youth organizations

Here is a letter sent to Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) on behalf of a coalition of youth activist organizations fighting the good fight on health reform:

September 25, 2009

The Honorable Max Baucus
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Senator Baucus:

We are writing on behalf of organizations representing young Americans across the country whose lives will be dramatically impacted by health care reform. We applaud many of the aims of America’s Healthy Future Act, particularly efforts to provide universal coverage to all Americans.

However the current legislation falls short on a number of key provisions that must be addressed. We urge you to make health insurance more affordable for young Americans by expanding the income range eligible for subsidies and lowering the caps on the percentage of income individuals might pay for premiums. We urge you to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance policy until the age of 26 so as to reduce gaps in coverage and preserve continuity of care. We also urge you to add a public option to make the new health insurance exchanges more competitive and lower costs for young consumers. We strongly believe that comprehensive, affordable health insurance should be available to all Americans, young and old.

We are aware of the inclusion of a “young invincible” plan in the current legislation that is “effectively a catastrophic with no coverage below the HSA out-of-pocket limit except for preventive benefits and
services.” (Snowe Amendment #F5 accepted into the Chairman’s Mark) While we believe the focus should be on improving subsidies so everyone can afford comprehensive coverage, if the “young invincible” provision must be in the legislation it needs to include certain key provisions:

• The HSA limit is now $3,000 and is far too high a deductible for even healthy young Americans. Common injuries that need treatment could spell financial ruin for young Americans, 80% of whom earn less than $40,000 per year. The allowable deductible should be significantly lowered.
• “Preventive benefits and services” must be defined broadly to include a wide variety of common preventive treatments including regular check-ups, screenings, and gynecological visits.
• The plan must include coverage for chronic conditions that impact those 18-34, such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and sinusitis, which would not count against the deductible. Over 15% of young
Americans deal with chronic health care problems. Without access to proper case management, not only do they suffer but it costs the system in the long-run.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue. Young people are counting on you to deliver on the promise of reform and a better future for all Americans.

Sincerely,

18 in ‘08
80 Million Strong
Advocates for Youth
Black Youth Vote
Bus Federation
Campus Progress
Daily Get Up
Forward Montana
Rock the Vote
Student Association for Voter Empowerment
Young Invincibles

While Baucus's track record doesn't give much hope to the letter having much of an effect on the legislative output, there's a bigger fight than what might happen with Baucus's legislation being discussed in the Senate Finance Committee this week. As this Times piece seems to indicate, there's some kind of latent momentum going for the public option outside of the more conservative Finance Committee, thanks to the GOP:

The Senate floor, and certainly a conference with the more liberal House, will be more receptive arenas, Mr. Schumer and others predict. Ultimately, the liberals in Congress, as well as their allies in organized labor, expect to be able to shape the final product more than they had hoped just weeks ago.

That unnerves the more conservative Democrats, many of them from Republican-leaning districts and states.

Liberals have been emboldened by two factors. One is the failure of Senator Max Baucus of Montana, a more conservative Democrat who heads the Finance Committee, to get any Republicans to support his draft legislation, after months of trying. That doomed President Obama’s goal of bipartisan backing for a health care overhaul, and now leaves party liberals arguing for a distinctly Democratic health plan.

“One of the strongest arguments against a public option has been that the Republicans will never go for it,” Mr. Schumer said. “Well, the Baucus bill doesn’t have a public option, and they’re still not for it in any way, with the possible exception of Olympia Snowe,” a moderate Republican senator from Maine, who has not ruled out supporting the overhaul that Mr. Obama is seeking.

The second development that has encouraged liberals is recent polling, including some done for The New York Times and CBS News in the last week, that gives Democrats a clear edge over Republicans as the party favored to deal with health care issues. The same polls show significant support for a public option despite months of criticism from Republicans, who describe it as a government takeover of health insurance.

Should Schumer be successful in staging a larger debate following all committee deliberations when the legislation is on the Senate floor, the stipulations made in the youth coalition letter appear to have a larger chance of being incorporated into the final Senate bill.

The best thing for everyone to do at this point is to bombard your respective senators and make sure they understand why youth want the public option, as well as the other caveats made in the letter above.

There is a great piece in New America Media Mike was interviewed for that talks about the greatest #FAIL of the HCR battle was in the complete lack of outreach from both the White House and the DNC.

"Angry mobs at the now-infamous town hall meetings on health care reform got voluminous coverage on evening news shows and even YouTube offerings, making stars out of the protestors. And overwhelmingly, the faces of the radical agitators singled out by news cameras were very much the same, no matter the geography. They were white, middle-aged or older Americans, railing against an imagined government take-over of health care and a slew of other policies championed by the Obama administration.

