tea party

There's a lot going on today - and some columnist Hollywood type is being disparaging to young people... ug... not again!?

• Undecided - is a new book by Barbara Kelley and retails for $16.95 at your online bookseller of choice.

  "is a breezy, stimulating read, a career book for young women that focuses on the particular problems in making critical life and job choices that affect those born between 1977 and 1994."

• FM writer Kevin Bondelli posts a new It Gets Better video done by members of the US Senate. I love this project - warms my heart.
• Creating demand and jobs by reducing student debt burdens. Genius idea! Yesterday a friend of mine - a young elected official - proposed debt forgiveness for young people who are elected to office since its a public service. It would be another way of encouraging more young people they can run and not worry about the financial hardship.
• Public Servants must have a strategy for social networking (yeah no kidding). At the federal level I know the caucuses have pushed members to get on board the train of online media before they get run over by it - and new GOP members came in having used it in their campaigns so this is starting to change. But at the state level sometimes its hard to convince local elected officials that transparency through online media is a good thing... Especially lawyers because they're afraid of everything.
• Stat of the Day: 68% of Millennials ask their friends before choosing a restaurant
• Social Media gets respect from C-Suite asks if CEO's are exploiting SM for work ... um... who isn't?
• Does Tech in the classroom offer shortcut or solution?
• Young voters can turn Baltimore politics on its head. SWEET! Go young voters of Baltimore!
• Karl Rove's How the GOP Can Blow it in 2012
  

  "The first such mistake would be forgetting that the target voters are those ready to swing away from Mr. Obama (independents, Hispanics, college educated and young voters) and those whose opposition to Mr. Obama has deepened since 2008 (seniors and working-class voters)."

  I couldn't agree more. The GOP should go after young voters just as the Democratic Party should go after young voters. I have faith that the message of the GOP won't resonate with the GOP but if you have the GOP going after youth in a hard way my hope is that the Dems will freak out and do it more.

• Connecting with Gen Y on Facebook - lots of social media news today it seems. While everyone is on Facebook these days - young people still dominate the general pool of users and consistent users. And here's how they're using it.
  
• Are Young People in their 20's Too Stupid to Realize They're being Ripped Off?. Name calling - now that's mature. Writer Rob Long basically copy and paste's Ted Nugents ideas and makes them his own. So here's Kevin Bondelli's response to Ted and we invite you to get a clue. And this isn't his first time to smack-talk young people. But what can you expect from an old Hollywood hasbeen. I mean... here's a good idea - learn who the marketing "power demographic" is and maybe you can get something on the WB. Just sayin'. What a Jackass......
• Young people would rather be Einstein than Jordan. New survey suggests that the instant fame of reality TV is no longer attractive. Was it ever? To whom was it attractive - because the only attractive reality TV is the kind where you can win stuff and money. Getting famous off of reality TV is kind of like Rob Long trying to be a real political commentator in the LA Times.... (see what I did there? full circle my friends)
• Industry urged to welcome young
  

  "The Government has urged companies to throw open their doors to young people in a drive to break the “bottleneck” of a lack of skilled workers and make industry more attractive to new recruits."

  If its a job its attractive. Someone on a Reddit post I did yesterday said that the best Millennial Marketing strategy is to post a job opening to trick young people to clicking on it.

• I'm sure we already know this but evidently - Kids sure have it tough these days. This writer is a parent who has seen his kids struggle in the summer job market.
• Going along with the sad summer job prospects a new Study reveals young people are worried about future debt problems.
  

  "The research, which was commissioned by the Personal Finance Education Group (PFEG) to coincide with My Money Week, questioned a total of 1,000 young people on the subjects of money and debt management.

  It was found that over half (57 per cent) of youths aged 12 to 16 expected to find it difficult to manage their finances when they were older. 62 per cent admitted that they had concerns about not having enough money, whilst 30 per cent said they were worried about racking up debt problems in the future."

  How the economy is impacting a generation. We're going to end up like our grandparents hoarding seeds and bottled water for the depression.

