young candidates

Watch live the panels today talking about youthiness

40 Under 40: Political Rising Stars
SAT, 06/18/2011 - 3:00PM, M100 FG

The game has changed. What is it like to be a young politician in the modern world? Meet the nation's political rising stars--a group savvy at utilizing Twitter, Facebook and the blogospehere to engage and educate young voters. Also, we'll talk about why you should avoid photo tags of your Everclear jello shots and eliminate email adresses like keggarboy69@gmail.com.

PANELISTS: Representative Ellie Hill, Assemblyman Elliot Anderson, Senator Shannon Augare, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Representative Jefferson Smith

Something else that might have some youthy elements to it
Sat, 06/18/2011 - 3:00pm, L100 H

With high unemployment and foreclosure rates for many Americans--particularly African Americans--and the euphoria of hope and change sinking fast, the panel will discuss how to work online and offline compatibility to engage, energize and win back first-time 2008 voters, with an emphasis on youth and African American voters. We will discuss what is at stake for blacks and young adults and share ways to tell the story of those whose lives have been affected by health care reform, foreclosure assistance, Pell grants, and other reforms. We'll also look at how to combine online and offline efforts to engage members of this disaffected community in broader online discussions and actions.

PANELISTS: Debbie Hines, Jeneba Ghatt, Judy Lubin, Kristal High, Rep. Donna Edwards

I've gotten into a rut of writing about the GOP over the past few weeks, and I promise I'll end it soon. But bear with me for one more post please.

Columnist David Hawpe from the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky examines youth involvement in politics within the state and concludes that youth do have an important role to play in today's politics. Hawpe refreshingly declines to follow other lazy pundits, who assert that today's youth are lazy because they're not chaining themselves to bulldozers or protesting; instead, Hawpe sees the ballot box as just as effective (maybe more) than the obstructive tactics of the 1960s. Hawpe closes by hoping young Kentucky voters play a significant, responsible role in deciding Kentucky's 2010 Senate race as young Americans did in 2008's presidential/congressional elections. Hawpe simply believes elections need youth involvement.

Hawpe seems to focus solely on youth voting in his piece, but there are obviously several other ways for young people to get involved in politics. Registering to vote and casting a ballot is one way, but others include working on a political campaign or running one yourself. Sarah wrote a post in January about the number of young, progressive candidates running for office this spring. While we face our challenges in getting our party to respond to requests for more youth involvement, we're in relatively good shape compared to the other party.

A blog post on Newsday's online editorial page notes one large problem surfacing in the New York GOP (other than the shocking defeat of Republican Jim Tedesco by Democrat Scott Murphy in a notoriously red district): no young candidates.

The party's age problem has been evident for years. As this New York Times story points out, 15 of the 32 Republican senators were 65 or older in the last election, in November. That, of course, was the election that flipped Senate control to the Democrats, with the loss of Caesar Trunzo's South Shore seat. Trunzo was 81 at the time, and victor Brian X. Foley was 50.

Of course, many of the retirements and defections that were anticipated after the GOP lost the majority have not taken place. Sen. Owen Johnson, 79, of West Babylon, is still in office, as is Sen. William Larkin Jr., 80, who represents the mid-Hudson Valley. Younger senators who were thought to have ambitions elsewhere -- Sens. Chuck Fuschillo, 48, and Kemp Hannon, 63 -- have not left, either, in spite of the significant downsize in their roles as minority members.

[...]

...You have to wonder what it takes to win as a Republican these days. There doesn't seem to be a new generation of young candidates lining up to find out.

The Republicans, already more politically irrelevant than they've been in quite some time, are also missing a political farm team -- young reserves who get trained locally in electoral politics before being dispatched in larger, more widely covered races. An Iowa State professor uses another analogy:

“Young people are the new trees in the deforested Republican party, and they have to plant new trees and water them and get them going, and I don’t think they’re doing a very good job with it,” says Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University in Ames.

The rebuildtheparty.com website that was created immediately following Obama's win last November also observed a large problem with the lack of youthful candidates on the GOP bench. The group found it to be a problem serious enough to warrant a new program aimed at recruiting younger candidates in local races.

