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Main >> News Listing >> August 2004 >> Article ID 6426
 In 2004, young voters expected to make difference | Type: Internet Article |
| | In 2004, young voters expected to make difference | Aug 31, 2004 |
Summary:
So just how important are celebrities in getting the vote out?
"(MTV) uses a lot of celebrities, but I'll be the first person to say that people don't vote because Christina Aguilera told them to," says McAdams. "What they are good at doing is raising the issues and the interest level. (Celebrities) create the vibe that it's important to get the knowledge."
Read on for the whole article. |
ANYONE witnessing the throw-down between Fantasia Barrino and Diana Degarmo can tell you there's a rabid youth vote out there.
Now if the Republicans and Democrats can just harness that "American Idol" enthusiasm for that most basic of democratic ideals: exercising your right to vote.
Let's face it. In the past, the GOP and the Dems have treated under-30 voters like the ugly girl at the dance. She might be there, but the chances of her getting down on the floor were slim.
The evidence: Only 36 percent of registered voters ages 18 to 24 went to their polling places in the 2000 election, the lowest percentage of any age group and a new low for that age group since 18-year-olds got the vote in 1971.
But all that's changed this year.
For the past dozen years, MTV has attempted to mobilize the youth vote with such programs as "Choose or Lose" and "Rock the Vote." Even hip-hop honcho Russell Simmons has been active in getting young people to register to vote with his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, which claims to have helped register 12 million voters ages 18 to 35 in the past three years.
"We (rappers) had realized that we have a bigger voice, and it's time for us to use it," says Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. "We can use our influence to help our communities."
Simmons has produced 21 Hip Hop Summits with artists such as Beyonc, Master P., Ice Cube, LL Cool J and Eminem trying to get young people out to register and vote.
"We've registered voters all over the country," Simmons says. "(Voting) is an important part of their relationship with the world. It's a step toward being part of a
community. If you don't like what's going on around you, make it change."
Simmons is sure the 2004 presidential election will see the biggest youth vote turnout in history.
"I'm confident. You can see by the biggest number of new registered voters ever," Simmons says. "And they're going to pick the president. They are going to make a dramatic difference and they're going to be the deciding factor."
Simmons' group was at the Democratic convention and will be on hand at the Republican convention this week with Sean "Puffy" Combs hosting a rally to discuss education over incarceration.
Combs also just started Citizen Change, a "non-partisan, non-profit organization created to educate, motivate and empower the more than 42 million Americans from 18 to 30 who are eligible to vote on Nov. 2," according to its Web site.
"I'm going to shake up the streets and make sure the hip-hop generation knows the power they can have on Election Day," Combs says in a statement. "Citizen Change is all about making voting hot. It's sexy to speak out, and your vote is your voice. With MTV, we're going to put this message into the music and minds of our fans."
MTV News recently featured Chris Herzfeld, a young man who had joined the Army to get money for college -- and soon found himself dodging bullets in Iraq.
No matter how you feel about the war, Herzfeld says, he didn't vote in 2000 and therefore had no say in who made the decision to send him there.
It's the message that MTV, Simmons and others want to put out there: Don't complain if you don't play the game.
MTV started pushing its viewers to register back in 1992 with the "Choose or Lose" campaign, which was credited with
leading the highest voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds since 1972.
"At first, we were very successful, then we were less successful," says Ian Rowe, vice president public affairs for MTV networks. "In 2000, there was a strong economy and no real incentive for young people to vote."
But now, there seems to be a perfect storm brewing.
"There's not a question in my mind that young people are getting involved in this election," says Ocean McAdams, vice president of MTV News. "They were not here in 1992, 1996 or 2000, but I've never seen this level of interest in this campaign."
You need look no further than the war in Iraq, a poor economy and a post 9/11 world to know why young voters are suddenly interested in who occupies the White House.
"Young people are seeing that government does actually make a direct impact on their lives," McAdams says. "Young voters saw in the last, close election that every vote does count."
And while MTV and Simmons want to get young voters into the booth, no matter how they punch the ballot, quite a few other organizations have their own agendas.
Punk Voter, for one, is launching the Rock Against Bush Tour, which arrives at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Sept. 21 and features such artists as Audioslave/Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Midtown and Anti-Flag.
"We've laid the groundwork over the last couple years by getting thousands of punks registered to vote," reads a message on PunkVoter.com. "Come join us for some good ol' fashioned punk rock dissent!"
So just how important are celebrities in getting the vote out?
"(MTV) uses a lot of celebrities, but I'll be the first person to say that people don't vote because Christina Aguilera told them to," says McAdams. "What they are good at doing is raising the issues and the interest level. (Celebrities) create the vibe that it's important to get the knowledge."
While the punks and musicians such as Bruce Springsteen have been launching anti-Bush concerts, the Republicans have been rolling along with Reggie the Registration Rig.
Reggie's an 18-wheeler packed with goodies such as Xboxes, making stops at college campuses, ball games and other places where those elusive young voters hang out.
And Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie has gone on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" with host Jon Stewart -- who also snagged John Kerry last week -- and MTV's "Total Request Live" to appeal to potential Republican voters.
"In the last election, 48 percent of young voters voted for Al Gore, while 46 percent voted for George Bush," MTV's Rowe says. "They are going where the young people are to get them excited about the Republican party."
Last March, a poll conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics found that 62 percent of college students definitely planned to vote in November, a substantial jump from the 50 percent of those polled in April 2000.
This time around, campaign strategists are saying that if the 24 million young people eligible to vote turn up at the polls, they could decide a close election between George Bush and John Kerry.
"It's going to be interesting to see how the major parties try to get the youth vote," Rowe says. "This generation is certainly used to being heavily marketed to, companies coming after them for everything from fashion to technology. Everyone wants to get their attention.
"It's interesting to see what the candidates are doing, because in this close election, this time around, they are not willing to concede the youth votes." |
 Source: Alameda Times Star | |
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