• And the job news just keeps getting happier - Brain Drain: Young Teachers Have Dreary Outlook for Job Prospects.
• But - there's hope if you've been to prison because there is a Job Training grant to assist young ex-cons
• California Tea Party hoping for conservative success
  

  "More footwork will be involved, as activists walk to precincts. In addition, state tea party groups have been working to win over young voters, and Deniston has seen an increase in support."

  Good for them! I wish them luck with that. In yesterday's response from Cryn Johannsen on Spark Action we learned

  When it comes to their take on abortion and other social issues, Tea Party folks generally have more conservative views. That does not tend to be true for Millennials, however. For example, a recent study suggests why Millennials do not identify with the values of the Tea Party:

  • Overall, they have a more progressive view on politics.
  • They are also quite diverse. That diversity lends itself to more progressive politics.
  • Those Millennials who are white are even more progressive than their minority counterparts.

And that's it - now go take on the day!

Some reading to get you through Friday and on to the weekend. Enjoy!

• Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert announced their Rally to Restore Sanity to America last night (October 30, 2010 in Washington D.C.). The event is now posted on Facebook.
• Related, Stewart and Colbert both enjoy unparalleled credibility among the 18-49 crowd, as illustrated in a news consumption survey released by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press:
  

  In terms of age, the “Colbert Report” (80%), “Daily Show” (74%) and New York Times (67%) have the biggest percentage of viewers and readers in the coveted 18-49-year-old demographic. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly (35%) and Sean Hannity (33%) have the smallest.

• The National Conference on Citizenship and the Corporation for National and Community Service released the first Civic Health Assessment on Thursday, finding that millions of Americans are working together to solve problems. Read the full report here.
• Nick Troiano, a Georgetown student and an advocate for technology and open government, comments on the goings-on on the first day of the National Conference on Citizenship from DC.
• "Young people lead the way in volunteerism," writes Mikhail Zinshteyn from Campus Progress.
• Young people don't support the Tea Party movement, as surprising as that may be. (Please recognize my sarcasm.)
• What, exactly, is the Tea Party?
• NPR explores conflicting Millennials views: optimistic about their long-term ability to be better off than their parents, but worried about the myriad problems they face.
• Rock the Vote poll of 18-29 year olds: If you problem-solve, you'll be supported.
• Two college students from Colorado lobbied their senator, Sen. Michael Bennet (D), to end Don't Ask Don't Tell by recording themselves leaving him a voicemail on YouTube and posting it. Bennet recorded his own YouTube video in response. Watch here.
• What should Obama do? John Della Volpe, Director of Polling at Harvard's Institute of Politics, says engage Millennials. Now.

A recent poll conducted by the Economist/YouGov on support for the Tea Party shows that young voters are the least likely to identify as a part of the "movement" out of all age groups.

The poll also shows that President Obama's highest approval ratings on issues come from voters between the ages of 18 and 29.

In response to the question "If the 2010 elections for U.S. Congress were being held today, who would you vote for in the district where you live?" -- young voters support Democrats over Republicans 50.4% to 30.6%, compared to 44.3% to 39% among voters 30-64 and 32.1% to 57.1% among 65+ voters.

Despite the New York Times' recent drivel, young voters are the most supportive of the President and the Democratic Party and the least supportive of Republicans and the Tea Party among all age demographics.

The arms race. A time in our Nation's history when we were on edge. We were racing to the top, to be the world super power and make sure we defeated the USSR. The times were hard, some sloppy policy was made, and our Nation was all over the political spectrum. Since we've learned these lessons, we now know better. In today's current political climate we have our very own arms race. This time instead of racing to the top to fight against another Nation we are fighting against ourselves. The right and the left are all pissed off while the middle stands and stares. We have generated such polarized language that all it does is to turn-off people from politics and aggravate those who are in it.

Our current political climate tears us between either "taking back America" or "Change". It puts our leaders in a battle of endless litigation, of pass then repeal. Take a look at choice, healthcare, gay marriage or any other issue you hear about. During the Bush years the Democrats were always set on getting back into power and now during the Obama years the right is doing the same. Both the Tea Party movement and the Netroots were born out of anger, frustration, and a call for something different. How is it that both the right and the left are so mad and frustrated about what is going on that they are calling for uprising from their respective sides?

