Young voters seek to
rock the elections
The registration
deadline to get 18-29
year-olds eligible to
vote ended Monday and
youth oriented groups
are now fully focused on
directing young voters
toward the voting booth.
By Anthony Bowe
In line with the
political atmosphere
across the nation, polls
indicate that young
voters who supported
President Barack Obama
by a two-to-one margin
and propelled down
ticket Colorado
Democrats to victory in
2008 may not be as
excited about voting
staying true to the blue
in 2010.
“We’re really seeing
this across the state.
The college students are
actually coming to our
chapters, rather than us
having to go out and
really recruit,” said
Troy Ard, president of
the Colorado College
Republicans. “You’ve
seen such a swing from
what you had in 2008 to
what you have in 2010 as
far as enthusiasm and
support for Democrats
and the Democratic
agenda.”
The change in attitude
may be due in part to
the anti-incumbent
attitude driven by the
tea party movement,
according to Brett
Moore, president of the
Denver Metro Young
Republicans.
“We’ve definitely seen a
lot of new faces get
involved with the advent
of the some of the more
conservative, freedom
movement-type candidates
that we’ve seen come
about this year,” Moore
said.
According to a poll by
Rock the Vote conducted
in the state Aug.
25-Sept. 6, voters under
the age of 30 are
disillusioned with the
current direction of
government and the Obama
administration. Of the
307 polled, 57 percent
think the nation is
headed in the wrong
direction and 64 percent
say they are more
cynical about politics
than two years ago. Only
27 percent say they’re
pleased with Obama’s
performance in office,
compared to 46 percent
who are disappointed and
27 percent who are not
sure. The president’s
favorability rating
hovers at 50 percent,
while 46 percent hold
unfavorable views.
Despite signs of
disillusionment, 81
percent said they plan
to vote this year. In
another poll by
Washington think-tank
New Policy Institute,
which is linked to a
left-leaning advocacy
group, 89 percent of 600
young Coloradans polled
said they were likely to
vote.
Young voter registration
efforts weren’t affected
by the rising pessimism
either, according to
Rock the Vote and New
Era Colorado, two groups
working in conjunction
to register voters this
year. The coalition
registered over 10,000
young people in the
state by the Oct. 4
deadline. That’s a high
tally in a midterm
election, according to
Steve Fenberg, executive
director of New Era
Colorado. In 2008 they
registered 12,000
voters, the highest mark
ever reached in one
election cycle by the
organization.
Pat Waak, state
Democratic chairman,
said the party is
working to recapture the
same young voters who
cast their first vote in
2008 for Obama.
“Some of the frustration
on the progressive side
is they expected a lot
more to happen a lot
faster, and of course we
know that didn’t happen
because no one, I think,
knew how bad the
economic situation was,”
Waak said. “Secondly
when you’re very
idealistic — I still
have some of that myself
— you think everything’s
going to happen
immediately but then you
find out that there’s
all kinds of road
blocks.”
According to the Rock
the Vote survey, 42
percent of young people
in the state this year
identify with Democrats
or lean left, compared
to 33 percent who
identify as Republicans
or conservatives. That
amounts to a nine-point
reduction in the
Democrats’ lead since
2008.
Gena Ozols, head of the
Colorado Young
Democrats, is leading
the charge this month to
mobilize young
volunteers in CD 3 and
CD 7 to canvass and make
phone calls on behalf of
Democratic incumbent
Reps. John Salazar and
Ed Perlmutter. Ozols
said Obama voters are
one of the key targets.
“A lot of them feel that
the job has been taken
care of. They got the
congressional
(victories) in 2006,
they got the White House
in 2008 and wait, we’re
still bugging them, why
are we still bugging
them?” Ozols said. “In
2008 there was a
wonderful sense of
accomplishment and I
think the accomplishment
has turned into
laziness.”
Ozols is orchestrating a
large phone-banking
event on October 30 to
turn out the Democratic
vote in a final push.
State Republican
Chairman Dick Wadhams
said Republicans aren’t
tailoring a message
specific to young people
because the entire
electorate can see that
Democrats have failed
under Obama.