Where were the young activists who mobilized in record numbers to campaign for change and helped sweep Obama and a Democratic majority into power?"

We posted recent polling info about HCR and about the President, young people (and their parents) are still the largest supporters of both. And the largest generation in our nation's history still remains the most overwhelming supporters of the public option.

"If young people haven’t been visible enough, the fault also lies in part with the Obama administration and the Democratic Party, which failed to mobilize them early to keep the election momentum rolling, say several organizers.

“I don’t see Organizing for America making an explicit appeal to young people,” he said. “They are not sending a targeted appeal to young people to drive home that this is really important in the short and long term. Without that, it’s hard to get them to these events.” Unlike state efforts, Organize for America has the resources and reach to counter the conservative push, Connery notes, but it did not do that.

Indeed... no one has. Because once again, despite electing this President ... young people were thrown under the bus. We're not involved in policy discussions, we're ignored, were mocked for the cheap laugh, and when it comes to investment we're passed over.

Also, just as an aside to the article, when they talked about the unbelievable work Forward Montana was doing... they knocked on 10,000 doors... not 1,000.

Before we can properly apply the lessons of the past to the Progressive Youth Movement we need to take a look at the different types of organizations that make up today's movement. It is important to note that many organizations fall under multiple categories. This analysis excludes conservative and Republican organizations, though includes non-partisan organizations that work with both parties. There are many more youth organizations than those I discuss below as examples, so don't take this as a comprehensive list.

Partisan, Progressive, and Non-Partisan

Youth organizations fall into one of three categories: partisan, progressive, or non-partisan.

Partisan organizations identify with and promote a specific political party. College Democrats of America and Young Democrats of America are Democratic partisan organizations, while Campus Greens is a Green Party partisan organization.

Progressive organizations don't directly identify with a specific party, but supports progressive issues, candidates, and causes. Examples of progressive youth organizations are the Bus Federation, Campus Progress, League of Young Voters, and Young People For.

Non-partisan organizations work with all political parties and ideologies, and often focus on young voter registration and empowerment, as well as general youth and student issues. Examples of non-partisan youth organizations are Rock the Vote, Mobilize, HeadCount, and the United States Student Association.

Youth Component Organizations

Youth component organizations are youth arms of general organizations. Examples are the Sierra Student Coalition (Sierra Club), Student Conservation Voters (LCV), Greenpeace Student Network (Greenpeace), Campus Progress (Center for American Progress), NAACP Youth and College (NAACP), Young People For (People for the American Way), and the College Democrats of America (DNC).

The Young Democrats of America, while in some ways being like a component organization of the DNC, technically has not been since its separation with the DNC in 2003.

Umbrella Organizations

Umbrella organizations, most notably the Bus Federation and Energy Action Coalition, are organizations made up of a number of smaller groups.

Issue/Cause Organizations

Issue and cause organizations mobilize youth in support of specific issues and causes. Examples are the Energy Action Coalition (environment), United States Student Association (student issues), Campus Pride (LGBT), and the Student Association for Voter Empowerment (voting rights).

Constituency Organizations

Constituency youth organizations tend to focus on the youth of a particular constituency group. Examples are Campus Pride (GLBT), Voto Latino (Latino/a), NAACPYC (African-American), and Running Start (women).

Student, General, Non-Student

Traditionally youth groups throughout history have focused on students, since they are the low-hanging fruit of the organizing world. Today there are organizations that focus on students, focus on youth in general, and those that specifically reach out to non-college youth.

Student organizations are still the most prevalent, including the College Democrats of America, Campus Pride, Campus Progress, USSA, SAVE, Student PIRGs, and most of the environmental component groups.

General organizations work with students as well as young workers and professionals. Examples are the Young Democrats of America, Bus Federation, Rock the Vote, and Young People For.

A few organizations take the initiative to undertake the admirable task of reaching out specifically to non-college youth. The League of Young Voters is an example, as is the Hip Hop Caucus, which reaches out to youth in low-income urban areas. Some of the constituency group organizations also do a great job of this, including Voto Latino.

Voter Registration Organizations

These organizations tend to be non-partisan and work to register young voters and encourage them to turn out at the polls. Rock the Vote is the biggest name in this category, but there are a number of organizations that engage in this work, including HeadCount and Student PIRGs New Voters Project.

Candidate Organizations

Candidate organizations tend to be temporary since they are organized around a particular campaign. The pioneer in this category was Generation Dean, which paved the way for the 2008 candidate organizations like Hillblazers, Generation Obama, and SFBO.