FACT: The middle of the political spectrum makes or breaks policy.

We know it's hard to hear. Sometimes we like to disagree with it and get wrapped up in the fighting for our beliefs, but it's true.

It's our opinion that Millennials voted for Barack Obama not so much because he is a Democrat or a liberal or a progressive, but because he gave us the hope of a new kind of politics - one where we don't tear each other down but build our nation up together. Millennials are frustrated that the Congress, the oldest in average age in American history, continues the highly partisan governing from the Bush Administration. We voted not for policy change but for a fundamental change to the approach to governing and politics.

Older generations were fighters. They fought wars, they fought for civil rights and women's rights, the fought for their generation and their country. "Fighting" for one's values and beliefs was a constant theme at this year's Netroots Nation. The "Netroots", spawned from the Daily Kos army, has that fighting spirit. They came of age again under the Bush Administration and remembered the fight that they and their parents fought.

Looking at older generations and comparing them to our generation raises one main question. Are Millennials fighters? We fight in wars but don't have the draft. We support the guarantee of equal rights for the LGBT community and all other oppressed communities, but in a different way in which the struggle for civil rights was fought. As Tim Wise reminded us during his Netroots Nation keynote speech, the majority - whichever way you cut it - will always try to retain it's upper-hand. It's human nature. It's that understanding of human nature that led the leaders of our nation to protect minority rights at the individual-level and at the state-level. But majority rights are protected, too. That is the wonder and effectiveness of American federalism, which is itself rooted in finding compromise and in taking the slow-paced approach to change.

What does a nation without negotiation look like? It's ugly. No one is happy and the entire country is pulled in different directions. The country would be plagued with martial law and civil wars. This is not our country. Our country has a long standing tradition of compromise. We were founded on the idea of protecting everyone's beliefs and creating the fairest possible system we could.

If we keep up the fighting mentality then we fail to bring in the hearts and the minds of the people. We open the doors for special interests to flood the political world with money and bad policy advocates. Policy-making requires moderation and negotiation; the cornerstones of democracy and American federalism. A nation as diverse as ours must take careful and deliberate steps in governing. But shocks to the systems are sometimes important. That was the case during the civil rights era, for example. The federal government recognized that individual rights are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and must be protected. For the most part our Nation recognizes the importance of equal rights and the protection of those rights. There are still examples were this isn't true, but it's being worked on. The reason a shock to the system was needed in the past was because the issue was ignored. We now live in such a connected age that no single issue can be ignored because anyone, anywhere can make it public. Voters make or break politicians.

Millennials carry the spirit of the founding fathers, perhaps more closely than generations in recent times. We understand that quality interactions with our counterparts advocating in good faith are more important than building huge e-mail lists based upon tactics of fear and hate. We talk to others, on this blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, and we do it with civility - or at least we try. We interact this way because we know others are watching and that everything we do and say is on-the-record. This does not mean that we don't stick to our principles and our values and voice our opinions. What it does mean is that we know that we are having conversations with people, other than those that just agree with everything we say. We're not about burning bridges; we're about mending them and building them out into the future.

There isn't a good example in recent memory of what it's like to engage in quality conversation with our friends on the other side of the aisle. But, we all know that working together is the right thing to do. It's the reason that politicians and candidates harp on their bi-partisan successes because they know that Americans are all about teamwork, in life, in sports and in politics. Our generation might not have a clear vision of how working with conservatives and Republicans will turn out, but we know that fighting against them will only entrench their views more, and vice versa. Barack Obama said, "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." We're pretty sure he meant that we walk down that path together and not alone.

This post was a collaboration between Karlo Marcelo and Colin Curtis.

Colin - @colincurtisks

Seriously overboard, don't you think?

Preceding the president's speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-M.D.) had been spit on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-G.A.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president's speech, shrugged off the incident.

But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

"It was absolutely shocking to me," Clyburn told the Huffington Post. "Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday... I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins... And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus."

"It doesn't make me nervous as all," the congressman said, when asked how the mob-like atmosphere made him feel. "In fact, as I said to one heckler, I am the hardest person in the world to intimidate, so they better go somewhere else."