Undoing the damage to our party's brand among America's youth will take more than new slogans and hip spokespeople. It will mean making young voters the face of the Republican Party, and not just another target group with its own bulleted list of "outreach" talking points. To that end, the next Chairman should commit to a simple goal: working towards a Republican Party where at least 40% of our challenger and open seat candidates for Congress are under 40. Such a party will send a signal to all Americans that the GOP is once again the party of the future.

It all sounds good. But one has to question this group's sincerity in its efforts to overhaul the party after a trip to its website. On the front page, a Tedisco campaign YouTube video is prominently displayed informing visitors the campaign "needs [their] help to win on March 31st." More than a month later, with the GOP still unable to find its youth magic after Tedisco, 58, lost to the Democrats' 39 year old candidate, perhaps even rebuildtheparty.com is on a furlough.

Or perhaps a little birdie told them of Michael Steele's answer when asked to name four rising stars under the age of fifty within the Republican Party. Just a warning -- it's ugly:

"I'd say certainly Bobby Jindal, Governor Sanford, Pawlenty, Palin," Steele said Sunday. "We have a whole host of folks out there who are beginning to emerge on the scene and will over the next couple of years I think redefine this party in a way that will be very good for us long term."

[...]

The RNC chair was specifically asked to name three Republian [sic] leaders under the age of 50 whom he sees as "new faces."

He ended up providing four names, all of them governors.

With that view, so much for 40 under 40.

While the Republicans are having all sorts of problems supporting their youth and/or finding any to run for office on their behalf (aside from Aaron Schock, the 27 year old congressman), there are some concerns on the Democratic side we shouldn't ignore. For instance, Tony Cani from SEIU (formerly the Political Director of the Young Democrats) tweeted today from a youth panel at the Tennessee Democratic Party's Summit that young candidates aren't necessarily open to engaging youth.

tcani: Youth panel talking about fustration w young candidates in tn (ford) running from youth not engaging them. #tndpsummit

In addition to maximizing our political strength among youth, more funding of the progressive youth movement is needed, especially now that Obama won and a sense of urgency may unfortunately be lost on some donors. In addition, as Sarah noted in her post I referenced earlier, we can't let local elections slip by after larger ones without doing our best to help our own progressive candidates. While this might be easy to do simply because the Republicans aren't sure what they're doing with youth, in order to build for the long-term, we must do more to extend our focus on youth candidates to every office/seat possible, no matter how small.

In the end, Hawpe is, of course, correct -- youth involvement is a must in assessing the long-term health of a political party and is quite potent when given a chance. Unfortunately for conservative youth, the GOP can't seem to make up its mind about the importance of youth participation. Even Steele, who was elected to shake up the party's image among moderates and youth, had to rely on names like Palin and Jindal when asked for examples of rising stars. Democrats and the left, on the other hand, should use this as a reminder of the importance of continued organization and funding of progressive youth, many of whom will form the bench of candidates responsible for sustaining our majority well into the future.

According to the Oklahoma University paper, students are coming together to help US Senate candidate and FM Youthy Candidate Liveblog guest Andrew Rice online using Facebook to mobilize young voters in Oklahoma.

"Matt Tepper, field director for the Andrew Rice for U.S. Senate campaign, taught volunteers how to use the Rice for Senate Volunteer Center application and spread Andrew Rice’s message. The Facebook application offers another way young people can get involved in a grassroots campaign, he said.

“We’re one of only three campaigns in the country using this,” Tepper said during his demonstration.

Volunteers can add the interactive application to their Facebook profiles. The application provides users with a name and phone number, and they are expected to call the person on the list and follow one of three scripts."

Thomas Friedman eat your heart out....

LINK TO THE APPLICATION (must be logged in)

They were developed by the folks at Nico Networks who are responsible for such things as the Got Tuition? Facebook Application and the Rock the Vote Action Center on Facebook.

One of the youngest Congressman serving is Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio. His office has been one leading the pack in youth and technology outreach for the past few years, but his urgency to listen to young voters has given a unique perspective many members lack.

With a connectivity to the future and an eagerness to bring more young people to policy and government, it isn't difficult to understand why he is one of the most outspoken members of the 30 Something Caucus.

