Kerry Campaign Family Members Head Back to School

All of the children of the Democratic ticket are heading out on a back-to-school tour to reach out to young voters. Alex and Vanessa Kerry, Andre and Chris Heinz, and Cate Edwards are hitting the road for stops at college campuses in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. If you’re in the neighborhood, go see what they have to say.

The tour kicks off this week with interviews with Top 40 radio stations around the country after a successful stop at the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami over the weekend.

The tour will be concentrating on issues vital to the election, specifically as it relates to young voters. All of them will be discussing the unemployment rate for young people as well as the skyrocketing costs of college tuition in recent years. They’ll be trumpeting the campaign’s plan to provide a tax credit to households to help with soaring tuition. Check out the Kerry-Edwards plan to help all Americans afford college.

Lil’ Kim Rockin’ the Vote

Rap superstar Lil’ Kim joined the half million others who have registered to vote using Rock the Vote’s online registration form. Check out the pics. Knowing how important this election is, she’s also hosting the Rock the Vote/French Connection in Miami as part of the MTV Video Music Awards celebration.

If you haven’t registered yet, join Lil’ Kim, J-Lo and others and Rock The Vote.

New Documentary Explores Effects of “Outsourcing”

Many of you have probably heard the term “outsourcing” used a lot during the election season, but you may not know exactly what it means or how it affects you. Well, former MTV producer Greg Spotts has the answers.

Spotts has spent the last six months traveling around country interviewing American workers who have lost their jobs when those jobs were “outsourced” or moved offshore to other countries where the wages are lower. He compiled the footage into a powerful documentary called American Jobs.

As the job market continues to be a hot-button political issue, it’s vital for young voters to grasp how both candidates’ proposed economic platforms will shape the future of an ever-changing workforce. See what John Kerry and President Bush have to say about jobs in the US and the concept of outsourcing.

American Jobs will make its premiere at the Laemmle Fairfax Theater in Los Angeles this Saturday. If you’re in the area, go check it out! If not, keep checking to see when a screening of the film will hit your town. You can also purchase a DVD of the film online on the web site on Labor Day. This is an issue that is sure to have an impact on just about everybody. Well worth your time.

Daughters of Both Candidates Bring Messages to Young Voters

As both campaigns begin to realize how important the youth vote is for their chances at the presidency, John Kerry and George W. Bush have been sending a few very special young people out on the campaign trail to bring their campaigns’ messages to voters: their daughters.

After remaining primarily out of the public eye during their father’s presidency, Jenna and Barbara Bush are hitting the road to discuss with other young voters why their father should be re-elected. The 22-year-olds sent out an email this week through the Bush-Cheney ’04 official web site explaining why the President would have their vote even if they weren’t related.

On the other side, Kerry’s daughters have been criss-crossing the country for a while now letting voters know why their father should be the next president.

We think young voices like those of the Bush twins and the Kerry daughters are central to bringing young voters into the campaign discourse. Not only do they have the perspective on politics (and everything else) that’s closer to that of most young people, but they know each candidate personally and can speak to their relationships as father and daughter, which gives an insight into each candidate that you can’t get from “talking heads” on TV talking about tax policy or international trade.

Bush daughters hit the campaign trail to reach the new generation

The Associated Press has a new story about the Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, out on the campaign trail---rounding up votes from young people. Calling this election "the most critical election of our lifetime," they are urging the new generation to get out and vote.

McClatchy News: Young voters trend towards Kerry

In the 2000 election, George W. Bush nearly split the youth vote with Al Gore. Al Gore won 18-29 year olds by a margin of 48-46, which really constituted a major victory for George Bush. In the previous two elections, Clinton had won young voters by 11 and 19 point margins respectively.

At this stage in the 2004 election, President Bush does not appear to be doing as well with young voters as he did in 2000. A number of news reports have come out in recent weeks about how young voters are moving towards Senator Kerry, by margins as large as 10 points or even 20 points in some polls.

Here's a story from McClatchy Newspapers about that phenomenon.

Its still early, no doubt. The President will have to wage a tough fight to win back this group---and it will be key to his reelection prospects.

Re-run the 2000 election and just give Gore the youth vote margin that Kerry now enjoys, and you have a dramatically different outcome.

Student voter rights in Missouri

The Missouri Secretary of State has a very clear statement about Missouri's policy for students who want to register to vote from where they go to school. The policy is very straightforward and clear.

This is one of the key things we ask for in our petition to Secretaries of State. Nearly 10,000 signatures so far!

Our thanks to Matt Blunt, Missouri's Secretary of State.

http://www.sos.mo.gov/firstvote/college/

Looking for Rock the Vote PSA's?