As Clyburn went on to note, this is not about health care to these people. It's about their privileged status taking a hit, just like it did during the Civil Rights Movement. The best way to respond is to continue moving forward and expand what should be a universal right for all.

There's a women's blog called The Women on the Web or wowOwow, I've been reading for a year or so that has some pretty amazing women that write for it. It's a total deviation from blogs like Feministing or Feministe etc.. which are typically younger, more partisan, and have more of a political focus. Wow tends to be more middle aged and often times focused on pop-culture things and unbelievable profiles of talented women who do amazing work across the country.

They bring up a topics dujour and give some of their writers an opportunity to respond with a few sentences. Its like microblogging but more than the 140 characters one would get on twitter. Today's topic was with regard to the tea-party and David Brooks' column in the NYTimes asking if the up-tick of the Tea Party means there is a greater need for a recognition of a third party.

Candice Bergen, who I credit with being my childhood mentor to feminist values via her popular late 80's and 90's television show Murphy Brown, commented about NYC Mayor Bloomberg and his Independent leanings. She thinks they may be a good indication that some are defecting to parties/policies in the middle.

With the recent health care bill, I would argue that we have a hard enough time with Democrats being progressive, and if Independent means having more Joe Liebermans I think we can all agree a giant no-thanks is in order.

Rasmussen had a poll recently looking at the impact of the TeaBaggers on demographics and parties:

"In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided."

When you take a gander at the crosstabs, which you have to have the super sexy premium account for, young voters (18 to 29) trend TeaBagger to the tune of 20% eclipsing the GOP completely who scored a pathetic 9%. Dems get 47% and "not sure" gets 24%.

"As for the voting preference, the Tea Party bests the GOP among both men and women and in all age groups except those over 65."

Brooks correctly asserts

"A year ago, the Obama supporters were the passionate ones. Now the tea party brigades have all the intensity."

And I would argue that they were the only ones doing the talking and the campaigning in an off year while both parties were legislating. Brooks points out that Rasmussen's data points to the largest uptick among Independents who are typically the coveted voters to get either D's and R's over the top in general elections.

Jean Chatzky, Liz Smith, and Joan Ganz Cooney respond to question as well. Liz Smith's comments are particularly poignant

"I fear he [Brooks] is right in the potential that disaffected Republicans will shape the coming decade. I don’t believe we are going to actually see a new political party; just the same old same old, and, I fear, the same attacking, harrowing kind of politics we are all so sick of – whether we are liberal, conservative or in the middle."

This is exactly the reason that young people tend to like progressive policies but are resistant to join in on party politics. During the 2008 Election USA Today's poll reported a 40%-21% division among young people who consider themselves Democrats vs. Republicans.

I posted on Bergen's comment that the problem with a 3rd party is that it means more money in politics, more spending, more TV ads, direct mail pieces, yada yada at least until we put spending caps or enact meaningful campaign finance laws that the US Supreme Court doesn't undermine. I'm somewhat in favor of term limits because it rolls in a new crop of often times younger elected officials, but they're often times inexperienced with legislation (young or old) and in Oklahoma a concern I've heard is that former legislators turn lobbyists have become the helpful voices to electeds who don't know how to write the budget, which just wreaks from the stench of conflicts of interest.

In the end I blame the whole thing on FoxNews. Because this whole teabagger movement isn't based on any kind of meaningful policy initiatives, its just political bickering for the sake of bickering. They aren't presenting their own bills for legislation and having their elected officials present them to Congress. They aren't registering their party in states across the country and recruiting candidates to oppose Republicans in primaries or challenging incumbents. Instead, they're just stockpiling money and contributions from protesters and taking their show on the road.

Talking Points Memo reported recently that the majority of the funding received for the "tea party movement" went to one specific GOP political consulting firm. To the tun of over $857,000 in three months. I think this is the nail in the coffin for the credibility of the AstroTurf "movement" and proves its all really just a funneling mechanism for the industrial right wing campaign consulting complex.

I don't know about a third party. As Joan Ganz Cooney alludes, if we can't get the two we have to work what makes us think a third is a good idea.