July 29, 2004

Now that I’ve been a political correspondent for more than three days, I feel like a seasoned journalist. Well, at least I did until I was interviewed by Alexandra Conway and Molly Wienberg. These two journalists were better prepared than I’ve been at any point this week, working in tandem, with one asking prepared questions from a large notebook while the other one holds a recorder and microphone.

I was humbled by these 11-year-old members of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps when they interviewed me. Their work can be found at www.scholastic.com/news, and is published in Scholastic News (a classroom magazine for grades 1-6) and Junior Scholastic (6-8). In fact, these kids are so over that they’ve managed to get interviews with people like Laura Bush and Teresa Heinz-Kerry. They’re out-scooping the man with the most widely read political/wrestling column in the history of the Internet!

My ineptitude reminds me of Stephen Colbert’s segment on The Daily Show, “Interviews I Could Get.” (The Daily Show was on my mind because I marked out and introduced myself to senior political correspondents Rob Corddry and Samantha Bee on the convention floor.) In an attempt to get in the same league as these young reporters today, I pounded the pavement. First, I cornered Jerry Springer, a staunch Democrat and former mayor of Cincinnati, who I saw speak at the Sunday night party at Avalon.

I was drawn to him because when I mentioned the topic of yesterday’s column in an interview with CBS radio, the host mentioned that during an interview Jerry also had some recommendations to improve the drawing power of the conventions for younger voters. Jerry’s answer was not overly illuminating. What was his suggestion to get more people to watch the conventions on television? Drum roll, please. Offer them free wrestling tickets!

Jesse Jackson was more helpful when I asked, “What do the candidates have to do in this election to engage younger voters?” He answered, “They’re going to have to reach out to them. Address youth issues. Some youth don’t want to go to Iraq. That’s a big deal. Other youth want tuition reduced. Others want a job when they graduate. Others want a secure job for their parents. At the end of the day it comes down to inclusion and shared security.”

I was impressed that he hit The 18-30 VIP issues right off the bat. He is obviously aware of the issues on the minds of young people. The question now, however, is how well these messages are being used by the candidates and getting through to inspire voters like you and me.

A program like Smackdown Your Vote! is a great step, but we have our limits. We are creating awareness about voter registration, setting an example by showcasing our Superstars that are passionate about the benefits of being politically involved, educating young voters on the issues they say are important to them, and pressing the candidates at the state and national levels to talk about these issues.

However, studies show that one of the most important influences in getting out the vote is one-on-one interaction. Although the Superstars involved in this program have each met hundreds of young voters, we simply don’t have the numbers to “shake hands” with the 2 million more new young voters we want to reach in 2004, let alone the 20 million we want to go to the polls on November 2, 2004 (save the date!).

Yet, in the last few days, I’ve learned that there are enough young, motivated, passionate activists in this country to make that goal achievable. The real story of this convention for me has been these fiery young Democrats. Many, many grassroots organizations will be trying to reach you one-on-one this fall, and if you’re not careful, you’ll cross paths with one of their volunteers and get motivated, too. Enthusiasm is contagious.

I want to profile two of these organizations that feature young people who are motivated and organized to change the country for what they believe to be the better. The Young Democrats of America have more than 900 chapters and 50,000 members. Their President, Chris Gallaway, outlined the group’s enormous plans for the fall.

“I know that many of my peers get involved in things like community service, but they don’t take the next step to politics. I want to make sure they understand how much it affects their lives. We’ve got to get the message out to young people by going door-to-door in neighborhoods, and by going where they are, like basketball games, barber shops, and wrestling events. We try to engage them casually about politics, and if they are interested and willing, we try to reach out to them multiple times before the election through personal emails and personal phone calls.”

The College Democrats of America also have more than 900 chapters and tens of thousands of members. Their newly elected President, Grant Woodard, told me that this fall they will focus on enlisting 100,000 student activists to commit 1,000,000 new voters (10 each) to vote for John Kerry through methods like voter registration assistance and the signing of pledge cards.

That’s a lot of time and effort.

These organizations are taking on projects of great magnitude and importance. Young Republican organizations of similar breadth and scope will be doing the same, and I will profile them when I meet them at the GOP convention. If this many young people believe that politics are so important to give their time and energy to these efforts, maybe it’s something worthwhile for you to look into.

Tonight at the convention, Al Sharpton captured the essence of the importance of having the right to cast a vote by reminding everyone in the Fleet Center and everyone watching at home (on cable or PBS, at least) that a lot of people, including generations of our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, both here in America and across this globe, have fought, bled, and died for the right to vote. For their sacrifice, we at least owe them an open mind and a few minutes of our time. (Not surprisingly, his passionate speech is reported to have been a deviation from the prepared text.)

I’m looking forward to the final day of the convention, and I’m keeping one eye on those ominous hanging balloons in the rafters. Check out my next column on Friday at noon.

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