Here is a link to the page where you can find all kinds of audio PSA's for use on radio stations, DJ mixes, etc....

http://rockthevote.com/rtv_psa-audio-downloads.php

or click here

Rock the Vote radio #1 on AOL

Rock the Vote radio hit number one last week across the radio@aol platform. Check it out at Netscape or AOL if you have it!

Music comes alive with politics

The Boulder News has a lengthy round up of what is going on in a variety of music and cultural scenes to promote participation. Some of it is partisan; some of it non partisan. Its a good read.

Rock the Vote bus tour

Check out some of these photos, video files, and more from the Rock the Vote bus tour.

Here.

Imagine the Future
 
 
Dear Rock the Vote:

Imagine waking up the morning after Election Day…and something doesn’t feel right. The issues you care about were ignored. The candidates never even asked for your vote. Campaigns to register new voters and get them to the polls fell short. The voice of a new generation was never heard.

Imagine also that you could’ve done more.

Rock the Vote’s plan between now and November 2nd provides you an easy way to get involved. We don’t want anybody to feel let down after the election—so we’re going the distance with a new effort to register 200,000 voters in August.

We can do it. We did 115,000 in July—a new one-month Rock the Vote record.

But we can’t get the work done alone. Please take just one minute right now to help Rock the Vote by donating at the link below.

http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_donate.php

Already for this election, more than 520,000 people have used our online voter registration tool and Rock the Vote street teams have registered 45,000 on the ground. But we’re up against some big challenges. There are deadlines to register voters before Election Day in almost every state. They range from 30 days before Election Day until the actual day of voting in a few states. While the election is 82 days away we basically have 50 days to register voters.

So our work at Rock the Vote is on a tight deadline. We have teams of volunteers on the streets in 50 cities who are registering voters at clubs, concerts and elsewhere. We’re on the streets already and more is on the way.

Even with a volunteer army of people who give a sh*t, it takes the support of thousands of other people to make this happen. We’re forking over cash for clipboards, printing of special voter registration forms, postage, signs and all of the nitty-gritty it takes to make this happen. We’re finalizing our ad campaign for the fall. We are about to launch our fall bus tour.

What can you do to make a difference? With busy lives at work or school not everybody can be a street team member—but you can make a difference right now. We’re inviting you to donate to Rock the Vote. You can give as little or as much as you want (there is no limit). Is $15—the price of one CD—really too much to give when you think about what is at stake?

Please donate right now by clicking on the link below.
http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_donate.php

Let’s get it started right now.
Thanks for all you do.

See you in the streets,
Jehmu Greene
President 

I need a miracle

Have you heard of a group called Redeem the Vote? According to the Arkansas News Bureau, the founder "was inspired by Rock the Vote" to launch an organization that would connect young "evangelical christians" through music to politics.

We always think it is cool when groups come out with campaigns using music and politics. Especially those that have a spiritual dimension.

Another would be HeadCount----they go after the "jam band" crowd.

Meanwhile, Rock the Vote had a big month in July for voter registration. 115,000---a single month record for us.

We're making a big push to hit 200,000 in August, and we're moving towards it. Please help us today by donating.

We need a miracle!

College Education: Not What it Used to Be

A college education was no buffer against unemployment during the 2001 recession. A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute indicates that the college-educated suffered the largest percentage drop in employment and a much higher rise in unemployment than in previous recessions.

Higher education has always been protection against the shocks of an economic downturn up until the recent recession. This does not bode well for the largest generation ever, who are ending high school and college right now. They face a jobs climate where demand for employment has tapered off in almost all sectors. All those loans will look mighty worthless if you wind up working somewhere that pays you what you would have made out of high school.

To see what the candidates for President have to say about the job situation in America check out their websites. John Kerry. George W. Bush. Ralph Nader.

JOBS CRISIS FOR YOUNGEST WORKERS

A new government report came out today about the state of the job market. There has been a slowdown in what was otherwise a generally positive trend over the past few months.

Unfortunately, are not that many new jobs coming into the pipeline. Last month, only 32,000 jobs were created across the country. If they were divided equally by state, that would be 640 for each. But a deeper analysis of the data shows a continuing job crisis for young adults age 16-19.

The unemployment rate for 16-19 year olds today: 56.1%.For 16-19 year old African Americans: 75.1%.For 16-19 year old Hispanics: 66%.

Check out where the presidential candidates stand on what can be done about youth employment.

Damon Dash Makes Political Fashion

Damon Dash and Rocawear are teaming up with Rock the Vote and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network to put out a 'Roc the Vote' hat. The hat should hit stores soon and there will be a limited number authographed by Damon Dash to be auctioned on rocafella.com. So if you see the hat, cop it.

