michelle obama

Lots of news today about President Obama and young people. From the looks of things he's up.. then down... then up... then down.

Don't forget if you're at #NN11 today there is a youthy panel:
Changing of the Guard: Youth Leading Democracy
FRI, 06/17/2011 - 4:30PM, M100 FG

• How to lose an internship in 10 ways
• Unpaid Internships and the jobless people fighting for them
• Entries open for SBA Entrepreneurship competition
• An older post I discovered today but totally worth the read - Using Peer Pressure to Change the World
• Letter to the editor for Salon
  

  You are far too generous

  in your assessment of Obama's performance. What you call poor communication I call a complete lack of conviction. Attempting a conciliatory approach is fine at first, but it quickly became clear the Repugs were going to have nothing to do with it. If he had wanted to, Obama could very easily have used the bully pulpit to at least advocate for all the progressive policies he campaigned on, but in the final analysis I think it is clear that was all a bunch of BS and lies. The man has no courage, no vision, no convictions. Totally worthless, and the worst part of all this is the disillusionment of the young voters who thought he would make a difference.

  —tballou

• Billionaire's front group attacks young voters among others
  In speaking about the American Legislative Exchange Council

  "In 2009, ALEC drew up the Voter ID Act to ban university students from using their college-issued ID's as proof of residency for voting. Seven states have adopted this model law, which is intended to bar eligible students from the voting booth. These kids must be disenfranchised, New Hampshire's house speaker bluntly said in February, because they're "voting liberal, voting their feelings, with no life experience." This model bill has been introduced in 18 other states this year in a rather obvious ploy to hold down the student vote in the 2012 presidential election."

• From the Miami Herald students facing unemployment with student loans
  
• Young voters aren't the only ones "Souring with Obama" it seems Young Environmentalists Displeased with Obama
  

  "The displeasure amongst young environmentalists does not necessarily reflect the feelings of young voters nationwide however. In a Harvard Institute of Politics poll, 55% of all voters between the ages of 18 and 25 approve of the President’s job performance. Amongst college students, the percentage raised to 60%. But despite high approval ratings, young voters are hesitant to back the President in the 2012 elections.

  The most important issue for these voters is the economy. In February of 2011, 43% feel their economic situation is “very” or “fairly bad” and 22% are currently looking for work. When asked whether they will vote for him in 2012, only 38% say they will while 25% say they plan to vote for his Republican opponent. The rest are unsure. While young voters have stuck beside President Obama, it seems the spirit of “Yes We Can” has faded."

• The other Obama's however are doing great work with young people! Michelle Obama Africa Trip Focuses on Youth Leadership
• Young Voters win at GOP Debate
• Red State blogger calls Social Security a Ponzi Scheme and instructs young voters to Opt Out
• Here's an important notation to mention: US Supreme Court Rules a Youth's Age is Relevant in Miranda Analysis. More specifically
  

  "Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the majority opinion (PDF). “It is beyond dispute that children will often feel bound to submit to police questioning when an adult in the same circumstances would feel free to leave,” she wrote. “Seeing no reason for police officers or courts to blind themselves to that commonsense reality, we hold that a child’s age properly informs the Miranda custody analysis." You can read more about the specific case at the link.

• 4H Shout Out: Youth learn Responsibility and Leadership through raising Livestock
• Congressional personal financial disclosure forms reveal some still have student loan debt... welcome to my world. You'd think these members would be the ones leading the charge to fix it!
  

  "Nevertheless, the reports offered reminders of the more typical financial burdens faced by most Americans. Many lawmakers reported unpaid student loans or hefty credit card balances. One cash-strapped freshman put himself on his campaign payroll to make ends meet last year."

• Should you start a business right out of college?
• And today came an email from the White House:
  

  Good evening everyone,

  As many of you know, last week, President Obama met with a number of inspiring young Americans here in the West Wing to de-brief on the “100 Youth Roundtables” Initiative. In that session, young folks reflected on the feedback given to the White House during the course of the initiative. They discussed issues regarding environmental regulations, community organizations, legislation that the President supports, and how to really make a difference all around. To follow up on that feedback, the President announced a new series that will take us through the summer, called, “How to Make Change.” Check out video of his announcement here.

  This series will specifically foster a conversation between young Americans, advocates, and the White House on the issues that matter to us all. What are specific deliverables you would like to see? What tools can we offer you so that you can achieve what you set out to achieve? Let us know! The full schedule for “How to Make Change” will be announced next week, so stay tuned.

  Have a good Thursday night,

  Kal

Michelle Obama is more powerful than I thought.

First, I came across a Media Matters post highlighting yet another crazy piece of trash story from Fox News. This one claims that Michelle Obama gave "weird" relationship advice in her recent meeting with English schoolgirls. Fox used a relatively tame Daily Caller piece as an inspiration for the story, adding the "weird" language in their own headline:

This is the text from the Daily Caller story:

First lady Michelle Obama always believed her husband would be "useful," yet never expected him to land the most powerful job in the world.