Appealing to younger
voters comes “mainly
through our overall
message that we oppose
the failed stimulus bill
that has driven
unemployment to 9.5
percent, that we oppose
the health care
monstrosity that is
going to drive up health
care costs for younger
people, that we oppose
‘cap and trade’ that
will drive up taxes on
families and businesses
and kill jobs, and we
oppose the card check
legislation that would
eliminate the secret
ballot — and young
voters would be terribly
turned off by the notion
of eliminating the
secret ballot in union
elections,” Wadhams
said.
Weld County District
Attorney Ken Buck, the
Republican nominee for
U.S. Senate against
appointed Democratic
Sen. Michael Bennet, has
visited several college
campuses, but agreed
with Wadhams that an
alternate message for
young voters isn’t
necessary.
“It’s the same message
we have for everyone
else that we need to: A,
create jobs —the youth
unemployment rate is the
highest it’s been since
I believe the Great
Depression. The second
thing we’re focusing on
is the debt because the
youth is going to have
to pay for that,” said
Owen Loftus, Buck’s
spokesman.
In contrast, Bennet has
gone out of his way to
speak to young voters.
Three weeks ago he
reached out to Colorado
college students with a
YouTube video response
to a video they made
asking him to clarify
his stance on Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell. The video
had over 37,000 views
through last week.
Bennet has also
repeatedly highlighted
his support for the
Student Aid and Fiscal
Responsibility Act,
which ended federal
subsidies to banks, and
Buck’s willingness to do
away with federal
education loans all
together. (The Buck
campaign refutes that
claim, saying Buck is
against a government
takeover of the student
loan market.)
According to the New
Policy Institute poll,
36 percent of young
people prefer Bennet, 27
percent prefer Buck and
37 percent are still
undecided. In the
gubernatorial race,
Democratic candidate
John Hickenlooper holds
a commanding lead among
young people, earning 43
percent support compared
to 18 percent for
Republican candidate Dan
Maes and seven percent
for American
Constitution candidate
Tom Tancredo, while 31
percent remain
undecided.
Not unlike national
polls, the economy and
access to jobs tops the
list of important issues
for young people
according to the Rock
the Vote poll. Improving
K-12 education, reducing
the cost of college and
reducing the federal
deficit also top the
priority list.
“I think it’s going to
be whichever party does
a better job speaking to
them or caring about
actually speaking to
them that can have an
advantage in this
election,” said John
Anzalone, partner for
the polling firm
Anzalone Liszt Research
based in Montgomery,
Ala., which partnered
with the Tarrance Group
to administer the Rock
the Vote poll.
Engaging a growing
demographic With several
divisive ballot issues
and up-for-grabs
elections for U.S.
Congress and Senate, the
youth voting bloc “could
be the bump that a
candidate or issue needs
to pass, especially in
youth-heavy areas like
Boulder and Fort
Collins,” Fenberg said.
According to the
Secretary of State’s
office, 325,440 people
24 and younger are
registered to vote and
652,496 between ages 25
and 34 are registered.
Every age group has seen
a rise in registered
voters since 2008 but
none more than voters
under 24, which has
increased by 42.3
percent, and voters
between 25 and 35, which
has ballooned by 67.9
percent. Together, both
groups account for 42.8
percent of the 842,000
new voters in the state
since December 2008.
“I think there’s so much
room for improvement and
growth amongst this
population that it would
be a mistake not to pay
attention to them and
encourage them to vote
your way and turn them
out,” Fenberg said.
Now the challenge is to
get those voters to the
polls. In 2008, Fenberg
said New Era Colorado,
which mostly supports
Democratic candidates,
had an 86 percent
turnout rate for people
who registered to vote
with the organization.
This year Fenberg and
Rock the Vote’s Colorado
coordinator, Kyle Hamm,
plan to continue what
worked in 2008: taking
the message to where
young people spend their
time.
Through October the
groups, working as a
single entity, are
reaching potential
voters through online
education, events on
college campuses,
concerts, festivals such
as the Mile High Music
Festival this summer,
and by organizing bar
crawls where volunteers
urge fellow indulgers to
vote.
“People don’t really
want to go out of their
way to participate in
elections, but I think
if you could go to them,
you have to make it
social,” Fenberg said.
“Instead of voting being
something separate from
your social life, it
could actually be
intertwined and
combined.”
The New Era Colorado
bus, which was on
display at a fundraiser
by the group in Boulder
on Sept. 29, is a
canvass party on wheels
— one of the ways New
Era Colorado makes
politics fun for young
volunteers. The event
attracted Democrats
including Bennet’s wife
Susan Daggett, state
Sen. Rollie Heath,
Boulder County
Commissioner Cindy
Dominico, Boulder City
Councilwoman K.C.
