virginia

Last weekend Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sent a letter to VA public colleges and universities encouraging them to drop discrimination bans against gays and lesbians.

In the wake of Cuccinelli's homophobic actions, Virginia students have been using Facebook to take a stand against this attempt at discrimination and the Virginia Young Democrats are mobilizing against the repeal.

Here is VAYD President Sean Holihan addressing the situation:

The Virginia Young Democrats are taking part in a Facebook Day of Action using Facebook statuses to show opposition to the discrimination repeal and encouraging members to contact Governor McDonnell about the issue.

A fantastic paragraph written by Alejandro Ribó from Personal Democracy Forum:

Young Europeans do not want political parties in their lives. Only 4% of young people (15-29 year olds) participate in a political party or trade union (on Euronews (2:02 mark) from Eurostat statistics). This is a clear figure of what young people want or do no want. Political party politicians and their acolytes would quickly blame the education system, capitalism, the television or even the Playstation for the lack of interest in politics of young people. They are blinded by their group thinking and narrow perspective of what politics is. Politics is not only, and not even mainly, about what political parties and their representatives (the so-called "politicians") do. This fact, many people, including young people, know very well. I recommend the party people to go one night around bars in any city or town in Europe, to listen to what people are talking about. They talk about politics beyond political parties and their captive public institutions. They will be surprised to hear that there is political life outside the party. For politics is mainly about people and what they do, and not about organisations of any kind. That is why we need to reform the system to give chances to those who want to talk and participate in politics, but do not want to be captive of an organisation that has its own interests, often different than the interests of the rest of us.

Yes, it's Europe, but it's applicable. This is a reminder Washington needs. Because our political arena is so intensely focused on parties, we lose focus on myriad facets of politics: the people, their needs, the dialogue itself.

We saw the ramifications of this approach in New Jersey and Virginia, as both Democratic gubernatorial campaigns forgot that each political campaign is different with different candidates and different constituencies. Obama didn't win because he made young voters think Democrats were cool; he won because he engaged young voters through his campaign's bridge-building. Youth issues were identified, specific elements of the youth culture - like texting - were embraced, and he informed them he expected them to work not for him, but for their country. When a sitting governor and a gubernatorial candidate fail to do most of this yet expect results because they are Democrats too, they might as well retire. It won't (and it didn't) work.

Underneath all the pithy statements to the press regarding inconsequential events or subjects, the American people converse. Some can't afford health insurance. Some youth, led into college thinking it would lead to success, have graduated and discovered employment is little more than a pipe dream. Many have lost their retirement thanks to the greed of those on Wall Street and their enablers in Washington. Yet who among those "important" people in our system hears this? Judging by their actions, I'd suppose no one.

This restoration of "politics" is one of the main tasks our generation will need to complete. As the excerpt above suggests, the emphasis of politics is people, not organizations. Once we begin associating politics with everyday conversations among everyday people, we'll have a chance to actually improve America.

Watching election returns last night proved to be a very interesting evening. What became consistent was the impact of the lack of outreach on the youth segment of the electorate and the diminished rate of enthusiasm.

In Virginia

“Only 1,973,868 of a total 4,955,755 voters participated in the gubernatorial race — “a miniscule number when you consider there were 3.7 million voters in the 2008 election,” said Isaac Wood, assistant communications director at the University Center for Politics… He added that generally one-third of Virginia voters in presidential elections choose not to participate in gubernatorial elections, and that, as such, yesterday’s voter turnout was even lower than usual.”

One difference this year than in 2008 was young voters had a candidate at the top of the ticket who actively sought their vote. This isn’t generally the standard in other elections, despite our efforts to teach candidates otherwise. Outreach is so important, asking young people for their vote is key, and peer to peer outreach is a must. All of these things happened nation wide in 2008, in large part because the Obama campaign placed a high importance on getting out the vote for young people.

Let’s also not forget the huge outreach done by non-party groups like HeadCount, Rock the Vote, and state youth groups around the country. I did receive a “Go Vote” email from HeadCount yesterday but didn’t receive a text messages from Rock the Vote, and no facebook reminders from any groups. There just wasn’t the kind of work done this year that was done last year from national youth groups. (I did receive an email from Rock the Vote saying they did send texts out to target areas, no word on if those target areas were NJ and VA but not Maine or who they “targeted”).

