Previously I laid out my case that Democrats should be focused on young people. They have a much larger party identification gap, and have the ability to sway the election in a big way. If you are a business why would you waste time and money trying to sell an item with a low margin?
People under the age of 30 had a 29% margin for Democrats in 2008 and 22% margin in 2006. No other group was in double digits, most being around 6%.
Here I lay out how exactly you get young people to show up. This is what I did prior to the Iowa Caucuses, and this is what I spent the last two years studying. There is no magic bullet, it will take a combination of things.
With the recent realignment this election should be more 1934 and less 1994.
In Regard to Questions Raised
There were some good comments in my previous diary, some I'd like to address quickly. My basis was strictly based on age, today I bring in other things.
-It's true support for individual issues (gay marriage, abortion, immigration, etc.) is higher than party support, but you have to look closely at the numbers. Millenial support for many of these issues is between 75-90%.
-I might also add, millenials are partisans, that's were the "Better Democrats" part comes in. Look closely at the crosstabs in the latest weekly dKos poll. Why build a coalition to elect Blue Dogs, when you can have more Alan Grayson and Bernie Sanders?
-I agree immigration reform would increase Latino turnout and the Tea Party might split away fully. We shouldn't wait when we have group already in the wings, especially one that supports progressive/Democratic positions nearly all the time.
How to Make Sure Millenials Vote
When I say millenials I mean people age 18-29, with a particular focus on students 18-24. There are two surefire ways to make sure they vote in droves, and with a 66-34 split, when they vote we win. Unfortunately both are out of my control.
- Use Celebrities, Musicians Especially
- Offer Incentives, Extra Credit
The Cult Of Celebrity
Us kids love celebrities, I especially love musicians. In both 2004 and 2008 celebrities told kids to vote. First it was "Vote Or Die", then came Will.i.am and the "Yes We Can" video. In many ways that short youtube video is the reason Barack Obama is president. He was also seen as somewhat of a celebrity, which also helped.
But such get out the vote enthusiasm from celebrities is not seen during midterm elections. Stressing to young people that it's important to vote every time could be a key difference. Sure it's less glamorous to vote for congress, but it hasn't really been tried. I think it would work.
Bonus Points
The rise of early voting will certainly help increase turnout, but those with the ability can and should do more. In a class during Fall 2008 semester a professor offered to drop the lowest quiz grade to people that brought in the "I Voted Button" and their registration. I heard others give one or two free extra credit points for the same. My class of 30 had over 80 percent turnout. Sure a few of those people probably lied, but you'd be surprised what a college kid will do for a couple extra points.
This is important: If you are a teacher or professor, you CANNOT tell people who to vote for, only that they should vote. The math is on our side, they just need to show up.
What if you are just a friend, neighbor, or parent?
You can offer a different incentive. Buy them lunch or something similar. If your state has early voting offer to take them with you, or get a form for them. Here, since you have a personal relationship with them, you could advocate for a candidate or party. Or against one.
Over the course of dozens of conversations make it clear how a change in party control of the house in particular would affect them. Explain that if we had a few more good guys in the Senate things would move much more quickly
Again remember if you offer to buy some one lunch or a drink or something, you cannot do it in exchange for votes. That's bribery. Besides these are people you know, you should know their opinions.
Last, a large number of young people are not religious, so explaining what those on the religious right want to do is particularly effective. Now that you've laid the groundwork, here's how to mobilize the youth.
Town Hell 2: Liberal Bugaboo
During those town halls last year full of old people yelling, I kept on thinking "We can do better". And I'll let you on a secret, college kids aren't in school during most of August. Many of us work, but we also have a good deal of free time.
He's my plan: we put the Republicans on the spot this summer. But we should go further, do better. We need to ask specific questions to keep the pressure on. Ask questions calmly, speak like an advocate, then set your barb. If they lie, then you can yell if you choose. Here's what I would say in the case of financial reform.
"The last year there has been a lot of talk about the size of government. There has also been talk about who is to blame for the economic meltdown. With this in mind why did you take the side of the wall street casinos instead of regular Americans? Why don't you want government to protect people from bankers?
This gets me to my last point, words matter. Every word matters.
Our Very Own Luntz
I may be in the minority, but I have no problem with sounding "Luntzian". Here's my comment from yesterday:
Republicans for years have played the message game and won, it's time we step in. We don't need to lie, we just need to be aware that every word matters.
And so I open it up to comments, I'll be back again with part 3 to talk about how Millenials fit in the future of the party. And what it means for governance.