from all over the Nation with the opportunity to make connections, receive the training needed to organize their community, the know how to be an extremely valuable member of their community, become a more effective activist, or prepare them for a career in political campaigns and public service.

Among all the exciting training sessions and all the great speakers there was also an election that took place. Their were two slates running for the leadership positions in YDA. Sarah Burris brought you the first announcement of election results in her post. The slate elected to lead YDA for the next two years was referred to as YDA Works (which includes fellow Everyday Citizen writer William Isaac Robinson). YDA Works has identified problems with in the organization and has committed to improving YDA over the next two years in a multitude of ways.

What we have to work on:

-The number of local YDA chapters created online has skyrocketed in the past few years, but our ability to engage those new chapters has not kept up with our growth.

-YDA Partnership Programs, until recently, have only worked with State Organizations – leaving the creativity and passion of local chapters out of our national organization and the best practices and campaign resources of the national organization away from local chapters.

-Many local chapters do not feel connected to the national organization, each other, or the broader youth movement, limiting our collective effectiveness.

-YDA’s technological infrastructure is inefficient and can not sustain the growth of YDA. Our local chapters feel the pain of this inadequacy when trying to perform general administrative duties and while communicating with their members.

How we will make YDA work better:

-Make sure YDA has an operational online membership management system for all local chapters.
Invest in a peer-to-peer partnership program for the 2009 elections in Virginia that provides opportunities for all chapters around the country to develop young voter contact skills to be utilized in their states for the 2010 elections.

-Continue to expand the partnership programs to local chapters and caucuses in order to get YDA resources on the ground.

-Rely on the creativity and ingenuity of our local chapters and their leadership when it comes to creating programming.

Pictured: YDA Works team (left to right) Rod Snyder, Executive Vice President, Renee Hartley, First VP, Isaac Robinson, Second VP, Colmon Elridge, Third VP, Emily Robinson, Secretary, Mark Newman, Treasurer and at the podium is Crystal Strait, President.

Fellow Future Majority writer, Kevin Bondelli, also deserves a great amount of credit in this election. Kevin was the campaign manager for YDA Works and the newly appointed YDA Chief of Staff.

I believe my involvement in YDA has and will continue to help me grow politically and help me to become a more active member of society and for the causes I believe in. I am currently in the aspirations to be elected as the President of the Kansas Young Democrats, for you Kansans I hope I can count on your support in my race. I encourage all Young Democrats to reach out to their local YDA chapter and get involved because only through our involvement will we be able to ensure our voices are heard.

As promised from above- Complete Training list with descriptions:

Community Organizer Large Training Tracks:

-Community Organizers Running for Office
So you think you want to run for office? Come learn exactly what it takes; from the initial gut check, to developing a campaign plan, to actually getting out the vote for yourself. Hear from Young Democrats from across the country that have run campaigns like this and/or have been elected to office themselves.

-Community Organizers Take On Election Reform
We can continue to increase youth turnout by removing certain barriers from our elections. Learn about same day voter registration, online registration, changing the voter registration age, and early voting- and how to get these things in your states.

-Community Organizers Take On Global Warming
It’s a great day to go green. It’s time for young people to lead the discussion on why global warming and the environment is an issue and how we plan to lead the charge. Learn everything from current and new technologies, to green, sustainable jobs. It's time to discuss how federal policy and energy initiatives directly affect young people and our communities and how we can be effective in communicating these new ideas!

-Community Organizers Take On Higher Education
With less than 25% of young people in college it's time we make Higher Education a frontline issue. Learn about the access and affordability barriers students are facing, and legislation around the issue.

-Community Organizers Hit The Field
Learn everything about field plans, how we utilize the peer to peer model, and how to manage your volunteers during a campaign.

-Community Organizers Utilize New Media and Online Organizing
We don’t just tweet to tweet. Learn about new media outlets, organizing online, and how to build new media into a coordinated campaign plan.

-Community Organizers Take on Healthcare
Over 15 Million young people are uninsured. Healthcare reform is a main issue right now in our communities and within government. Learn how you can represent the youth voice and ensure you are insured.

-Community Organizers Take on Marriage Equality
Marriage Equality is the civil rights battle of our time. Learn how we can pass marriage equality in every state and how to keep the momentum for this issue going strong!

-Community Organizers Take On Housing
We have all heard about the crisis in the housing and lending industries, but what does it all mean? Demystify the housing issue, how we found ourselves in this situation, and how it is affecting young people.