This was echoed in a brilliantly articulated piece in the Washington Post

“It doesn’t seem to have been enough, and one immediate lesson from these off-off-year elections is already clear: Democrats have a lot of work to do to bring Obama loyalists to the polls, particularly the young. Early exit polls suggest that the share of the electorate represented by voters under 30 will be cut roughly in half compared to 2008. No one expects that young voters will be as excited by this year’s election (or by next year’s midterms) as they were by Obama’s own candidacy. But Democrats are more dependent on young voters than ever before – something I wrote about earlier this fall. Virginia should bring home to them the imperative of mobilizing the millennials with more than just a nice ad toward the end of a campaign.”

Another major problem I’ll echo comes from the Atlantic Wire

Uninspired by Democrats Elrod at The Moderate Voice isn’t so sure. “Young voters and African Americans did not feel inspired to support the Dems in those states,” Elrod writes. “If they feel that way in November 2010 then the consequences will be grave for the Democrats.”

Never underestimate the inspiration factor. In large part it comes from a candidate that speaks to young voters. A candidate doesn’t have to look like Obama, or speak as well as Obama does - the simple outreach and ability to speak to youth issues can be enough. Communicate to young voters 1. the differences between the candidates, 2. why their vote is important, and 3. ask them for their vote. Get them to vote early or by mail, and then actively GOTV on election day.

The Atlantic Continues by placing some blame

“Jon Stewart Failed, and White House Didn’t Step In: Maegan Carberry at the Huffington Post isn’t the first to argue, provocatively, that “it’s been up to Jon Stewart and FunnyOrDie.com to keep the kids engaged.” The problem with the Obama team, she says, is that “despite its hipster Flickr feed and weekly YouTube address, [the White House] has presented a television-driven strategy, ceding a great deal of its street cred with the president’s digital Millennial generation base.”

I both agree and disagree. Young people watch more than Jon Stewart and FunnyOrDie and saying that the youth vote depends on these two factors is an oversimplification. There wasn’t a youth campaign, whether from national sources or from the state campaigns. If there isn’t going to be national outreach done by The Daily Show or online then the only option is peer to peer outreach on the ground done by the campaign. Neither in this case happened.

This is also the first election with OFA at the helm of the DNC, and I think its an indictment of the style of organizing. Its troubling that OFA wasn’t involved in the Maine vote considering the extent to which the White House has attempted to make-up to the LGBT community.

When democrats weren’t in the White House the DNC organizing model was focused on elections, now that we hold the White House the purpose of the DNC has shifted to pushing the President’s agenda, which is why the DNC isn’t in the business of winning elections anymore (locally or otherwise), but instead organizing around issues like the President’s health care reform battle. This isn’t a criticism, its just the way things are. If democratic donors want to see electoral results they should invest in the DCCC, the DSCC, the DGA or local state parties, not to OFA or the DNC.

Finally, the Atlantic says

“Young People Fickle, Bored, and Hate Health Care “Would Obama have had more legislative success,” wonders Steve Sailer at the iSteve blog…”

I both agree and disagree here as well. I wouldn’t say fickle, I think its pretty simple to outline a winning strategy for young voters and it starts with outreach and we’ve determined that wasn’t done here. I would agree that youth were bored with their choices - there was no inspiration and again no outreach. But I disagree this has anything to do with health care nor do I agree that young people hate health care. In the past on FM we’ve even argued that the HCR battle would have been a lot easier and more effective if OFA and the White House incorporated youth into the discussion, but instead they were ignored there as well.

The moral of this story is that the DCCC and the DSCC should go beyond “showing candidates the data” on young voters, and show campaigns how they can win with the youth vote and how to do the proper outreach. With a professionally run campaign to connect with young voters, their candidates can win the way Obama did with youth, but the outcome will be similar to NJ and VA if they don’t.