"I always thought he would be useful, but I had no idea he was going to be president," the first lady told a group of schoolgirls gathered to hear her speak Wednesday at Christ Church College in Oxford, England.

Michelle Obama went on about the president, whom she met more than 20 years ago while working at Sidley & Austin, a corporate law firm in Chicago. The first lady was tasked with mentoring Barack Obama and their relationship blossomed.

[...]

"I knew he was a special person. And it had nothing to do with his education, it had nothing to do with potential," the first lady said of Barack Obama, who attended Harvard Law School and Columbia University. "It was those kind of values that made me think, you don't meet people like that often. And when you couple that with talent -- and he's cute."

Reflecting on her "useful" spouse, the first lady had some relationship suggestions for the young females in attendance, warning them to steer clear of negative influences.

"Reach for partners that make you better," Michelle Obama said. "Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts. Good relationships feel good, they feel right...It's with the people you surround yourselves with, and that's just as important as the school that you choose."

Hmmm... not finding anything that weird. In fact, it sounds like what I would hope any well-meaning, successful, normal adult would say.

After reading this nonsense, I just chalked it up to another instance of Fox being Fox. But then I remembered reading a USA Today story a couple days ago that might explain Fox's sudden assault (this story, as well as the ridiculous Common controversy) on Michelle Obama.

First lady Michelle Obama is holding steady with the support of two-thirds of voters in a new poll - and she's gaining ground among young people as she's starting to hit the campaign trail on behalf of her husband's re-election campaign.

A Marist Poll out today finds that 66% of registered voters have a favorable impression of the first lady compared with 17% who have an unfavorable impression. The rest said they were unsure.

[...]

The biggest gap is generational. Millennials (ages 18-30) are crazy about her. They give her an 84% approval rating. The numbers drop from there as people age. Gen Xers (ages 31-46) give her a 67% approval rating; Baby Boomers (ages 47-65) give her 62%; the Silent or Greatest Generation (over 65) gives her 59%.

Emphasis added.

There are probably political scientists out there who might argue that spouses don't have electoral value and that this doesn't really mean anything. But when her favorability is as high as it is, especially with young people, and with her being one of the few people speaking officially about the 2012 campaign, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that a Republican mouthpiece like Fox News might deliberately misrepresent stories to temper her appeal.

In article todays from the LA Times the first lady says people from less privileged backgrounds can succeed, using herself as an example.

In launching an international agenda of outreach to young people, First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday addressed students at a Jesuit college in Mexico with emotional remarks that were part confessional, part call to action.

Obama, a Princeton alumna with a Harvard law degree, told students that she entered college "filled with self-doubt."

She said she and President Obama came from families that were not wealthy, yet they prevailed despite "the sting of low expectations, the constant doubts about whether we could succeed, and whether we were even worth the effort."

I personally am so glad to see such an outreach to youth in general by the Obama Administration. Michelle Obama is a perfect example of someone who aimed high and accomplished great things, and now she is advocating for today's youth to do the same.

"Today, we're seeing what has come to be called a 'youth bulge,' an explosion of the youth population in nations around the world," Obama said. "And the fact is that responsibility for meeting the defining challenges of our time will soon fall to all of you."

Obama told the students that she intended to focus her international work on engaging young people.

In the coming years we will see how much youth outreach is actually done and how empowered youth are with this Administration but for now I say they are off to a good start.

by Chris Golden & Nick Troiano
co-Founders, myImpact.org

Last month, First Lady Michelle Obama formally kicked off United We Serve, a 12-week summer service initiative focused on key areas of the Administration’s economic recovery agenda and aimed both at engaging Americans in service and increasing the capacity of community organizations. This week, the focus of the initiative turns to education, a sector critical to the future of our country.

Americans give back to support our students and schools every day. Whether it is the parent donating classroom supplies because of reduced school district budgets, those who volunteer time to read at their local library or community center or the young college graduate who serves as part of national programs like AmeriCorps, City Year or Teach for America. Applications for these positions are at all-time highs; with Teach for America admitting 4,100 recruits this year out from over 35,000 applications.

Within our schools, the Learn and Serve America program, administered nationally by the Corporation for National & Community Service, utilizes a service-learning curriculum designed to encourage young people to identify and address immediate community needs while strengthening the capacity of their communities to address long-term challenges. During this summer of service, it is imperative that Congress realizes the need to fully fund the recently passed Serve America Act, which will allow programs like Learn & Serve to be scaled to reach even more young people.

We believe in the power of service, the timeless American tradition of giving back to our communities and country, as the basis for sustained solutions to the most pressing crises we face, including education and the rising high school dropout rate. (A student drops out of a public high school, on average, every 26 seconds. More than 1.2 million dropped out last year).

Further, we believe that the Millennial Generation, those younger than age 28, are uniquely positioned to utilize new technological tools to enhance and extend traditional service. As an emerging Millennial-led organization dedicated to expanding the reach of service to all Americans, we know the power and potential that social media and social networking can have to increasing citizen participation and civic engagement.