-Community Organizers Take on Redistricting
2010 is almost here and that means we can gain or lose Democratic districts. Learn how we can ensure congressional districts are drawn fairly and how we can mobilize young people and Democrats in these districts during an election.

Round Table Discussions and Briefings:

-YDA 101: New Member Orientation
New to YDA? Come find out a little bit about our history, our structure, what peer to peer is, and how the convention works. Meet YDA leaders, staff, and other new members like yourself and find out how to get more involved.

-Dream Act
Learn about the thousands of undocumented students in this country and the obstacles they face around Higher Education. We will discuss current legislation as well as grass roots advocacy that can be taken within your communities to ensure access and affordable education for ALL students.

-Foreign Policy
Learn what issues young Democrats are facing on a global scale and how we can take a stance on foreign policy and partner with young Democratic leaders from around the world.
Discussion Groups on Chapter Building
Starting a new chapter or simply want to grow your existing chapter? Brainstorm with your fellow chapter members and leaders: different leadership and meeting structures, best practices on recruitment and retention, and how to mobilize your chapter for YDA within your communities.

-Finance 101 and Finance 202
101: Learn the basics of fundraising and developing a workable finance plan for your chapter.
202: Put your fundraising trainings and best practices into action. Learn about Call Time and practice actual fundraising with your peers.

-Writing a Voter Registration Plan
Before we can begin turning out the vote for Democrats we have to make sure they’re registered! Learn how to write a voter registration plan that you and your chapter can enact in your communities.

-Religion in Politics
Engage in discussions with fellow Young Democrats of ways that religion intersects with politics.

-Demopolis 101 and Demopolis 202
101: Become more familiar navigating yourself around the site and all the ways it can benefit your chapter. Learn how to manage your lists, send out eblasts, and how to set up events.
202: Learn how to set up targeted actions, advocacy campaigns, petitions, and LTEs

-Community Service this Summer Summit
Learn how to get your chapter signed up for a National Day of Service project and who you can partner with to make sure your community benefits from your service project.

-How to Get on the 6 o'clock News and Look Good
Get interviewing techniques from a former CNN producer on how you can get yourself on the news and look good.

-So You Want To Host A Meeting?
So you think you want to host a YDA meeting, conference, or convention? Well we want you to as well, but we want you to know what you’re getting yourself into! Come to this training and hear from state and local chapter leaders that have hosted a meeting and see exactly what it takes.

Pictured: YDA Political Director Hailey Snow leading the new member orientation.

Pictured: Two great people who made sure the convention ran smoothly. YDA's own Hailey Snow and Katie Ford

Yesterday evening I had the chance to interview Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family about Kansas politicians: Congressman Todd Tiahrt, Senator Sam Brownack, and Rep. Jerry Moran and their connections to C Street. He had some tough words for Rep. Tiahrt whom he outed as a member of the religious cult on "The Rachel Maddow" show earlier this week.

Jeff Sharlet is a journalist who has been writing about religion for about 15 years and is a contributing editor for Harper's and Rolling Stone. He spent the last 5 years as a research scholar at the New York Research Center for Religion and Media.

In our interview I asked Jeff about how he was able to uncover this secret conservative cult. Jeff was invited into the cult as everyone else is, though he did not personally live in the C Street house he did stay at one very simular and visited the C Street house. He was able to share with me information about the organization that goes much farther than one house in Washington.

"The C Street house is one of many, not even the main one. The main one is gorgeous mansion over looking the Potomac river with a waterfall carved into the lawn called "The Cedar" in Arlington, Virginia. Around "The Cedar" there are about twenty properties associated with "The Family" one of which is this house called "Ivanwald" where at any given time maybe a dozen to eighteen men will live. These men are "being groomed for leadership" they tend to be in their early twenties when I was there I was around thirty I was pushing the outer age limit. If you stick around long enough you might get a mentor for a congressman, you have weekly sessions with politicians and business leaders and so on. In that capacity actually living at "Ivanwald" for a little less than a month I visited the "C Street" house a couple of times. The way I got into all of this was I was invited, thats the only way you get it. I write a lot about religion, a friend of my was afraid her brother had joined a cult and asked if I would talk to him. He said "no, no really it's not a cult you've got to come see this for yourself" He invited me. I think they we're really interested in having me as a member even though I'm not really an "elite", partly because I had been invited, partly because I'm a journalist so to say an influencer, and I think the we're pretty clear that part of what interested them was the fact that my father's Jewish, so they like the idea of Jews bowing before Christ. So they brought me into "The Family" and made me a member"

When I asked Jeff about Congressman Tiahrt's involvement he told me the story about his first time visiting the "C Street" home and seeing Rep. Tiahrt speaking with "The Family" leader Doug Coe as told in his book. Jeff laughed as he told us how he "brought them (Doug Coe, and Rep. Tiahrt) hot coco" as the spoke.

