Don't Blame The Defeat Of The Ossified Beltway Democrats On Young Voters Not Showing Up

Mostly old and in the way

Yesterday NBC News and the Wall Street Journal released a poll, from which the sclerotic Beltway Democrats, who are utterly steeped in denial about their own national rejection, will take solace. These are the 5 top priorities respondents gave the pollsters:

• 82% support Congress providing access to lower the costs of student loans;
• 75% support increasing spending on infrastructure, roads and highways;
• 65% support Congress raising the minimum wage;
• 60% support approving emergency funding to deal with Ebola in West Africa;
• 59% support addressing climate change by limiting carbon emissions

These are all Democratic Party initiatives being pushed aggressively by progressives like Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Alan Grayson (D-FL). Conversely most of the conservative ideas that the Koch brothers have been pushing through their puppet politicians like Paul Ryan (R-WI), John Boehner (R-OH) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) did not find majority support:

• 34% support gradually raising Social Security's retirement age to 69
• 41% support cutting federal funding for the Affordable Care Act
• 44% support TPP/NAFTA-like trade agreements with Asian countries
• 44% support reducing Medicare and Social Security benefits for wealthier retirees
• 49% support authorizing the use of U.S. troops to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria

The only Republican Party position with actual majority support is for building the Keystone XL pipeline (54%)-- something that seems to be at odds with the even greater support to address climate change by limiting carbon emissions.

Nancy Pelosi replaced her failed Blue Dog head of the DCCC, Steve Israel, with someone, Ben Ray Lujan, who was once part of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and who can't help but be an improvement over Israel. But Israel was given a leadership position-- in messaging no less, his biggest single failure-- and Lujan has already announced he's not changing anything at the dysfunctional, corrupt and utterly incompetent DCCC. The Beltway Democrats, lead by a pathetically geriatric cadre of over-the-hill politicians, would rather blame the voters than look inward. That's not going to do anyone any good... except the Republicans.

Andy Bernstein of HeadCount and Ashley Spillane of Rock the Vote, dispute the narrative being pushed by hacks like DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, eager only to deflect blame from herself, that it was the fault of young people not showing up at the polls. Even beyond what it would take to ask oneself why young people were discouraged from voting, the whole premise isn't even based in fact.

A week after the midterm election, you can hardly pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without seeing a headline about disappointing turnout among Millennials this election cycle. We’d like to take this opportunity to say to all the Millennials out there-- and to their critics-- shake it off and take another look at the data.

In a horrendous political climate that left the majority of voters in the country opting out of this election, young voters didn’t succumb to this trend. According to data published by CIRCLE, Millennials comprised 13 percent of voters this year, up 2 percent from 2010, when youth voters counted for 11 percent of the electorate. They cast 9.9 million votes, up from 9 million four years before-- a modest increase of 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, overall turnout was down to its lowest levels since WWII.

We aren’t declaring victory. When barely one-in-four young people voted in this year’s election, we know there is so much more work to do. But the bottom line is: young people are actually bucking the national trend.

They turned out in spite of growing up in an era of complete dysfunction in Washington, when approval ratings for Congress and party affiliations are at an all-time low. They turned out despite the lack of attention being paid to the issues they care most about. They turned out despite of the challenges erected to their participation through new voting laws all over the country.

Over the past two years alone, 10 states have passed restrictive voting laws purposefully intended to limit young people’s ability to register to vote and cast their ballots. This in spite of evidence that states with a photo voter ID law saw, on average, a 4.4 percent lower turnout than those that did not.

In North Carolina, early voting was curtailed and same-day registration was eliminated. In Arizona and Kansas, efforts included requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship upon registering. In Tennessee, college professors could use their university IDs to vote, but students were barred from doing the same. And perhaps most absurdly: voters in Texas could use a gun license to vote, but not a student ID.

...As a part of our coalition with civic engagement organizations, tech companies, and cultural leaders, our organizations registered nearly 700,000 voters this year-- critical considering that 12,000 young people turn 18 each day.

The increase in youth voter turnout in 2014 sends a powerful message that many seem to be missing: even with so much working against them, Millennials are on the precipice of becoming the most influential voting bloc in the United States. This is the country’s largest and most diverse generation-- over 90 million strong, with more than 43% identifying as non-white. Close to 90% say they gave to charity last year and close to 50% volunteer for causes they believe in.

Young people are the future, and this generation in particular wields incredible influence. Politicians and pundits should sit up and take notice; after all, Election Day 2016 is only 728 days away.

Loving On Empty

Last week Rickie Lee Jones was in Orlando helping Alan Grayson turn out the voters in front of his 75% primary victory on Tuesday. A fews weeks before Peter Case did two concerts for Grayson supporters in the Bay Area. And Grayson isn't the only Democrat turning to musicians to help turn out young voters. Our friends at HeadCount are doing voter registration drives with, among others, Jason Mraz, Spoon, Wilco and the Black Keys.

With young voters more apathetic about voting and government than ever, several organizations are trying to woo the “selfie generation” to the polls this fall.