Becker, CU regent
candidate Melissa Hart,
and state House District
11 candidate Deb
Gardner.
The bus, packed with 40
to 50 volunteers, has
already made stops in
Fort Collins, Colorado
Springs, and Denver,
with more stops on the
Western Slope still to
come. Canvassers spread
out in neighborhoods to
encourage people to vote
and provide a ballot
guide with New Era
Colorado’s endorsements
of candidates and
issues.
If the New Era bus is
considered a canvassing
party, then the group’s
upcoming event on
Halloween may be called
a bash. Trick or Vote,
to be held at the Ogden
Theater in Denver later
this month, culminates
the get-out-the-vote
effort into one huge
canvassing event capped
off by a concert at the
end of the night.
Canvassers will knock on
doors in Denver all day
and then meet at the
theater for a concert
featuring DJ Z-Trip,
billed as an
international sensation.
A Yale statistician
studied the affects of a
similar Trick or Vote
event in 2008 and
reported that it
increased the turnout
rate in the canvass area
by 5.5 to 7.2 percent,
according to Fenberg.
The Internet rules
According to the
Secretary of State’s
office, people between
the ages of 17 and 29
are more likely than any
other age group to
register online. Since
the state’s online
registration launched in
April, 5,099 people age
17 to 19 have registered
online as well as
another 11,382 between
the ages of 20 and 29.
The numbers decrease in
incremental order as
voters become older,
with 4,821 people
between ages 60 to 69
having registered online
and 1,569 people 70 or
older doing likewise.
Secretary of State
Bernie Buescher, a
Democrat, has been
visiting high schools in
Denver, Castle Rock,
Westminster and
Springfield since April
to encourage students to
register and vote,
according to Rich
Coolidge, spokesman for
the Secretary of State’s
office.
“Buescher has made this
a priority doing
outreach for young
people, particularly
using the online voter
registration system and
explaining that 17 year
olds who turn 18 before
Election Day can
register before their
birthday,” Coolidge
said.
Hamm, who is operating
Rock the Vote’s Colorado
chapter this year, said
some voters between 17
and 19 are looking
forward to voting since
they were too young in
2008.
“These people are
excited to vote because
of the excitement that
was built in 2008. We
have a lot of people
registered who regretted
not being able to
participate,” he said.
ElectionLand Colorado, a
new online education
tool engineered this
year by Rock the Vote,
is an example of the
plethora of ways to
capitalize on the
popularity of social
networking. Users
participate by asking
election-related
questions online in an
open forum setting. The
questions are answered
by journalists John
Tomasic from the blog
Colorado Independent,
Patricia Calhoun from
Westword and blog editor
Shad Murib from New Era
News. In the three weeks
since its launch, about
20 questions have been
posted and answered.
“Most young people, if
they can’t Google it to
figure it out, the
likelihood they actually
end up doing something
is a little bit lower,”
Hamm said. “But when its
there right at the tip
of your fingers, you can
get it on your phone or
on your computer, you’re
much more likely to
spend the time to
research, and when it’s
all in one place, it’s
really helpful.”
ElectionLand users can
also find their polling
place, sign up for
election reminders and
register to vote using
Colorado’s new online
registration system
through the Secretary of
State’s site.
Using Internet tools is
only the start of
political trends aimed
at capturing this new
generation of voters,
which will outnumber
baby boomers by 17
million in 2020. Michael
Hais, co-author of the
2008 book Millennial
Makeover: MySpace,
YouTube, and the Future
of American Politics,
said the generation born
between 1982 and 2003,
coined the “millennial”
generation, marks an
important turn in
American politics.
“Every 40 years a new
generation arises to
remake American
politics, but also a new
communication technology
comes along that really
shakes up things. In the
1930s it was radio, in
the 1960s it was TV, and
now its social
networking,” Hais said.
Ard, president of the
College Republicans,
said social networking
sites like Twitter and
Facebook help to sustain
excitement among the
electorate but don’t
necessarily foster it.
“It’s much easier,
thanks to the advent of
social networking, to
keep them involved and
more importantly to keep
them informed and get a
command of the issues,”
he said. “But it’s
issues like the economy
that create the
grassroots as a major
force in getting these
people active.”