The campaign in Virginia is in its final two weeks and YDA is working hard to turn out volunteers between now and Election Day. We are organizing a special campaign invasion on the weekend of October 24 - 25 in Loudon and Prince William Counties. Our efforts will not only benefit Creigh Deeds gubernatorial bid but also John Bell for House of Delegates, a key legislative race that could help tip the balance of power in Richmond.

What's different about this YDA campaign invasion is that we've scheduled some "fall fun" activities for Saturday night in Virginia and neighboring West Virginia. After canvassing and phone banking throughout the day, we will head over to a corn maze, ghost tour and bonfire to round out the night. Overnight accommodations for volunteers are available. We will resume canvassing in Virginia on Sunday.

To RSVP for this event, please visit the following link and respond to which activities during the weekend you plan to attend:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dERHeG0wQlRCdHFuak9vaERHcTBnT1E6MA

If you can't make the trip to Virginia but would like to phone bank remotely, we are also making that option available. Please visit the RSVP link and indicate your willingness to phone bank from the comfort of your own home, and we will send you a voter contact list with instructions.

This week Politico published an article discussing the "wane" in student political enthusiasm on American college campuses this off-year cycle. Erika Lovley juxtaposes this lack of excitement for the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia with the heightened political participation last fall.

Before we get into comparisons, let's acknowledge that youth are going to need to show up in these races if Democrats want to hold on to these offices. Increasingly, youth voters are forming the heart of the Democratic coalition, along with Latinos, African-Americans, and women.

But I have three issues with this analysis.

1.) The comparison is off -- it might as well be comparing apples and oranges. Off-year elections (non-presidential elections, especially non-mid-term elections) are notorious for low turnout. What we should be paying attention to are youth turnout rates for 2005. Both Virginia and New Jersey showed double-digit increases in dense precincts from 2001 to 2005, for example. The big question should be whether or not students and other young voters can build off that increased 2005 rate, or at least maintain it.

2.) Where is the mention of the kind of campaign being run? It's not much different from the health care debate? These campaigns, especially the New Jersey race, are down in the mud, dirty affairs. If we're trying to get youth interested in politics for the sake of public service and other noble-minded ideals, the structure and style of the campaigns being run aren't a great match. And if we do want to compare with Obama's campaign, well, there's not much of a comparison there.

3.) Repeat after me: The increase in the youth vote does not originate with Obama's candidacy. We have tried and tried again to debunk this, but apparently it's just not taking.

On the heals of the Young Invincibles conference and on the morning of the Better Deal conference, Politico has a bright shiny piece about young voters for the Virginia and New Jersey races coming up in the next month.

Democrats, it seems, are concerned about young people who are characteristically less unexuberant about these upcoming elections. They remark that this could mean a bad election for those candidates hoping to "ride the wave" of an Obama victory from last November.

"A robust youth turnout could potentially turn the tide for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds (pictured above) and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Corzine is only 1 percentage point behind Republican Chris Christie, according to a recent Public Policy Polling survey, and Rasmussen Reports labels Deeds as trailing opponent Bob McDonnell by 7 points. Both men have unleashed a college campus blitz in recent weeks, hoping student voters will give them the bump they need to inch past their opponents.

Young voters between the ages of 18 and 29 supported Obama in Virginia and New Jersey by 60 percent and 67 percent, respectively. Obama carried New Jersey by a whopping 15 points and became the first Democrat in 44 years to carry Virginia.

In New Jersey, about 377,000 of the 560,000 young voters who showed up at the polls supported Obama. In Virginia, about 373,000 out of 621,000 young voters backed Obama.

But some young Democrats say that energy surge has begun to dissipate and student political involvement for the 2009 races has returned to normal — before the Obama phenomenon seemed to transfix young voters."

What is "normal"? Do they mean inactive? And what does that tell people who don't do the proper outreach to the youth community for an election? How many millions of dollars did the Obama campaign spend on youth outreach, online outreach, and peer to peer contact?? Is the ratio comparable when looking at the state races in NJ and VA? If not - I believe they will indeed see the decrease in "enthusiasm" they estimate. Which will ultimately perpetuate the stereotype that "young people only came out for Obama."

