vote

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!

Tomorrow, students will be proudly showing up to vote on Election Day in the largest numbers this country has seen in decades. College Students want leadership and change and Congressman Randy Kuhl from the NY-29 has not represented our nation's youth during his time in office.

Congressman Kuhl has repeatedly voted against increases to student aid that would make the cost of college tuition more affordable and less of a burden on families. Kuhl voted "No" to the College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005 [HR 609] that would have reduced student loan interest rate from 6.8% to 3.4% (Section 8). In voting No, to HR 609, Kuhl opposed a $59 million increase in grants for low income students to help afford the cost of graduate school education (Project Vote Smart).

Randy Kuhl has represented the special lobbyists in his district quite well over his two terms in office by giving tax breaks to big oil, but when it comes to helping our future generation, Kuhl has opposed student interests. He stood with his Republican colleagues in the House in voting "No" to the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 [H R 2669]. The bill would successfully pass the House by a vote of 273- 149 and through the Senate by a vote of 78-18.

This important student aid bill allows for increases in the Pell grant by at least $500 per year over the next 5 years, until a maximum scholarship of $5,200 is reached. The bill will increase student aid by roughly $18 billion over the next 5 years [HR 2669, Vote 326, 9/7/07; House Committee on Education and Labor, September, 2007].

"Eric Massa is exactly what young people in the NY-29 need for a better future. He is willing to stand up for ordinary citizens and vote for policies that benefit students," said Daniel Levin, President of the College Democrats of NY.

Congressman Kuhl has rubber stamped President Bush's policies 87.9% of the time while in office [Washington Post Voting Record Database].

"Eric Massa has made sure to speak with young voters in his district by coming to college campuses and talking about the issues that matter most to students," said Ryan McPherson, Finger Lakes Regional Director for the College Democrats of NY.

cross posted on the CDNY blog: http://collegedemsny.com/...

For the last year, College Democrats across the nation have been working tirelessly to Get Out The Vote for our nation's youth. We have soundly defeated our rival college republicans in just about every facet of the game from getting boots on the ground to getting more young people registered than ever before and getting more young people to associate themselves with being a Democrat.

In my previous posts, I've talked about how here in NY, the college democrats have organized hundreds of students to canvass for Obama in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Virginia and to work on local races.

Still the question remains whether or not the youth vote will surpass polling numbers by pollsters and deliver the crushing defeat of the Republican Party that the netroots desperately craves.

Barack Obama has ensured that mass numbers of college students will be voting in this election and for the large majority of these students, they will be unfamiliar will almost every race on the ballot except president. In most of these instances, those voting for Obama will vote down the line Democrat.

It is this message, to "Vote Democrat" that we need to emphasize to young people. Simply pulling the lever or punching the ballot for Obama is not enough- the Democratic ticket in your state needs your help too.

So here's what young people can do to Get Out the Vote for young voters:

1. text the vote- send a text message to 5 of your friends reminding them on election day to vote Democrat

2. change your facebook profile picture to a "I voted for Obama" button picture

3. hand out fliers to students passing by on college campuses reminding them to vote.

4. posting fliers, posters all over campus for students to vote

5. Tell students where there polling place is located.

*The final key is also to stress to young people how special and amazing it feels to be a part of the political process. Young people are generally apathetic and we must make them overcome this factor to get out to the polls on election day. We must get them to understand that in this election, young people cannot afford to sit this one out. Our future is depending on it.

Dan Levin is the President of the College Democrats of NY

Small business owner Kevin and plumber Mari give you loads of options for election day. Vote early, avoid the wait and check out declareyourself.com/whywait.

Comedian Whitney Cummings warns voters of the PERILS OF NOT VOTING EARLY! Find out how to cast your ballot early at declareyourself.com/whywait!

America's Top Pop Group tells you why it's important to vote early... PLUS, you get to "Sleep in!" on Election Day. Visit www.declareyourself.com/whywait to find out how!

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