Rock the Vote Fights Back
Last Sunday Catherine Rampell wrote an article for The Washington Post titled, “Why Obama Rocks the Vote?,” overlooking the depth of the young voter movement, the foundation laid and impact of organizations like Rock the Vote and other youth organizations, and why 2008 is on track to be the third major election in a row with a significant increase in young voter turnout
Rock the Vote fought back and wrote a letter-to-the-editor (LTE) of the Washington Post, and called on our brother and sister organizations to do the same. We are happy to report The Washington Post ran our LTE and an LTE from Public Interest Research Groups' New Voter (PIRG) and U.S. Student Association (USSA) yesterday. Check them out right here...
Rock the Vote's Response
Catherine Rampell's March 30 op-ed column, "Why Obama Rocks the Vote," falsely framed recent surges in turnout of young adults -- voters ages 18 to 29 -- and failed to recognize the important work done by nonpartisan organizations such as Rock the Vote.
Turnout of these young voters in fall elections increased by 4.3 million in 2004 and by another 2 million in 2006. Far from being an anomaly, 2008 is set to become the third major election in a row with an increase in turnout among young voters.
While Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is doing excellent work engaging young adults this year, our research shows that registration is a major step toward participation. In 2004, 82 percent of registered young adults voted, up from 74 percent in 2000. In 2004, Rock the Vote registered nearly 1 million voters, and already in 2008, more than 500,000 young adults have used our online tool to register to vote. Like the Obama campaign, Rock the Vote's message embraces the hopeful spirit of the millennial generation, and our tested and proven strategies of peer-to-peer mobilization reflect youth culture.
We're seeing unprecedented engagement in the primaries and caucuses so far and are confident we'll see this continue through November.
-- Heather Smith
The writer is executive director of Rock the Vote.
PIRG and USSA's Response
Catherine Rampell's analysis of trends in youth voting was misleading. Youth voter turnout was on the rise long before the 2008 elections. In 2004 alone, turnout among those ages 18 to 24 rose at a rate nearly three times that of the general population.
Rampell also ignored a vast body of research that points to the efficacy of canvasses, phone banks and other on-the-ground grass-roots methods. It's likely that this research, combined with the increase in turnout, persuaded most of the candidates to pay more attention to young people this primary season, turbocharging the youth vote even more.
By ignoring this correlation, Rampell missed a chance to explain the exciting continued increase in young voter turnout.
-- Sujatha Jahagirdar, Los Angeles
-- Carmen Berkley, Washington
Sujatha Jahagirdar is program director for Student Public Interest Research Groups' New Voter Project, and Carmen Berkley is vice president of the U.S. Student Association.
Rock the Vote fought back and wrote a letter-to-the-editor (LTE) of the Washington Post, and called on our brother and sister organizations to do the same. We are happy to report The Washington Post ran our LTE and an LTE from Public Interest Research Groups' New Voter (PIRG) and U.S. Student Association (USSA) yesterday. Check them out right here...
Rock the Vote's Response
Catherine Rampell's March 30 op-ed column, "Why Obama Rocks the Vote," falsely framed recent surges in turnout of young adults -- voters ages 18 to 29 -- and failed to recognize the important work done by nonpartisan organizations such as Rock the Vote.
Turnout of these young voters in fall elections increased by 4.3 million in 2004 and by another 2 million in 2006. Far from being an anomaly, 2008 is set to become the third major election in a row with an increase in turnout among young voters.
While Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is doing excellent work engaging young adults this year, our research shows that registration is a major step toward participation. In 2004, 82 percent of registered young adults voted, up from 74 percent in 2000. In 2004, Rock the Vote registered nearly 1 million voters, and already in 2008, more than 500,000 young adults have used our online tool to register to vote. Like the Obama campaign, Rock the Vote's message embraces the hopeful spirit of the millennial generation, and our tested and proven strategies of peer-to-peer mobilization reflect youth culture.
We're seeing unprecedented engagement in the primaries and caucuses so far and are confident we'll see this continue through November.
-- Heather Smith
The writer is executive director of Rock the Vote.
PIRG and USSA's Response
Catherine Rampell's analysis of trends in youth voting was misleading. Youth voter turnout was on the rise long before the 2008 elections. In 2004 alone, turnout among those ages 18 to 24 rose at a rate nearly three times that of the general population.
Rampell also ignored a vast body of research that points to the efficacy of canvasses, phone banks and other on-the-ground grass-roots methods. It's likely that this research, combined with the increase in turnout, persuaded most of the candidates to pay more attention to young people this primary season, turbocharging the youth vote even more.
By ignoring this correlation, Rampell missed a chance to explain the exciting continued increase in young voter turnout.
-- Sujatha Jahagirdar, Los Angeles
-- Carmen Berkley, Washington
Sujatha Jahagirdar is program director for Student Public Interest Research Groups' New Voter Project, and Carmen Berkley is vice president of the U.S. Student Association.
posted by Anonymous at 7:35 PM
1 Comments:
Over the past years, Americans have gained an apathetic view when it comes to voting. Only between 50 and 55% voted in the 2004 election. A lot of Americans aren't even registered to vote, which is why 15 students and 2 teachers will be traveling through all 48 continental states using two RVs as transportation. For every person that signs up to vote or pledges to vote, someone from the team will run a quarter mile. Run to Vote will stop somewhere in each state to register people to vote and give them information on the presidential candidates [non-partisan]. We will start in our home state of North Carolina and end in Washington, D.C. approximately two months later. Run to Vote plans to make an impact. We want to reach out and raise awareness on the importance of voting. As teenagers, this will be our only opportunity to influence the 2008 election, which could prove to be one of the most important of our lifetime. Between immigration, the war in Iraq, health care, the economy, gay marriages, and many more controversial issues, the 2008 election will be a crucial turning point in the history of our country. What better way of making an impact than registering hundreds of people to vote so that they, too, can be a part of this significant moment? But we need support—if anyone would be willing to give us advice or support, please visit our website www.runtovote.com. Thanks!
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