A voter walks into a bar: Courting young professionals, whose election clout is growing

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: CAMPAIGN '08
A voter walks into a bar . . .
Presidential aspirants are using lures like beer and TV parties to court young professionals, whose election clout is growing.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 3, 2007

DES MOINES -- Strong drinks and live music are the usual attractions at the People's Bar & Grill, but on Thursday there was an added draw at the downtown pub: Michelle Obama. "I know this is the end of a long workday. Have a beer. . . . Sit down, relax, take a load off," the wife of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama told the crowd of stylish people in their 20s and 30s. She launched into her stump speech for the Democratic presidential candidate and urged the crowd to participate in the Jan. 3 caucuses. "You have the responsibility, no matter how busy your life is, or how cynical you think you've become. . . . You have to caucus," she said.

Long neglected by political campaigns, young professionals are being wooed through such groups as "Generation Obama," Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Hillblazers" and John McCain's "YP4McCain" -- that's Young Professionals for McCain, in the abbreviated style favored by text messagers. The group they all are aiming at -- college graduates in the early years of their careers, often unmarried -- has long been viewed by campaigns as apathetic. But its voting strength is increasing.

In the 2004 presidential election, 20.1 million people under 30 voted -- 4.3 million more than in 2000. It marked the first substantive increase in young voters' participation in more than three decades. And their participation grew again in the 2006 midterm elections. In 2008, there will be 44 million potential voters younger than 30. "Our demographic is waking up," said Jessica Walter, 25, government relations coordinator for the Greater Des Moines Partnership's Young Professionals Connection.

The campaigns are paying attention, according to Kathleen Barr, research director for Young Voter Strategies, a project at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. Young Voter Strategies recently merged with Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan group formed in 1990 that uses entertainers and pop culture to mobilize young voters. At this point in the 2004 campaign, Howard Dean was the only candidate with a national youth coordinator. Now at least three campaigns have full-time staffers dedicated to reaching out to young people, and nearly every campaign has staffers or volunteers in Iowa and other early-voting states focused on getting young professionals to the polls, Barr said....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-youngpros3dec03,1,7138077.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=3&cset=true

[Adelante]

1. Well, just for the record

Clark also had great youth outreach and young professionals gatherings all the time in 2004.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. I second that! nt

[ilovesunshine]

3. Anyone know of the percentage of youth (18-24) that have turned out to vote...

in the past few Presidential election.

[robcon]

4. When did young people's clout grow?

Isn't it still true that they vote at about half the rate of people over 50?

[4_TN_TITANS]

5. YP4McCain ....if you can PonMcCain!