I've said it before... I'll say it again... if you build it... they will come. If you ask them, they will vote. If you do the outreach you'll reap the rewards.

Rod Snyder, Mid-Atlantic Region Director of the Young Democrats of America, sent an email to Liberty University's Vice-President of Student Affairs about the ban of the Young Democrats club. This led to the following email exchange, in which Falwell Jr. himself responds.

From: Rod Snyder
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 5:14 PM
Subject: Letter to Mark Hine regarding the Liberty University Young Democrats

Mr. Hine:

I was disappointed when I learned this afternoon that the Liberty University College Democrats has lost its recognition as an official campus organization. As an Evangelical Christian and a Young Democratic leader, I am personally offended by the decision of the university and, more importantly, by the underlying assertion that a person cannot be both a Christian and a Democrat.

I attended Christian schools throughout my entire educational experience, including a non-denominational high school in West Virginia and a Baptist university in Pennsylvania . During college I interned at the Faith and Politics Institute on Capitol Hill, which facilitates racial harmony in Congress and non-violent conflict resolution around the world. Over the past several years, I have served in various leadership roles at my local church. Much of my adult life has been spent advancing the notion that neither the Republican nor Democratic Party has a foothold on the Christian faith.

Admittedly, my faith deeply informs my politics. I am a Democrat because I believe in social justice. I believe that every man, woman and child has a basic right to healthcare, a living wage and a basic standard of living. I believe that war and violence should be used as a last resort. I believe that every human being has intrinsic value and that discrimination is never warranted. I believe that our Creator has given us a responsibility to be stewards of His creation. But I would never assert that the Christian faith exclusively belongs to the Democratic Party, and I expect the same level of respect and deference from my fellow believers in the Republican Party.

It goes without saying that the Democratic Party represents a diverse set of interests and constituencies. My own political positions do not necessarily align with 100% of the Democratic Party platform, and I would assume that most Republicans do not necessarily agree with the entirety of their national Party’s policy stances. However, to block students from organizing with likeminded classmates deprives them of a fundamental right of political expression and curtails important discourse on your campus and in your community.

The Liberty University code of conduct states that students “may not engage in any activity on or off campus that would compromise the testimony or reputation of the University”. I would allege that this ill conceived decision does more to damage the reputation of the University than the actions of a group of students who are earnestly wrestling with how to best live out their faith in the political arena.

I respectfully request that the Liberty University College Democrats be permitted to continue as an officially recognized student group and be allowed to support those candidates and issues they believe to be consistent with their values.

Furthermore, I intend to investigate the legality of a religious institution that only officially recognizes the activities of one political Party on campus. The precedent is troublesome, and I hope you will reconsider your decision.

Regards,

Rod Snyder
Director, Mid-Atlantic Region
Young Democrats of America

--------------------------------------

From: Jerry Falwell
To: Rod Snyder
Cc: Staver, Mathew ( Law School ); Hine, Mark (VP StudentAffairs);
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 5:50:09 PM
Subject: FW: Letter to Mark Hine regarding the Liberty University Young Democrats

Rod,

You have been misinformed about LU's position and its actions regarding the Democratic Club on campus. Mat Staver or Mark Hine will reply in detail later but I told the press today that the student members of this club are good Christian kids and friends of mine. We do not believe and have not stated that one cannot be Christian and Democrat. We are encouraging this club to affiliate with Democrats for Life or some similar organization so that we can endorse them once again. Even if they remain affiliated with the DNC, they will not be prevented from meeting on campus or having a club. They just cannot use LU's name because of the DNC's position on abortion.

Thanks,

Jerry Falwell, Jr.
President
Liberty University

--------------------------------------

From: Staver, Mathew ( Law School )
To: Rod Snyder
Cc: Jerry Falwell; Hine, Mark (VP StudentAffairs)
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 6:26:32 PM
Subject: RE: Letter to Mark Hine regarding the Liberty University Young Democrats

Rod

We have never said that you cannot be a Christian and a Democrat. We know many Democrats who are Christians, and we know many Republicans and Independents who are not, and vice versa. Christianity is not confined to a political party, nor do we believe that salvation depends on your political affiliation.