Through the online community we established at united.myImpact.org, organizations and individuals who are answering the call to serve are sharing their stories. The purpose of the community is not just for personal fulfillment, it is meant to inspire more Americans to give back.

A recent study showed that reading to a young person at least three times a week made that person twice as likely to score in the top 25% on standardized reading tests. Yet, the challenges go beyond finding the time to serve because another report recently found that in low-income neighborhoods there is an average one book for every 300 children.

A commitment to service and engagement will not end with the United We Serve initiative but this summer, and this week, is a reminder that despite the challenging times we live in, each person can do their part to give back and truly make a difference. We invite you to join this effort and then share your story with us—maybe it will inspire someone else and, together, we can all unite in service.

Chris Golden and Nick Troiano are the co-founders of myImpact.org, an emerging online platform for young Americans in full and part time national and community service programs.

To join the Online Community of United We Serve, visit united.myImpact.org.

On August 28th, 2008, I was uploading pictures for Democrats Work onto Flickr from the day before. It was taking me longer than usual because I was posting them to my personal and work accounts, I was sending them in emails, and I even sent a copy to my mom. They were really a big deal for me. I had just planted trees with President Jimmy Carter. For a guy like me, whose job is community service, that is like meeting the Pope. Few people have lived their lives to be such an example of service, and it was awesome meeting one of my heroes.

Some people in the public eye help get the message out by showing up to an event and drawing people in, but they don't do a lot of the heavy lifting. They cut a ribbon, or dig out a ceremonial shovel full of dirt, and then they do what they do best: communicate a message. I applaud them for that, but I have to admit that when someone rolls up their sleeves and puts their values into action, the leadership of their example hits home for me. Jimmy Carter was born in 1924. He has paid his dues, and I would have been grateful for him to just show up. Fifty years ago, the man was already the senior officer on a submarine. If he had planted a tree, I would have been amazed. He planted three. And while he went from job to job surrounded by a bubble of cameras, he pushed his way through so he could talk about fishing and nature with the other volunteers getting their hands dirty.

At sites all around Denver there were over a thousand volunteers taking time out from being delegates at the Democratic National Convention to give back to the city that hosted the big show. Michelle Obama was filling care packages for the troops on one side of town, there were delegates building a playground for kids on another. All told, there were thirty one different teams working in different ways to make America better, and working on my project was Jimmy Carter, his son Jack, and his grandson Jason. Three generations, all political, and all with an understanding of the new politics of service. President Carter passed the torch, and found a generation waiting to take it farther than a single lifetime ever could.

On August 28th, 1963, another hero had delivered one of the greatest speeches ever recorded. On it's forty fifth anniversary, it was playing in the next room. As I uploaded the photos, Martin Luther King was preaching, "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood..." "...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

I listened to those words and looked at the pictures of this delegation from the red hills of Georgia. There was a man, a former President, finishing up his third tree. There was a man, the bus driver whose job for the convention brought him to this site, who once there wanted to join the planting. A black man, a white man, a young man, an old man, and between the two of them a single shovel. It was another sort of passing of the torch. Tired arms handed the work to vigorous arms, but nowhere was there a tired spirit. All around Denver a youthful vigorous spirit was moving. Democrats were feeding the hungry, helping the elderly, cleaning the parks, and getting ready that very night to nominate a new leader for a new time. Someone who could take us the next step closer to the dream.

We have been handed the torch. We can use it to light the way or to burn everything down. We have been handed a shovel, and can use it to plant or to bury ourselves. I have seen the example of Jimmy Carter, and I know the choices of his grandson Jason. I was at the convention when those delegates, who had just given their time and energy to serve their neighbors, gave their voices to nominate Barack Obama. At that moment, I felt the eyes of the future upon us, I knew King's dream was coming closer to reality, and I knew that being judged on our character implies an obligation as well as a freedom. I am no King. I am no President. But I do know how to use a shovel, and left the convention eager to get to work.

In 1963, it was a dream. Unless we build it, that is all that it was. Groups like Democrats Work are a chance for us to make it something more.

A recent AP-Yahoo report by Medill indicates that Obama's hipness with young voters might not also create hip association to his wife Michelle.

"According to an AP-Yahoo News opinion poll released this week, 34 percent of young adults ages 18 to 34 have an unfavorable impression of Michelle Obama. This compares with 27 percent of young people who view her favorably and 39 percent who said they aren’t informed enough about her to comment either way."

How could it be worse? If you were Cindy McCain... that's how. According to the report

"Just 18 percent of young people polled view Cindy McCain unfavorably, a slightly lower figure than the 22 percent who said they have a positive impression of her. But Cindy McCain remains more of a mystery to most young voters—59 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds said they don’t know enough about her to form an impression."

There are many reasons for this, most notably that there has been more of a focus on their spouses than there has been on themselves. You don't really hear Cindy stump for her husband that much, and Michelle is known to stump but not often enough to bump her awareness.

Or, Michelle is tall enough everyone wants her on their b-ball team. Cindy is a beer distributor... and she steals recipes from the food network which means they're always going to be tasty!

Happy 4th! Nothing says America like beer and stolen cookies.