"About half of those who vote in presidential elections do not vote in midterms," explained Andy Bernstein, executive director of HeadCount, a non-partisan organization that partners with musicians to get youth engaged in politics.

While overall turnout among young voters in presidential elections has grown, turnout for midterms has stagnated, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIVIC).

In 2010, the under-30 vote dropped 27 percent since Obama first sailed to victory two years earlier, according to CIVIC analysis of Census data.

Bernstein's group hopes to engage these so-called drop-off voters by riding the popularity of musicians.

HeadCount will go on tour with the band The Black Keys for 15 shows in more than a dozen cities from Sept. 6 through Nov. 3 registering young voters.

…Musicians and celebrities often jump into the political game, most often for Democrats. For instance, Katy Perry has already promised to write Hillary Clinton's campaign song if she runs for president. Other entertainers were heavily involved in President Obama’s presidential runs, including Beyonce, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen.

While their focus is usually on presidential races, the groups’s uphill task ahead of 2016 is getting youth involved in the elections happening this year.

Of likely midterm voters ages 18-29, 44 percent of Mitt Romney supporters in 2012 plan to vote this year compared to 35 percent of Obama voters, according to another Harvard Institute of Politics survey.

Still, in an election with Senate control up for grabs, Republicans are unlikely to see much of a bump from young voters-- less than one in four (23 percent) will "definitely" be voting in November, according to the spring poll.

That's the case in other surveys, too. While 72 percent of those 18-31 said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote in the 2016 presidential election, less than half-- 49 percent-- said they were likely to vote in the upcoming midterms, according to a poll from Democratic pollster Paul Harstad in early spring.

During every election, it's important to use cultural leaders to get young voters interested in the issues, said Ashley Spillane, president of Rock the Vote.

Celebrities, artists and musicians help draw young voters interested in other issues, Spillane said, such as voter ID laws, women's health and college affordability… big push for the youth vote will be National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 23. The day, which started in 2012, became a holiday when the National Association of Secretaries of State designated the fourth Tuesday each September through 2019.

A few days before that, Grayson will be rallying progressives in Los Angeles-- along with local political leaders Xavier Becerra, Judy Chu, Karen Bass, Janice Hahn, Ted Lieu, Alan Lowenthal, Linda Sanchez and Marianne Williamson-- to the sounds of one of the hottest new up and comers, Dan Godlin. Don't know him yet? You will...

A Country We Should All Be Proud Of

As part of it's Independence Day greetings, Headcount pointed out that America isn't a perfect country but rather a work in progress. "As American citizens, it's our job to point it in the right direction. That's the principal it was founded on 236 years ago." And they're doing that the way they know how to do it best-- combining music with democracy. And this summer they have 4 bands on the road making that connection: Wilco, Phish, Dave Matthews Band and Furthur. You can follow along online at the HeadCount blog which new tour journals are posted every few days.

Wilco's leg is part of Patagonia's and the League of Conservation Voter's Vote the Environment promotion. LCV's offers a record of every member of the House and Senate, based, respectively on how Members voted on 35 and 11 crucial roll call votes. They list every House Member and every Senate Member with their scores. Wonder who the best friends and worst enemies of the environment were this year? The best in the House (scores of 100%):

Tim Bishop (D-NY)
Judy Chu (D-CA)
David Cicilline (D-RI)
Hensen Clarke (D-MI)
Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Gerald Connolly (D-VA)
Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Janice Hahn (D-CA)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Steve Israel (D-NY)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
John Lewis (D-GA)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Bobby Scott (D-VA)
Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

And the worst in the House (scores of 3% or lower):

Mark Amodei (R-NV)
Dan Benishek (R-MI)
Paul Broun (R-GA)
Francisco Canseco (R-TX)
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)
Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Tom Graves (R-GA)
Wally Herger (R-CA)
Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
Billy Long (R-MO)
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Paul Ryan (R-WI)-- Ayn Rand reveled in filth and pollution
Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Bob Turner (R-NY)
Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Kevin Yoder (R-KS)

In the Senate, there were no really difficult votes and it was very easy, even for corporate whores, to get perfect scores; there were 30 of them-- Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Cooner (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kay Hagan (D-NC), John Kerry (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Joe Lieberman (CT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Harry Reid (D-NV), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Warner (D-VA), Jim Webb (D-VA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

And there were 13 perfect zeros-- Roy Blunt (R-MO), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Dan Coats (R-IN), John Ensign (R-NV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Dick Lugar (R-IN), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Thune (R-SD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Meanwhile Dave Matthews Band is doing a similar thing with Volkswagen, registering rock'n'roll lovers all over the South. Phish's own charitable arm, The Waterwheel Foundation, is coordinating Phish's efforts, which includes there first full-on tour since 2004. And Furthur (which features Phil Lesh and Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead) has been registering the most voters of all so far.

As you know, Rick Scott's GOP passed some laws in Florida that pretty much put voter registration groups out of business in the state. Just in time a Federal judge threw out some key provisions of the law. So... the Florida leg of the tour is back on. On July 18-21 they’ll be registering voters at Dave Matthews Band shows in W. Palm Beach and Tampa, and there are more concerts to be announced.