Tiahrt was a short shot glass of a man, two parts flawless hair and one part teeth. He wanted to know the best way “for the Christian to win the race with the Muslim.” The Muslim, he said, has too many babies, while Americans kill too many of theirs.

Doug agreed this could be a problem. But he was more concerned that the focus on labels like “Christian” might get in the way of the congressman's prayers. Religion distracts people from Jesus, Doug said, and allows them to isolate Christ's will from their work in the world.

“People separate it out,” he warned Tiahrt. “'Oh, okay, I got religion, that's private.' As if Jesus doesn't know anything about building highways, or Social Security. We gotta take Jesus out of the religious wrapping.”

“All right, how do we do that?” Tiahrt asked.

“A covenant,” Doug answered. The congressman half-smiled, as if caught between confessing his ignorance and pretending he knew what Doug was talking about. “Like the Mafia,” Doug clarified. “Look at the strength of their bonds.” He made a fist and held it before Tiahrt's face. Tiahrt nodded, squinting. “See, for them it's honor,” Doug said. “For us, it's Jesus.”

Coe listed other men who had changed the world through the strength of the covenants they had forged with their “brothers”: “Look at Hitler,” he said. “Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Bin Laden.” The Family, of course, possessed a weapon those leaders lacked: the “total Jesus” of a brotherhood in Christ.

“That's what you get with a covenant,” said Coe. “Jesus plus nothing.”

Rep. Tiahrt denied any involvement with the "The Family" in Saturday's Kansas City Star:

Tiahrt would not respond to questions, but said in a statement he has “never lived at the C Street House, nor have I participated in any regular Bible studies or so-called counseling sessions there.”

Jeff Sharlet, as detailed in Sarah Burris' post from last week on the Everyday Citizen, begged to differ telling an intimate, and disturbing story about a "counseling session" between "The Family" leader Doug Coe and a younger Rep. Todd Tiahrt as told above.

Yesterday a special aired in Wichita called "The Christian Mafia" where Rep. Tiahrt was once again found denying any involvement with the Family and also attacked Jeff Sharlet.

"In a Statement he (Tiahrt) calls Sharlet an unscrupulous author, and says "to be clear I have never lived at the C Street house nor have I participated in any regular bible studies or so-called counseling sessions there."

In my interview with Jeff yesterday one of the many things that we covered was Tiahrt's denial of any involvement with "The Family" Jeff had much to say about Tiahrt.

"At the very best, the very best, you can say about this is it is disingenuous, here we have a documented encounter and he (Tiahrt) needs to address that. If he wants to say you know what I went to this one session and it was so crazy this guy comparing Jesus to Hitler, then I would welcome him. Instead he claims to have no connections when it is clear that he has had a connection. More over he has an interesting connection, as I know from my review of 600 boxes of "The Family" documents, they believe in a concentric theology. What this means is Christ has one message for the masses, but the masses can't handle the truth. Then there's an inner-circle and they get a different message, and then there's an even more inner-circle and they get the real truth, and that's how Christ operates the World today, he reveals a different set of truths for the masses and the elites. It's anti-Democratic and anti-Christian but that's their approach to things. The Rhetoric about a "Totalitarian of Christ" thats inner-circle stuff. Whether they decided Todd Tiahrt was such a strong figure that they wanted to jump start him into the core teachings of the group or whether he had more of relationship with them, he's got to defend that. He definitely had a connection with them and he ought to explain what it was."

With accusations of Rep. Jerry Moran and documented cases of Congressman Todd Tiahrt being involved I asked Jeff what he thought about the race for fellow Family member Sen. Brownback's U.S. Senate between the two, and whether the family would prefer one over the other or run two Family members against each other.

"I can't tell you much about Jerry Moran, this is just one of the scoops that has come out during this whole "C Street" scandal. The only people I identify as being involved I have personally witnessed, been told personally by them or documented from "The Families" own records. I've never said Moran before this, because I didn't have this information but it is research that now needs to be done... This (two family members running against each other) happens all the time actually. That is one of the ways "The Family" survives, they don't endorse candidates they try to have as much access and influence as they can. Doug Coe, the leader of the group, says the work with power where they can and build new power where they can not. Based on a lot of research on the group, Jerry Moran is more their type of candidate, their problem with Tiahrt is the guy is a buffoon. They are looking for polished people."