Rep. Ryan sat down with me last week to discuss his outreach to young constituents and his hopes for post-election youth engagement.

Crossposted from Rock the Trail

A new bit of research from EMILY's List was released today that shows some details about new registrants and down ballot candidates.

According to their research

"Of the 326,823 newly registered (this year) voters in North Carolina, 176,806 are registered Democrats, just 21,672 are registered Republicans."

But when it comes to down ballot races there is a bit of a disconnect

"65 percent of younger people believe whoever is elected President will make “a lot of difference” in their lives; this number drops to 32 when asked about Governor and 26 percent when asked about Congress"

As such, the research says we risk serious drop off from these new voters for a complete lack of connectivity between them. I don't see any surprises. Thursday I walked around the hill in DC and asked members of Congress about young voters. The video is to come, but Rep. Tim Ryan, one of the youngest members of Congress said it best when he told me that before he ran, young voters didn't really turnout much. But when he ran he made a point to talk to young voters and made a concerted effort to do outreach to young voters. The result? SURPRISE! Youth turnout increased.

If you build it... they will come...

EMILY's List commissioned two pairs of focus groups among young voters in NC. The release says they

"measured the potential impact of various approaches to encourage down ballot voting including (1) linking other candidates to Obama, selling them on the notion that every leader needs a “team” behind him, (2) probing their support for straight party ticket voting, and (3) exploring more comparative approaches where we attack Bush and his downballot allies and remind these voters that Bush may be gone, but his ideas and policies could outlive his administration."

No word on if they thought about maybe just doing more outreach to young voters directly from the local candidates....

The results show, among other things, that "people resist the idea of casting an uninformed vote." This is consistent with our research that shows that the voters paying the most attention also tend to be the most involved.

Further, "straight party ticket voting is not attractive for many in the groups." This is consistent with our research that showed that young people don't find the party system an attractive option in general, which is why new registrants tend to like to be independent or decline to state if given those option. I don't know if these are ok in North Carolina.

"Young people do understand that the other offices are important and have a greater direct impact on their lives. However, this is not a top-of-mind perception among many participants in our groups. As noted above, they know almost nothing about other candidates running for statewide office. . . further, young people understand implicitly that Barack Obama needs a “team” and needs allies down ballot to change the country "

There's more but it goes on for several pages. One of my favorite tid bits was this "Almost everyone in the groups belongs to a social networking site, mostly “Facebook,” and “MySpace,” but they tend to ignore ads on the sites."

I reiterate that the #1 way for candidates to garner youth support this election is to do active outreach on social network sites, with youth targeted field outreach, and candidate outreach. If you or a candidate you know would like to learn how, don't hesitate to contact us.

What I'm reading this Saturday:

• This history of the culture wars of the last 40 years dovetails a bit with my earlier piece. I think (and hope) we're emerging from this.
• The Times proclaims that "the year of the political blogger has arrived."
• Virginia's young voters are tearing it up. What an amazing development.
• Are younger candidates the answer to getting youth involved in local politics?
• Congressional Democrats zero in on a directive to Veterans Affairs hospitals to prohibit voter registration efforts.
• Incoming college freshmen were born in 1990?!? Find out more about them here.

It’s an Olympic year, so there’s a lot of torch-passing going around these days. But it’s also a watershed year in which the torch is being passed, once again, to a new generation.

Two years ago, when I ran for State Senate and won, I watched a wave of young progressives sweeping across the nation. I was not just watching history happen, I was part of it with all of you.

This year, however, is proving that 2006 was just a prelude to a national movement, a generational shift that makes our nation’s hope for the future incredibly bright. And once again, I’m honored to be a part of history as it happens. This wouldn't be a pivotal year without your work and your involvement, and I wouldn't be here without the support of young people in Oklahoma.

I’m running for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma in part because I’m inspired by these times. A new group of people who have grown up believing that government can be a force for good in people’s lives are working to make sure that it fulfills that mission. We’re changing our nation from the inside out, from the state house to Washington. And the need for well-qualified and hopeful people to serve in the public sphere has never been greater.

We have to shape our own future. If we want to have Medicare and Social Security available when we retire, we must protect it now. If we want to have clean air for our children and energy sources to fill the void left when oil supplies shrink, we must fight for renewable and clean alternatives now. If we want to have quality and affordable health care available for when we, or our children, get sick, we must change the health care system now.