They're also registering voters at almost every music festival in America between now and the election. The next one is the High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA this week and then everything from the Newport Folk Festival (with Wilco) at the end of the month, Farm Aid in Pennsylvania with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews in September and Austin City Limits in the middle of October in Zilker Park with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, Neil Young and the Black Keys to Lollapalooza in Grant Park (Chicago) August 3, 4 and 5 (with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Keys, Black Sabbath, Jack White, Sigur Ros, Doctor Dog, The Shins and tons of other bands). And that's just a few. You can check out the whole list of festivals here. Prepare to register to vote... or suffer the consequences.

Jammin' The Vote With Dave Matthews, Wilco, Phish and Bob Weir

PDA is going to be registering people to vote and talking with them about progressive solutions to American challenges at Crosby Stills and Nash concerts across America starting next month. And they'll be talking about progressive candidates who can make a difference, like David Gill in Illinois and Norman Solomon in California. Blue America will be working with them on a project that will put a rare and beautiful numbered, signed Neil Young art print into the hands of one lucky winner. You'll be hearing more about that very soon. But there's another organization working the rock'n'roll circuit, particularly the jam band circuit to register voters and that's Headcount. Like PDA, Headcount is a grassroots organization; unlike PDA, Headcount is a non-partisan group. It's primary function is to use the power of music to register voters and raise social consciousness. Since 2004, HeadCount has staged voter registration drives at over 2,000 concerts and signed up over 175,000 voters. With questions looming about young voter turnout in this election cycle-- between disappointment with promises from 2008 and GOP efforts to disenfranchise young voters, some major rock bands are hosting voter registration drives at all their summer concerts.

Headcount's “Great American Road Trip,” is a cross-country trek taken by young volunteers who are following the Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, Phish and Furthur (Grateful Dead) across the country, just to register voters at each stop on each tour. Because, as our friends at Headcount like to ask, "what's more American than rock'n'roll?

They expect to register voters at 103 concerts and cover 15,000 miles. Each band has been assigned a crack Headcount team of 2 to 4 volunteers who will be augmented in each city by another 10 local volunteers. Anyone 18 years of age or older can sign up to volunteer at HeadCount.org.

The HeadCount team is traveling to each Dave Matthews Band show in a Volkswagen Routan minivan-- and filing dispatches from the road on the HeadCount blog. Volkswagen of America, Inc. and Dave Matthews Band’s Bama Works Fund are covering all the volunteers’ travel costs.


HeadCount set an all-time record for a single concert tour when they registered 12,161 voters with Dave Matthews Band in 2004. That year, turnout by voters age 18 to 24 jumped 11 percent. It was by far the largest increase among any age group. In 2008 that trend continued, with young voters being the only age group to show an increase in turnout.

However, it will take some work if that trend is to continue. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that only 43 percent of young voters said they were very interested in the Presidential election, compared to 65 percent in a poll taken at the same time of year in 2008. Another poll by Gallup said that only 56 percent of registered voters under the age of 30 plan to cast their ballot in November.

One of the best ways to increase voter turnout is by welcoming new voters into the democratic process. In 2008, over 72 percent of the voters registered by HeadCount turned out to vote, according to an independent study by the Washington, D.C.-based New Organizing Institute. That same study said that over 4 million votes were cast that year by individuals who registered to vote through independent groups like HeadCount.

WHY DID CONGRESSMAN PETER WELCH (D-VT) SAY HE DOESN'T TRUST THE BUSH REGIME?

I hope you didn't get the idea that the only reason I went to DC last week was to harass Rahm Emanuel; that was a bonus. The night before the Rahm encounter, Pachacutec and I went to see Bob Weir play at a benefit for HeadCount, the outfit that registers voters at concerts. While Weir was signing hundreds of autographs we ran into Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) who I was eager to congratulate for exposing the sneaky Bush Regime loophole for their contractor buddies.

It was awesome meeting Rep Welch; great guy... really friendly and straight forward. We had to explain to him that in order to be considered an incumbent in danger, one needed to have a viable opponent-- and that because the GOP can't drum up anyone to run against him, it probably means he isn't "in danger." But once we passed that hurdle it was all great and all about the Loophole. Today he followed through by sending me an update on the story.

Caught red-handed, the Regime is backing away. Today the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had a hearing to go over Rep. Welch's “Close the Contractor Fraud Loophole Act,” H.R. 5712, to require all contractors, regardless of where the work is performed, to be subject to fraud reporting requirements. Regime operatives were sent over to the Hill to swear that the loophole was a “bureaucratic mistake,” although Regime allies from the Professional Services Council (dirty lobbyists representing contractors like KBR, Halliburton, and Blackwater) testified against Welch’s legislation to close the loophole. 

Congressman Welch noted that "the Bush administration is denying conspiracy by pleading incompetence... When was the last time we saw the Bush administration reverse itself under pressure?  This shows just how important aggressive congressional oversight is to assure accountability and the protection of taxpayer dollars.”

Speaking for the vast majority of Americans, Welch stated clearly "I don’t trust this administration. I want taxpayer dollars to have the protection of the law." See, I told you he was cool. He also sent us this video to look at: