Oregon

So, turns out if you do youth outreach in an election you have higher youth turnout. I know, right? Who knew!?

If you read my take on the returns from the Massachusetts special election for the US Senate race then you know that Mass had some issues with reaching out to young voters. There was some confusion about who was going to do it.. or if it was going to happen...

In the great state of Oregon we have a fantastic organization who has worked for years to get young voters to the polls. The Oregon Bus Project worked the hell out of it and the results were noticeable.

In Massachusetts they had a turnout of 15% of 18-29 year olds for the special election. In the Oregon's special election about 24% turnout of youth voters.

Caitlin Baggott from the Bus says that this is due to a few particularly important factors:

• A year-round and multi-year strategy,
• Populist messaging and policy development,
• Budget (actually spending money on youth outreach
• And finally, which I'll expand on, a focus on field and youth turnout

When it comes to a meaningful field outreach campaign Caitlin points to two major elements

• A strong field campaign matched with a strong media campaign. Oregon Student Association, the Bus Project, and the coordinated campaign registered 30,000 voters--primarily on campuses and youth-dense parts of Portland and Eugene. The campaign led a huge GOTV field program to knock on 300,000 doors. We all phonebanked the hell out of our lists. (The Bus got a "thank you" message today from a voter who decided to vote after getting 15 phone calls from us. Haha.)
• Can't say yet what youth turnout looks like (coming soon!) but we expect it to be better than VA and MA. We're hoping that the lesson for all of us in 2010 is that young people will vote if we (1) Re-Register them, and (2) invest in youth-oriented GOTV. OSA and the Bus executed a huge youth-focused voter registration program in Oregon, and the Bus did youth-focused mail, earned and paid media, and phonebanks. (Trick or Vote for the fall!)

So here's the thing. Do the outreach. I don't care what state you're in... it will make a difference and it could make the difference enough to win your election. Yesterday, was the Illinois special election and Julie Hamos who was running for Congress lost by 700 votes. Elections can be won or lost by young voters if you know how to do the outreach.

What do you do when the lights go out the night before the election? Break out the glowsticks.

At least that’s what the Oregon Bus Project did last night when Portland’s east side was plunged into darkness after a terribly timed substation failure. Using nothing but glowsticks and finger flashlights left over from Trick or Vote, dozens of volunteer phonebankers pulled out their cell phones and kept right on making get out the vote calls.

Over 3,000 reminder calls came from the (now legendary?) “Glowstick Phonebank,” begging the question: who needs electricity when you’ve got kick-ass volunteers?

The glowstick phonebank came right on the heels of the Magical Mystery Tour, the last Bus Trip of the year, during which Bussers knocked on their 60,000th door for progressive candidates across Oregon this year.

Speaking of down-to-the-wire, there’s a few hours left before the election, and there are more calls to make, more doors to knock, and more folks left to drive to the polls.

Get out there, get out the vote, and Get On The Bus!

As we wind down the primary season, there is less and less reliable data about youth turnout and pretty much no comparative data from previous cycles. It's been a long time since we've come this far into the process.

Nevertheless, here's what we do know from CIRCLE and CNN exit polling:

I'll note that while there is no comparative data, the youth "share of the electorate" in both states is higher than the 2004 average of 9%.

Clinton won the youth vote handily in Kentucky, pulling in 54% of the 18 - 29 vote to Obama's 41%. 2% were "uncommitted." She won even greater margins among white youth.

Obama won the youth vote handily in Oregon, pulling in 71% to Clinton's 29%. He won by the same margin among white youth.

Political junkie that I am, I cannot wait for this thing to be over. Just a few more weeks . . .

If you haven't already checked them out in the breaking video feed, take a look at these two videos from the Oregon and Kentucky College Democrats. I ding the College Dems a lot for their field work and strategy, but they're starting to produce some really quality media. And it's been complementing and getting nods in the blogosphere conversation as well.

These ads are way better than the stuff we're seeing from the campaigns, and it's really good to see both a youth organization and the blogosphere on the same page and acknowledging each other's work. If these aren't already on TV, someone should figure out a way to get the College Democrats enough cash to do some cheap cable-buys in their states.