We have categorically denied that statement that suggested we said you cannot be a Christian and a Democrat. The problem is some media sources ran with certain unsubstantiated reports. Fortunately, the Washington Post has indicated it will correct its story once it learned the full story. In fact, as I spoke with many media today and explained what we did and did not do, many responded by wondering what was the big issue here. It is much less than what was originally spun to the media. I might note this reached the broad media today via a telephone conference with media sponsored by Terry McAuliffe. The media began calling following that conference and much of the information discussed on that conference was inaccurate.

We applaud Christians and students working in all parties to bring about positive change. These students are good students and we hope they can work within the Democratic Party to advance moral issues, including, but not limited to, the sanctity of human life and traditional marriage. We also hope they can similarly bring about positive change in the Republican Party, or any party of their choice.

The only issue here, and it is a narrow one and not the broad brush that some have run with today, is official recognition, which means use of the University name and funds. The University is reviewing all the clubs, not just this particular club. While students are free to advocate various issues, debate them, and associate with varying political parties, we believe the University is not required to lend its official name to them and underwrite their efforts or avocation of issues that run contrary to the mission of the University.

Thanks for your email and for coming to the source rather than passing on incorrect information. We appreciate that very much.

Mathew D. Staver
Dean and Professor of Law
Liberty University School of Law

--------------------------------------

From: Rod Snyder
To: Jerry Falwell; Staver, Mathew ( Law School );
Cc: Hine, Mark (VP StudentAffairs)
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 10:28:51 AM
Subject: Re: Letter to Mark Hine regarding the Liberty University Young Democrats

Jerry and Mathew,

Thank you both for your quick responses to my letter to Mark Hine yesterday afternoon. After all of the media coverage of the last 24 hours, there’s probably not much I can add at this point. But I want to make just a few more comments.

The underlying problem is that your university now officially recognizes only one Party organization on campus, which rightfully exposes you to criticism that you are a partisan educational institution. I’m certain this is something you want to avoid for many reasons, not the least of which is the legal questions I raised in my letter yesterday. If you insist on this course of action, I believe a more prudent decision on your part would be to dissolve all partisan groups on campus altogether.

You mentioned that the club could affiliate with Democrats for Life; however, you are presuming that the students want to focus only on a narrow set of policy issues, which I’m sure is not the case. Trust me when I say I completely understand the sensitivity surrounding the abortion issue. But you are making an unfortunate leap of logic to suggest that recognizing an official Young Democrat club at your school ties you to the pro-choice agenda. As an institution of higher learning, your view of political parties is startling narrow.

To take this a step further, I wonder if Liberty University would be willing to review the Republican platform while considering many Christians’ feelings on issues such as the death penalty and the doctrine of preemptive war, etc.

I have many friends who attended Liberty over the years, so I refuse to demonize your administration, faculty or student body. But you have insisted on alienating many of your own students and alumni --- not to mention a broader community of Christians like myself who are trying to elevate the level of civil discourse around faith and politics rather than using Christianity as a blunt object in a partisan power struggle.

I genuinely appreciate the fact that you will not forbid the club from meeting on campus or using your facilities. But this gesture is not enough. I ask again that you reconsider your decision.

Thank you,

Rod Snyder
Director, Mid-Atlantic Region
Young Democrats of America

Thanks to Rod Snyder for giving me permission to post this exchange and for writing such a strong response to the university.

The petition drive supporting the Liberty University Young Democrats is still going strong. Sign the petition and show your support.

Liberty University, the college founded by Jerry Falwell, has banned the Young Democrats club from the university while allowing the Republican organization to exist.

The argument is that the "Democratic Party Platform is contrary to the mission of LU and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the "LGBT" agenda, Hate Crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc)."

The Young Democrats chapter had previously been an approved organization on campus until the chapter President, Brian Diaz, received a cease and desist email from Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Hine:

Brian,

I must inform you that the College democrats' club is no longer going to be recognized as a Liberty University club. We are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by Liberty University. I expressed these concerns when we met, earlier in the spring semester.