It appears that "The Family" is bigger than just the "C Street" scandal, what was once seen as a place of religious gathering has turned out to be a place of back room dealings and secrets. This is the time for us to demand answer from our Local, State and National politicians as to what their involvement in "The Family" is and how far this really goes.

Look for more information from my interview with Jeff Sharlet through the week.

This evening I had the chance to interview Jeff Sharlet, author of "The Family" about Kansas politicians connections to Congressman Todd Tiahrt, Senator Sam Brownack, and Rep. Jerry Moran. He had some tough words for Rep. Tiahrt who he outed as a member of the religious cult on "The Rachel Maddow" show earlier this week.

Rep. Tiahrt denied any involvement with the "The Family" in yesterday's Kansas City Star:

Tiahrt would not respond to questions, but said in a statement he has “never lived at the C Street House, nor have I participated in any regular Bible studies or so-called counseling sessions there.”

Jeff Sharlet, as detailed in Sarah Burris' post from last week, begged to differ telling an intimate, and disturbing story about a "counseling session" between "The Family" leader Doug Coe and a younger Rep. Todd Tiahrt. (Click on the link to read Sarah's post.)

I spoke to Jeff today for the interview I will be publishing throughout the week, but we did cover Tiahrt's most recent comments and I wanted to share it with you as a brief teaser:

"At the very best, the very best, you can say about this is it is disingenuous, here we have a documented encounter and he (Tiahrt) needs to address that."

I have to say, that's pretty damning at it's best.

Look out this whole week for my interview with Jeff.

Originally posted on www.everydaycitizen.com then www.kydburro.blogspot.com

Over the past 6 months my life has drastically changed from a semi-involved political activist who worked on local campaigns and did what was needed to be done in order to get those politicians who are good for my community elected, to now being a much more involved political activist who is constantly on conference calls, networking with people I barely know and becoming a friend to them and traveling across the State and in some cases to other States to go to events in order to help strengthen and build up the Democratic party. I by no means do this alone, which brings me to why I have decided to write about importance of youth being politically active.

Being apart of the Young/ College Democrats is a choice that I am able to say that I have no regrets in making. Joining a political organization like these allow you to become part of a network... better yet a family of young people through out the State and Nation who are all interested in doing the same thing as you. Getting Democrats elected and having a blast doing so. Now don't get me wrong this family does have its crazy cousins and weird aunts/ uncles but like any family there those people who are your favorites and you get together with on a regular basis even though your in Manhattan and they are in Topeka, Lawrence, Osage City or Kansas City.

Politics is like any other group activity out there, there are those big name players, the veterans and the new guys. The great thing about politics is that its all about getting out there and being known for what your doing, you don't have to be naturally talented or the biggest guy on the field, you just have to be a hard worker and willing to roll with the punches that come your way. Young people are perfect for politics because they know how certain issues effect their demographic which is normally largely underrepresented in policy making, and they have the energy to be the ones out knocking doors week after week and the know how to use social networking sites to spread their message instantly to hundreds or thousands of people.

My experience in numerous political campaigns has always given me a passion for personally being involved but my experience in the Young/ College Democrats has instilled in me a passion for youth involvement overall. In my opinion being involved in a cause, campaign or organization is one of the most positive things a young person can do. The earlier youth start finding their voice in these things the better, because only through their work and experience can they make a change in the world around them and influence those who do make the decisions in said world. I largely encourage all youth out there to become involved in something that speaks to their interests, to work for a positive change for their issue or for their candidate and enjoy doing it.

Kansas Minority Leader Paul Davis is a young elected official who recently took on a leadership role in the Kansas State Legislature. We are grateful to have his perspective both as someone who is still young and someone who is leading the House Democratic Caucus in the heartland. -Sarah

During the 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama frequently reminded us that progress is always possible if we walk down the right path and refuse to give up. This has been the motto of House Democrats in the Sunflower State for several years. Outnumbered by Republicans two to one, Democrats in Kansas are forced to do business differently. We take tremendous pride in being the largest voting block of the Kansas Legislature as a result of our inclusive, progressive approach to public policy. We must work harder and smarter, be more open to compromise, and vigilantly watch for vehicles to advance our most important priorities. This is not always easy, but when you are on the right side of the issue, opportunities eventually seem to surface.

