Video the Vote

Nice video from http://videothevote.org/ on recent instances in which attempts were made to prevent or dissuade minorities and young people from voting. The video can also remind us that really it wasn't that long ago historically when women and minorities were not even allowed to vote. Good video to pass along.

Also the videothevote.org/ site is designed to allow you to document the election in your local area by taking video clips and uploading them to their archives.

Young Pennsylvania Voters attracted to Obama

Young Pennsylvania voters take a shine to Obama

Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:17am EDT

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By Paul Eckert

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is attracting record numbers of young voters -- but will a demographic known for low turnout vote in enough numbers to defeat Hillary Clinton in the graying state of Pennsylvania?

Attracted by opposition to the Iraq war, antipathy to President George W. Bush or Clinton -- and Obama's aura of "hope" -- Pennsylvanians in the 18-29 age bracket are rallying, registering and switching parties like never before.

At the University of Pittsburgh, a "power rally" by Pitt Students for Obama got 2,000 students to register as Democrats in order to vote for the senator. The state does not allow independents to vote in primary contests.

"There were a lot of independents and Republicans who support Senator Obama who had to switch their registration for Tuesday's primary," said Sarah Posner, 21, the group's leader.

Pennsylvania is the next battleground for Clinton and Obama in their contest for the right to face Republican John McCain in the November election.

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, or CIRCLE, which has tracked youth voting since the U.S. voting age was lowered to 18 in 1972, says this year has seen the highest national registration rate in history among those under 30.

Youth turnout in some state primaries this year tripled or even quadrupled over the previous presidential election, said CIRCLE Director Peter Levine.

NO LOBBYISTS, BETTER U.S. IMAGE Continued...

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Student Rewind: All Across the Map

From barackobama.com:

Student Rewind: All Across the Map

by Alex DeGolia, Monday, April 07, 2008 at 10:31 AM

Barack in front of a huge crowd at the University of Montana in Missoula

Pennsylvania Students Gear Up for April 22nd Primary
By Luke Messac

With almost 700,000 college students across Pennsylvania, the youth vote will be a key factor in the April 22nd Democratic primary. On over 70 college campuses around the state, SFBO chapters are turning heads and winning new supporters. Mia Prensky, a 21-year-old at Bryn Mawr College, talked to SFBO members as they handed out stickers and information about Senator Obama's position on Iraq. Finding herself in agreement with Obama on the war — a central issue for her in this election — Prensky told the Associated Press that he would have her vote.

Mia is not alone, as students from across the nation see Obama as the candidate most attuned to their hopes and concerns. A recent poll conducted by Gallup and the Chronicle of Higher Education shows that when asked which candidate would do more to help families deal with rising college tuition costs, more Americans between the ages of 18 and 22 chose Obama than Clinton and McCain combined. Barack Obama's attention to young people is one of the reasons why he has won the student vote by overwhelming margins in this year's primaries and caucuses. As Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, observes, "I cannot recall another candidate in the past couple of decades that had such consistent support from young people."

Dave Matthews in Bloomington, IN

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds played an acoustic set in front of a crowd of 13,500 at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN to promote voter registration and support for Senator Obama. To read Dave Matthews’ endorsement posted on his website, click here. Asked by Rolling Stone why he is supporting Senator Obama, Matthews responded, “It’s a quality he has that seems to elevate the people around him… the most important qualification a candidate can possess is being able to inspire people to want to do things for their country.” For a more in-depth look at why he is supporting Senator Obama, read the entire Rolling Stone interview here.

In Other News…

Senator Obama enjoyed an enormous crowd at the University of Montana in Missoula on Saturday. Paul Donaldson, who works at the University of Montana in Missoula setting up sound and stage at the Adams Center, says that he’s never seen anything like what happened two days ago. Students began lining up for the event at midnight even though Barack wouldn’t be there until 10 p.m. Donaldson said, “This is history.” To read the entire story in the Great Falls Tribune, click here.

Barack wins a mock Democratic Convention at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA, with 60 percent of the vote. Read more here.

Teens are fired up in Lancaster County, PA.

College Newspapers Endorse Barack Obama

The Campus Press of Colorado University; The California Aggie of the University of California, Davis; The Chanticleer of Jacksonville State University; The Santa Clara of Santa Clara University; and the Trinity Tripod of Trinity College (CT) have all endorsed Barack Obama.

Here is the endorsement from The Santa Clara:

Obama: Best candidate for America's future

Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: Opinion

Originally published: 1/30/08 at 11:35 PM PST

For nearly eight years, Americans have watched TV in horror and opened newspapers with dread as the country has forsaken its ideals -- and its people.

Every day troops die in a war begun by lies. America has become the curiosity of the international community, if not the laughing stock. The struggling economy has even spurred the Feds to intervention and led politicians to throw around the word "recession."

It's safe to say that Americans are ready for a change of pace.

And Senator Barack Obama is the perfect person to set this pace.

Perhaps it's Obama's claim that he believes "in what the country can be" that has inspired such an outpouring of support for him. Indeed, this image of what the country could be under Obama's leadership is an enticing one.

As president, Obama hopes to end the war and have all combat personnel home within 16 months of his election. And rather than promoting a transnational war on terror as a selling point of his candidacy, Obama has vowed to work to increase regional diplomacy in tense areas like the Middle East.

With less money put toward the war effort, Obama hopes to provide a $4,000 yearly tax credit for college students, a number that seems small in light of the $33,000 that is Santa Clara's tuition, but a very real sum for students attending state and community colleges.

Obama also has plans to reform the ailing health care system. He looks toward universal coverage that will serve as a form of quality control for private systems that charge too much to do too little.