Leadership Development Organizations

Leadership development organizations focus on recruiting, training, and supporting young leaders. Examples are the Young Elected Officials Network, which works with young people that have been elected to office, Running Start, that works to encourage and support young women running for office, and the New Leaders Council, which trains emerging young leaders to become “political entrepreneurs.” Young People For also provides progressive leadership development.

UPDATE: Angus Johnston from studentactivism.net asked some questions in response to this post. My answers are available here.

Bumped - Mike

In the wake of articles discussing the destruction of the Republican brand, it is important to look at our own organizations and chapters as brands.

There are some activists that get very angry any time someone refers to a political party, organization, or candidate as a brand, saying that democracy is not a business and all that jazz. Regardless of that utopian view of the political world, your organization's branding and fundraising is pretty similar to the business world.

As a political advocacy/outreach organization your "product" is the impact you will have in reaching a political outcome. For non-partisan voter registration organizations this is new voters. For partisan youth organizations this is getting young voters out to vote as Democrats, and thereby electing Democrats to office.

When you ask a potential donor to contribute money to your organization, they expect a return on their investment (ROI). While in the business world ROI normally refers to revenue, in the advocacy world it is the impact your organization will have in reaching shared goals (your product). The opportunity cost of a donor's contribution to your organization is a contribution to another organization (In actuality, the opportunity cost is anything that could be purchased by the amount of their donation, but we will assume that they have allocated that amount to political contributions). Your organization needs to have the reputation of being extremely successful in reaching its desired outcomes, or else a donor will look somewhere else.

Your brand, then, is essentially the general perception that is held about your organization. Most importantly, what you stand for and the expectations of your efficacy.

Your brand is also what your organization is associated with in people's minds. Are you seen as energetic, active, and hip? Or are you seen as boring, lackluster, and weak? The conceptions people hold and adjectives they would use to describe your organization are extremely powerful.

Maintaining your organization's brand image is extremely important. Recovering a brand that has a tarnished reputation is much harder than building up a brand from scratch.

Here are some tips for developing and monitoring your brand:

Keep track of what people are saying about you.

This involves media monitoring and listening to your supporters. Check out my post on media monitoring for ideas. Frequently ask your members and supporters what they think about the organization and what they have heard people say about it. Word of mouth is extremely powerful and you don't want to let anything negative slip passed you unanswered.

Decide what you want your brand to be.

When companies start out they spend a lot of time determining what the goals of their brand are. A lot of political organizations don't. Think about what adjectives you would want people to use when describing your organization, and then create a plan that would result in that. It is important that your branding is carried out over all aspects of your organization. If you want people to describe you as energetic and active, you don't want to have a boring website that is rarely updated. Your brand is your message. Don't stray off message.

Do your absolute best.

The best marketing team in the world would have a nearly impossible time making an organization that doesn't do anything look like it is extremely active and effective. That is why you need to do everything you can to make your organization the best it can be. In the world of political activism, where your products are results, hard work and continued effort are the best ways to build your brand.

Traditionally partisan youth political organizations have been based solely on promoting the party and its candidates. Membership has been dominated by hyper-political and super-active aspiring politicians, staffers, activists, and party leaders. With the rise and coming of age of the new Millennial generation, we must branch out and expand membership to those that are not necessarily die-hard party politicos.

First, organizations need to welcome members that are more casual politically than traditional members. I have seen chapters of organizations that are extremely active scare off potential members by not truly accepting those that are not dedicating every waking hour to politics. With the concepts of the Pareto Principle (20% of your members will do 80% of the work) and The Long Tail (the small actions taken by the many less active members will be substantial in aggregate), we have to accept that not every member is going to be super-active and that casual members are valuable.

Second, integrating community service into your organization's activities will expand your appeal. Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, authors of Millennial Makeover, write "Eighty percent of Millennials have done some sort of community service in high school. Eighty-five percent believe that directly contributing something to the community is an important way to improve it." In an earlier Future Majority post Alice wrote about the Culture of Volunteerism among Millennials.The appeal of community service to young people can draw members into your organization if you integrate community service into your program. Organizations like Democrats Work have been very successful, and Sen. John Edwards used community service with his One Corps program to draw people in. Not only can a community service program help you find new members, but will also associate your organization's brand with giving back to the community and possibly result in earned media.

It is also important to reach out to allied issue organizations. There are a number of strong youth environmental movements that could be partnered with. Net neutrality communities are often overlooked by youth organizers. Standing for issues that are attractive to Millennials and partnering with those issue organizations will serve your organization well in recruiting members and expanding your reach.

What other steps can youth political organizations take to expand their appeal and move beyond pure party politics?