The Liberty Way states, "It is the duty of every student to respect Liberty's Statement of Doctrine and Purpose. They may not engage in any activity on or off campus that would compromise the testimony or reputation of the University or cause disruption to Liberty's Christian learning environment."

The Liberty University School of Law had been working on a policy to govern their clubs and organizations for quite some time. They have now completed that policy and we have adopted it for Liberty University as well. Now that it has been adopted and will apply to all clubs and organizations, it is clear that this club does not comply.

Below is a copy of the policy which governs clubs and organizations at Liberty University. This policy is posted on the website.

"STUDENT CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS POLICIES

Student clubs or organizations must request and receive permission from the Liberty University administration before they may meet on campus, advertise, distribute or post materials, or use any University facilities for their activities or events. All such clubs or organizations and their activities or events must be consistent with the University's mission, and must be and remain in compliance with the Liberty Way, the Honor Code, and any policies or procedures promulgated by the University. The University reserves the right to refuse the use of its facilities for any reason to any student club, organization, activity or event.

Consistent with the Honor Code, all students, student clubs and organizations, faculty and staff of Liberty University, have a responsibility to uphold the moral and ethical standards of this institution and personally confront those who do not.

No student club or organization shall be approved, recognized or permitted to meet on campus, advertise, distribute or post materials, or use University facilities if the statements, positions, doctrines, policies, constitutions, bylaws, platforms, activities or events of such club or organization, its parent, affiliate, chapter or similarly named group (even if the similarly named group is not the actual parent, affiliate or chapter) are inconsistent or in conflict with the distinctly Christian mission of the University, the Liberty Way, the Honor Code, or the policies and procedures promulgated by the University."

Even though this club may not support the more radical planks of the democratic party, the democratic party is still the parent organization of the club on campus. The Democratic Party Platform is contrary to the mission of LU and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the "LGBT" agenda, Hate Crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc). The candidates this club supports uphold the Platform and implement it. The candidates supported are directly contrary to the mission of LU. By using LU or Liberty University and Democrat in the name, the two are associated and the goals of both run in opposite directions.

We are removing the club from the Liberty website and you will need to cease using Liberty University's name, including any logo, seal or mark of Liberty University. They are not to be used in any of your publications, electronic or internet, including but not limited to, any website, Facebook, Twitter or any other such publication.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Mark Hine
VP for Student Affairs
Liberty University

Since the email has been received the Virginia Young Democrats and Young Democrats of America have been bringing the situation to national attention. Brian Diaz was interviewed on the Rachel Maddow Show about the situation:

The Young Democrats have created a petition to allow people to show their support for the Liberty University Young Democrats and encourage the university to reverse its decision to ban the organization.

Please sign the petition and spread the word. A university with non-profit status and federal aid should not be allowed to become an instrument of a single political party.

For the university it seems Liberty is solely a name, not a principle, and one that only belongs to the Republican Party.

• Can Will.i.am boost youth turnout in the Virginia governor's race?
• Secretary Clinton launches the Virtual Student Foreign Service Initiative.
• Campus Progress looks at the upcoming health care fight: Public (Option) Enemy #1.
• Ari Melber covers the launch of The Stimulist, an online magazine for "the Obama Generation."
• In a speech to students, Ralph Nader proves yet again that he Director of Public Policy.
• The Washington Post grades recent changes to WhiteHouse.gov.
• Conservatives can't stop watching Stephen Colbert.

Hat tip to our own Kevin Bondelli:

During a campaign rally for Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell in Virginia Mike Huckabee made this statement:

You have two jobs. One, get all those people who are going to vote for Bob out to the polls and vote. If they’re not going to vote for Bob, you have another job. Let the air out of their tires and do not let them out of their driveway on Election Day. Keep ‘em home. Do the Lord’s work, my friend. I’m giving you an opportunity…yes, do the right thing.

This looks like a pretty good reason to do something to help Brian Moran.

You know how Huckabee and Co. will explain this. They'll say it was a simple joke and wasn't meant to be taken seriously. The problem is that we all know people out there fanatical enough to believe they are doing "the Lord's work" by doing this stuff. The last thing they need is a prominent politician validating it, giving them cover.

Check out Brian Moran's campaign here.