As tempting as all this may seem, Obama's supporters are less enthralled by his policies than his personal invitation to join him in this "movement for change."

For the first time since John F. Kennedy, a presidential candidate is offering the American people an active role in shaping the nation's destiny. Lamenting the ways Washington, D.C., has alienated the American people, Obama promises to involve citizens in federal government.

And after all, isn't that what all freedom-loving and democracy-trusting Americans want -- to work with their chosen leader as "one people, reaching for what's possible"?

Obama's Sleeping Giant: Young Voters

Since the campaign started nearly a year ago, the Obama campaign has carefully courted and organized young people to support his candidacy. Indeed, it was a group of young supporters known as Students for Barack Obama that helped orchestrate the drive for Obama to run in the first place.

If these young people do actually awake and turn out on Feb. 5, the Illinois senator could shock everyone with a tsunami victory. If not, then it will be much, much tougher. Of course, there are other important factors like independent voters, cross-over voters, etc., but none quite so difficult to predict as young voters.

According the U.S. census, about 10.46 percent of the Iowa population is between 18 and 24 years old. In comparison, New Hampshire has about 9.13 percent in the same category and Nevada only 8.55 percent.

South Carolina, which just finished voting today, has 9.72 percent in the 18-24 range. We saw today a masterful example of how getting out the vote should be done.

Tsunami Tuesday states with high percentages of young people include North Dakota (12.86%), Utah (12.51%), Alaska (10.70%), Kansas (10.59%), New Mexico (10.48%), California (10.38%), Minnesota (10.07%) and New York (10.04%).

In traditional voter turnout among Feb. 5 states, Minnesota (43%) and Massachusetts (34%) are standouts.

Much of Barack's support among young people is found at the nation's colleges and universities. California had the leading number of fall enrollment in 2005 with 2,399,833 at degree-granting institutions followed by New York, among Feb. 5 states, with 1,152,081.

Hillary Clinton's campaign understands Barack's appeal to young people and recently she has highlighted her programs to cut tuition fees and reign in predatory student lenders. Her daughter Chelsea and Hollywood stars like America Fererra can also be expected to make circuits of college campuses for Hillary.

Obama may have a bit of a lead here though with hundreds of college chapters of Students for Barack Obama created over the last year. It will be up to his supporters though to make sure these chapters are energized to spread the word and get out the youth vote.

Videos: Campaigning in Nevada

Michelle Obama and John Kerry in Las Vegas


Young voters energize campaign











South Carolina Primary

Mobilizing Voters

Not a task to be taken lightly especially in lower income neighborhoods and college communities.

Problems can range from long lines to lack of transportation. One good thing is that the Nevada caucuses and South Carolina primary are both taking place on Saturday, so most voters shouldn't have work conflicts. Note though that casinos are 24/7 operations. Feb. 5 polls fall on the normal voting day of Tuesday with all the associated problems.

The traditional methods of getting out the vote include phone-banking, canvassing, rallies, providing transportation, waving signs, etc. It's important to let supporters not excuse themselves from voting specifically for Barack Obama thinking that just a single vote won't matter anyway.

For those who can't go to Nevada and don't have free long distance for phone-banking, there are some ways to help online.

First of all you can join barackobama.com, if you haven't already.

Obviously if you know anyone in a voting state, you can send them an email or text message letting them know about your support of Barack.

For some ideas on online or netroots campaigning, try some of these links:

Action Center

Obama Mobile

Rate up good Obama news (works on YouTube also)

baracktivator

Publicizing your events with online calendars

Youth vote still key for Obama

Although some polls are showing Hillary Clinton beating all the other candidates combined, Barack Obama still draws thousands of supporters to campaign events.

Many of this enthusiasts are young people, the kind of people likely to be overlooked in opinion polls.

Indeed, most campaign polls only consider people who have voted in the last election or the last two elections. So new voters, or young people that have not been consistent voters will be left out.

Mobilizing and turning out these young voters will take some resources though. That is why it is necessary for Obama to have funds left over after Iowa. Even if he wins Iowa, there's not enough time to raise a whole lot of money before voting starts again.

So the campaign has to watch its budget.

Networking on BlackPlanet

In addition to young voters another possible sleeper for Obama would be the African American vote.

Recently, Barack opened up a page on BlackPlanet a social networking site with some 17 million registered users. So far, Obama's page has accrued 60,000 friends. Barack also has pages on Migente.com, a Latino community site; AsianAvenue.com and GLEE.com, a site for the GLBT community.

Barack's "Youthroots"

Sam Graham-Felsen writes about Barack Obama's "youthroots" -- his unprecedented suport among young people -- who are usually thought of as apathetic towards politics.

" "He has unimaginable appeal to my generation,' says Brian Klaas of Carleton College, editor of the Carleton Progressive. For many 18- to 26-year-olds--who are among the most diverse and, according to numerous polls, most tolerant American generation in history--Obama's multiracial background embodies the personal and political identity of the Generation Y cohort known as "Millennials."

" In a Chicago Reader interview from 1995, Barack Obama wondered, "What if a politician were to see his job as that of an organizer?" If Obama can show his young followers that he's still that grassroots organizer--a rock star perhaps, but one who listens to, trusts and empowers his base to come on stage and rock with him--it's going to be one hell of a show."

Mo Money

The Obama camp bagged another top fundraiser, again in Hillary Clinton country, when Steven Gluckstern, an investment banker and former owner of the New York Islanders committed to the campaign.

A Newsweek article discusses the deep pockets in both parties, of which, Obama has some of the deepest including Peter Buttenwieser, George Soros and Alan Solomont. It is highly likely though that small internet contributions will drive the campaign much the same way that they fueled Dean's 2004 effort.