As the minority party we do not control the calendar, so most of the accomplishments for House Democrats in Kansas come in the form of creative amendments and thoughtful, vigorous debate on the floor. Our legislature wrestles the same issues year after year, which is why some of our most noteworthy victories in the House result from the new ideas of our young members and first termers. Of course we do not win every battle, but every victory builds a more prosperous state and strengthens our resolve to send more Democratic lawmakers to the Kansas Legislature.

We must keep working on behalf of our progressive principles, because history proves that these are the true values of Kansas families and communities. This state expects its government to provide for our children’s education, be good stewards of our environment, make health care more affordable, stand up for working families and protect our must vulnerable citizens. Sometimes small steps in this direction become the foundation for future improvements.

For example, after 20 years of work, today we finally approved an increase in the Kansas minimum wage. This is an enormous victory for our caucus and for the 20,000 Kansans currently working for the shameful minimum wage rate of $2.65 per hour. In addition to raising the state minimum wage, House Democrats have continued their work this year as steadfast protectors of Kansas public education, both for K12 students and for post-secondary education. With the help of Governor Sebelius, we held off devastating cuts to K-12 education earlier in the session and have placed significant pressure on the majority party to keep public schoolchildren high on the priority list in the wake of the 2010 budget crisis.

In the face of overwhelming challenges, it can be easy for young progressives to forget what makes our state great. But we have a heritage that should make everyone proud to be a Kansan. Whether it be our pioneer determination to enter this country as a free state, Amelia Earhart taking flight across the Atlantic, Clyde Cessna and Walter Beech giving birth the aviation industry or Linda Brown and her family who went all the way to United States Supreme Court to seek justice and end segregated schools, Kansans have been at the forefront of what makes America a country of noble, globally celebrated ideals. These noted Kansans did not give up when faced with obstacles, they persevered. Our challenge is to keep working to promote what is right and just for Kansas and its citizens- despite our red state status.

Ad astra per aspera.
(translation: To the stars through difficulty)

After years of floundering a group of young political operatives decided to take over the Young Democrats in their state, raise money, and become the youth outreach leaders in Kansas.

After seeing an alarming shift between red to blue among 18-29 year old voters in Kansas, it wasn't surprising that young political staffers thought there was room to grow.

Tyler Longpine ushered in a new generation of leadership with a slate of candidates who have worked on campaigns and hold leadership positions in the state's county party system. In a recent interview he spoke with us about his hopes for the future and enthusiasm for young voters in Kansas.

"Throughout a series of post-mortem discussions following the 2008 Election it became evident that the long term viability of Kansas Democrats would require a committed effort to develop and retain the next generation of skilled operatives and candidates," Longpine says. "With the right leadership I believe the Kansas Young Democrats can be a partner in a crucial and historic party building effort that prepares young activists for political and public leadership."

YD Labor Caucus Chair Chad Manspeaker agrees

"I'm excited about all of the people who got elected because they are young professionals and they will give us the organization that we've greatly needed. Some of the best political minds in the state are in this group, and if you put these people in a room together they won't just hang out we'll get something done... we're doers."

Already filled with big ideas - Longpine is eager to develop his relationships among the parent party infrastructure and explain the importance of youth outreach to the establishment in Kansas.

"The first objective is to develop the Kansas Young Democrats into a viable, solvent and professional organization. Restoring credibility and financial solvency now will enable the organization to engage in chapter development and campaign activity during the 2010 midterms."

The biggest change is in plans for candidates and helping with their connectivity to young voters. Manspeaker believes candidate outreach is two fold

"One we must reach out to candidates and teach them how to connect through social media in a meaningful way that builds relationships between candidates and constituents, rather than someone you see on tv. Candidates are real people, we should let them be! The second part is that is we must elect more young people, I mean, who better to be in touch with young people than young people."

Longpine is ready to work with the YD's to encourage more peer to peer outreach to young voters and when it comes to candidates outreach is key.

"Many candidates now understand the importance of young voters. However, Young Voters still present an organizational challenge if you're unable (or worse, unwilling) to incorporate emerging media, technology, and peer-to-peer communication into your campaign.

We've all heard the concerns from candidates and campaigns; young people are transient, young people don't have land lines, young people are hard to organize, etc. These are valid organizational obstacles that require creative means of outreach."

With many YD chapters across the country electing new leadership, it is essential to have the kind of officers that see a clear path for candidate recruitment and outreach to young people. I'm encouraged by Heartland chapters like the Kansas Young Dems and I wish all of the new leaders the best of luck as they move forward.

We know that youth turnout is very difficult to actually count because so many states (I'm talking about you Kansas and Oklahoma) don't parse data based on little things like age or gender or any identifying information other than who voted for which candidate. I guess we should be grateful, right?

Sadly, we have to use exit polling to understand how these young people voted in so many states. Exit polling is traditionally unreliable because they disproportionately survey older voters and as we know young voters are difficult to both find and contact (what with that darn modern technology and all...).

Battleground states have more accurate data because everyone needs to know every little tiny vote. Also states with more sophisticated election boards or Secretaries of State tend to have data available for people like us who want to take a closer look without having to deal with a partisan infrastructure for data. Not very independent...

What I've been looking at this week is comparing states that have active youth outreach vs. states that don't and how the turnout differed.

Montana has had Forward Montana working on the ground since before the 2006 election. They are active every month of every year, not just in the lead up to an election.

This year Montana had a 22% turnout in the exits that went for Obama 61/37. In 2004 it was 21% of the vote share but they went for Bush 52/43.

New Mexico which just recently had a youth org start up and rocked it this year. According to Karlo at CIRCLE

"New Mexico's youth turnout rate is consistently below the national average despite a large increase in turnout from 2000 to 2004. Like Indiana, young New Mexicans preferred Bush over Kerry."

But in the exits (which... again give a very conservative estimate of youth turnout) 71% of 18-29 year olds went for Obama in New Mexico. Contrast that with 17% share in 2004 that went for Bush 50/49. That is a substantial difference.

According to CIRCLE’s estimation

"using aggregated counts of votes from each of these states ... (including NM), youth turnout in the heavily campaigned states was especially strong at 59%, compared with 47% for all other states combined."

Kansas ... bless their hearts... have no youth outreach at all. But this year had a very strong Students for Barack Obama chapter at the University of Kansas and a few other areas of the state. They had a dramatic change of heart since 2004.

Kansas had exits showing 51/47 for Obama with also a 19% share. 2004 Exits show a 17% share with 55/44 for Bush over Kerry. That is a 7% change of heart for a party and a 2% increase in share. And that's a conservative estimation...

Oklahoma, by contrast, had no outreach to young voters outside of traditional Young Democrats chapters. Oklahoma was the only state in the country to have more young voters vote republican in their Primaries than democrats.

Exits show that in 2008 - 60% of 18-29 year olds went for McCain in Oklahoma and there was no increase in the share from 2004 to 2008. In 2004, however, they went 62% for Bush over Kerry... so there IS that.

My guess, is that the dramatic turnout we've seen nationally only calculated to a 2% increase in youth enthusiasm for Obama in 2008 than for Kerry in 2004. That's also with a very competitive US Senate race where the democrat was a Young Elected Official.

I've said it before, I'll say it again... if you build it... they will come. We have 4 examples of all kinds of youth outreach here. 2+ year plan, 1-2 year plan, electoral only college outreach, and no outreach with results that show the results. In Montana and New Mexico they nearly flip-flopped in GOP to Democratic support - and in Kansas there was a 7% increase in democratic participation. Oklahoma saw.... nothing.

If we begin to not merely develop a 50 state strategy but develop a 50 state youth strategy then I think we can start to see the kinds of results coming out of Montana and New Mexico in states even like Kansas and Oklahoma.

• AlterNet reviews Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. It's on my Amazon Wish List.
• Medill News Service chats with the first Congressperson born in the 1980s. Surprise - he's a Republican.
• The Albany Project alerts us to Republican efforts to challenge student votes in a special election in Queens. The students are being subpoenaed and dragged into court to have their ballots challenged.
• Hah! Supporters of Prop 8 think that young voters will learn to hate teh gay as they get older and start their own families, thus ensuring the "sanctity of marriage" for a long time to come. Sorry guys. Enjoy your victory while you can. You're going to lose this one in the long run.
• In this video panel, the Center for American Progress asks the Colbertian question: 2008 - a great web campaign, or the greatest web campaign?
• The National Journal credits youth, African Americans and Latinos with driving the increase in voter turnout and swinging the election.
• The authors of Millennial Makeover have some thoughts on how to continue engaging Obama's supporters now that the election is over.
• Larry Lessig on Change.gov's shiny new Creative Commons License.
• Andrew Gelman plots the support of Republican Presidential candidates by age going back to 1988. His graph shows some interesting trends. Go check it out.
• Kansas Jackass notes that the local GOP is running claiming around that Obama won Kansas youth because young people are dumb. You stay classy, GOP.