June 17, 2009

Can Young People Advocate and Mobilize?

Posted by Adam Waxman at 12:26PM

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It’s not a shocker that young people shattered voting records last year. Millions of young people turned out in record numbers to help elect Barack Obama President and bring more Democratic members to Congress. Indeed, many political observes do not believe Obama could have been elected without the support he received from young people in the primaries and general election.

Yet, in issue after issue, with the exception of access to higher education, young people are not seen as a group with an interest in policy outcomes. Consider, for example, President Obama’s speech this week to the American Medical Association (AMA), a prominent group that claims to represent the will of America’s doctors. Obama said in his speech:

I want to commend the AMA, in particular, for offering to do your part to curb costs and achieve reform. A few weeks ago, you joined together with hospitals, labor unions, insurers, medical device manufacturers and drug companies to do something that would've been unthinkable just a few years ago -- you promised to work together to cut national health care spending by two trillion dollars over the next decade, relative to what it would otherwise have been. That will bring down costs, that will bring down premiums, and that's exactly the kind of cooperation we need.

That’s a pretty all-star coalition that the president cites, and yet missing from it is young people -- the people who are hurting from being uninsured, the people who will have to pay for a continually more expensive system. Too often, I think, young people are seen only as a tool for getting politicians elected rather than an effective voice for real change.

On this issue, Rock the Vote, one of the key mobilizes behind young people’s strength in the 2008 elections, has ramped up its between-elections issue advocacy arm. Rock the Vote is going to be mobilizing the millions of young people it works with to take action on a core group of issues – healthcare, green jobs, higher education, and voting rights. Now, there are a number of youth-oriented groups that organize and advocate on these issues. The United States Students Association (USSA) and Campus Progress come to mind. However, Rock the Vote’s new commitment is significant given the organization’s size and mainstream appeal to young people. It will be interesting to see how Rock the Vote makes the transition from nonpartisan voter registration and engagement to issue education and advocacy.