Young Voters in the News

Check these news stories of young voters and activists in the news: Young political volunteers take a bus trip across Oregon to mobilize the youth vote and support local candidates: http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=84926

Jason Goodnight has November 2nd circled on his calender, as do many other concerned young voters in Florida: http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040810/NEWS/408100302

Gateway to Democracy

A new bill would clear away one of the hassles of voter registration for young people. Its based on the idea that a lot of young people go to the DMV while they are 16 or 17 but they can’t register to vote. Why not just allow them to fill out the paperwork then, and then hold onto that info until they are eighteen. The Gateway to Democracy Act, authored by Rep. Ed Markey, does exactly that.

Rock the Vote stands by the Rep. Markey and the Gateway to Democracy Act.

Diplomas and Voter Registration

The most common reason that young people give for not voting in an election is that they were not registered. Our system of voter registration in this country is such that one can go their whole life without anyone asking if they want to register to vote and give them a form. In New York City that is all about to change thanks to Eric Gioia.

Council member Eric Gioia worked to pass a bipartisan bill, supported by Mayor Bloomberg, to have the Department of Education distribute voter registration forms with diplomas to graduating high school seniors. This move will make the Department of Education the second government department that must ask young people if they want to register, the first being the Department of Motor Vehicles. Eric Gioia commented on his legislation:

== “Every time in our nation’s history that we have removed barriers to voting, our democracy has flourished. Making voter registration cards more accessible will make participation easier, and will make our nation stronger.” ==

Rock the Vote fully supports this legislation and believes we need to spread this kind of voter registration outreach to all states in the nation. The more our governments ask young people if they want to be a part of a vibrant democracy the more they will participate. Please feel free to write your local and national officials to enact legislation mirroring Eric Gioia's bill.

More Reports, Same Results: Young Adults are the Most Underinsured Group

A new report by the Center for Studying Health System Change shows that young adults (19-39) have seen a large drop in insurance coverage, especially employer insurance. An article in the Enquirer covers this report:

==
While more uninsured children are getting health coverage from expanded government programs, more adults are going without insurance, especially younger workers, according to a national study of health insurance trends released Tuesday. Those young workers are not likely to get much help soon because experts say budget-pinched states are more likely to cut Medicaid programs than to expand them.
==

We want you to get involved and take action to help stem this problem among young people. Go to our action page and send a message to the candidates for President and members of Congress that young people deserve insurance coverage too. Read the letter and take action.

A little rattle before the quake?

An election today in Kansas had some striking results. Check this story out.

LIBERAL, Kan. - Tuesday's primary in Seward County was the first really competitive election in years, but that wasn't the only shock.

For what seemed like the first time, young voters came to polls in Seward County on Tuesday, many of them first-time voters, said Stacia Long, county clerk.

But she didn't know the reason for the larger turnout among young voters for the county's primaries.

"I don't why that age group is coming out, because we don't normally see that," she said.

Draft Women?

The concern of the military to find new enlistees continues to raise young people's fears of a new military draft. But what would that draft look like? Those new recruiters for the Army mentioned in the previous post are not just going to approach young men at the malls that they visit, but young women as well. With women serving honorably alongside men in Afghanistan and Iraq the question will arise in a debate over a military draft: should women be drafted too?

Currently the Selective Service only forces men to enlist. The website states: "Almost all male U.S. citizens, and male aliens living in the U.S., who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service." The Selective Service also answers the question of drafting women directly by providing three reasons for women's non-inclusion in a draft: the current draft law specifically states that a draft will consist of only men; a Supreme Court case decided that registering only men did not violate the due process clause of the Constitution; and a Department of Defense study in the 1990s that concluded that because of women's exclusion from combat roles the draft process remained acceptable.

What do you think about women being drafted? For reasons why women aren't eligible for the draft check out the Selective Service's page on this very issue.

Army to Beef Up Recruiting Force

The US Army, in the face of a depleted recruitment pool and a failure to meet recruitment goals, is planning to put hundreds more recruiters onto the streets to try and enlist new recruits to the Army. According to this USA Today article the war in Iraq and improving economic conditions are making it difficult for recruiters.

==
The concern over potential recruiting shortfalls comes as the Pentagon is having increasing difficulty finding enough troops for ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Long overseas tours have soured some current troops and have made the military less enticing for some potential recruits. The improving U.S. economy has lured others to civilian jobs.
==

DNC, RNC Chairmen Push Youth Vote

In two Op-Eds in USA Today Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Republican Chairman Ed Gillespie make their play for the youth vote. Check out what they have to say.

Are the parties doing enough to court young voters? Do you prefer the "Something New" campaign or "Reggie the Registration Rig"? Want to know more about the parties?

Go to their respective websites - www.democrats.org and www.gop.com - and see what they have to say. Or if you're curious about other parties than the Democrats and the Republicans go here for links to party websites.