When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I’ll be fighting for all of these issues, as well as protecting our troops and our veterans, keeping our nation’s security strong, spending our tax dollars responsibly, and ensuring a quality education for every child. My opponent, incumbent Sen. Jim Inhofe, has proven to be out of touch with his constituents on these subjects. Being a voice for the people you represent is the basic job of any legislator, and he’s failing to do even that.

I appreciate the opportunity to come on Future Majority and discuss the issues you care about, as well as my U.S. Senate campaign. If you want to find out more about me and about this race, please look at my website, www.andrewforoklahoma.com . I’ll be happy to take your questions below.

As part of my gig with MTV as one of their Street Team reps for the 2008 election cycle, I cover politics and young people in Nebraska.

Candidates in Nebraska are getting dirty…in rivers and parks that need to be cleaned up.  Come meet some of the candidates running for office in Nebraska that are taking part in new brand of politics—the politics of service.

The candidates talk about what service means to them, why young voters are so important this election and what each of us can do to take a stand as a generation.  Democrats Work is a national organization, founded by two  young people Thomas Bates and James Carter, that encourages individuals and campaigns to live and show their Democratic values through service.  A chapter was started here in Nebraska by Natalie Benson.

Candidates getting dirty in Nebraska include:

Heath Mello, State Legislature, NE-05

Jeremy Nordquist, State Legislature, NE-07

Jim Esch, House of Representatives, NE-02

Scott Kleeb, US Senate

Get Involved with Democrats Work:

www.democratswork.org

Jane Fleming Kleeb is the Executive Director of the Young Voter Pac which helps Democratic candidates and State Parties win with the 18-35 year old vote through endorsements, on-the-ground support, training, strategy and money. She is also a MTV Street Team rep for Nebraska.

I found out about two new young candidates in Kansas stepping up to the plate to run for office. I'm learning more and more about young candidates across the country and always love to shill for them as I go.

In Wichita, Donald Betts seeks the Congressional seat in the 4th district.

Betts, 29, was elected the youngest person in history to the Kansas State Senate in 2004 after serving a previous term in the State House, a post he took in 2002 at the age of 24.

In an interview with me Betts commented

"I want young people who thought that something like this could never happen to at least have some hope that it is possible if only they try."

Betts is well equipt with leadership, experience, and passion - and well organized netroots efforts on facebook and a nice campaign site as well as the recently released MySpace and using the 20/20 program, a very grassroots fundraising tool coined by district neighbor Nancy Boyda in her 2006 race.

"The district is ready for a fresh start, a new perspective on politics." Betts said at his announcement.

Greg "half as old as Pat Roberts" Orman is the past CEO and President of KLT Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy, Inc., an energy holding company headquartered in Kansas City.

The former draft campaign run through facebook has now been switched over to an official campaign and cites his statement when he filed for candadacy

"As I look at what's going on in Washington, and the course we're on as a nation, I am convinced we can and should be doing better," Orman said of his decision to run.

"Like so many Kansans, I'm disappointed and deeply troubled by the inaction, infighting, and ineffectiveness on display in Washington today. And I'm prepared to offer the people of Kansas a United States Senator with the right priorities who can help get America moving in a positive direction again."

Orman has yet to launch his website but I'll keep you posted as I'm sure the social networking sites will as well.

When asked about who some of the youngest candidates are this cycle the DCCC could not provide the data off hand. As I discover them I'm eager to give more info on great young candidates stepping up to lead.

Seven months ago, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe sat in a committee meeting and told former Vice President Al Gore that global warming was a lie. After a rambunctious few moments where Inhofe refused to let VP Gore answer any of his accusations or questions, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who was leading the hearing, informed Sen. Inofe that elections have consequences.

Seven months later, State Senator Andrew Rice is banking on that being the case as he ramps up his 2008 US Senate race against Inhofe.

Why should this matter to FM readers? Because Andrew is half Inhofe’s age, twice the stamina, twice the grassroots/netroots savvy, and most importantly, if elected Andrew Rice will become the youngest Senator in the country by nearly 10 years.