How to get to a new young voter

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

We have a friend who is 23 and has never participated in the political process, never mind voted. He was here over the weekend and my hubby was trying to convince this young man about how important this election was and how he should be paying attention and voting. He explained reasons to vote for Kerry and reason to vote period. He made several points with young and smart guy. I think he will be easily persuaded to vote this year and I was wondering if you all could give us some pointers on getting him to vote Kerry.

Some background:
He is a young guy but is very bright although hasn't paid much attention to the issues. He went as far as to say that he thought that Bush was going to win and that he didn't believe that Kerry would make much of a difference. It seems his issues are mostly with the economy. But I'd like to broaden his perspective. He has a tremendous amount of influence over his young bride as well, so we're talking 2 votes as well as some of his young friends.

I told my hubby to keep it simple with easy to understand "talking points". We are in Colorado so these could be important votes!

[bluestateguy]

1. THE DRAFT

Trust me, that issue can quickly turn an apathetic young non-voter into a voter real quick.

When I talk about that issue in my class, nobody dozes off.

[Nite Owl]

2. Definitely the draft

also jobs, that meaning good jobs and job security. He's going to be having kids some day so education, NCLB too.

[DjTj]

3. I summed up my thoughts a few days ago...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/08/18_reasons.html

[sonias]

5. Great work there DjTj

I had missed that on the front page. Great message and I have saved it for my nephews.

Sonia

[DjTj]

13. Thanks

We really have to get to every young voter this time around

[NMDemDist2]

4. if you're in CO he probably loves the mountains and woods

give him some environmental info too

[MirrorAshes]

6. I'm 23 also, and somewhat surprised.

Most everyone I know is pretty involved, mostly democratic but I know alot of republicans my age as well.

As mentioned, I'd say the possibility of the draft is huge, and point out that Kerry has the best environmental record of all senators. Also, point out that its him who is in real danger of losing his right to healthcare and social security as he gets older. Also the lack of good entry level jobs for college graduates.

For me personally I'm mostly driven by the genuine and honest feeling that Bush is a murderer and a tyrant, and must be stopped at any cost. I usually play it more low key and work with people gradually though :evilgrin:

[amjsjc]

7. If he cares about the economy you might go with the following...

Just remind him that he'll have to pay back the money that the government is borrowing to pay off Bush's tax cuts/ pork barrell spending. (Currently the deficit is projected to be $445 billion for this fiscal year, and the national debt stands at $7.7 trillion dollars. The fact that the government has to borrow money.)

You should also explain that the budget deficits slow economic growth and makes it more expensive for people to borrow money...when the government borrows lots of money other borrowers need to offer higher interest rates to attract investors (since government bonds are the safest investments in the world, other bonds will need to offer higher rates of interest to attract investors.) This means that it's more expensive for businesses to borrow money to pay for expansion, and as a result they can create fewer new jobs for people. Therefore it'll be harder for the guy to find a job, and if the guy ever takes out loans to fund college/grad school, or gets a mortgage to buy a house then he'll have to pay thousands of dollars more than he otherwise would in interest payments.

You should also emphasize that Bush has done nothing to stop the deficit (he claims that tax cuts actually decrease the size of the deficit, despite the fact that it showed up after he pushed through about $2 trillion in tax cuts)-- and that Kerry wants to take active steps to ensure that the deficit is reduced, such as returning taxes for rich people to the levels they were at when Clinton was president.

Kerry also wants to eliminate tax incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas, he wants to create tax credits for kids in college, and he wants to put money into developing new technologies which will bring back the sort of economic opportunities available during the late 90s. I hope that some of that is useful...

[CaTeacher]

8. point him to DU--he will

get educated very quickly here! I have done that to several people. Saves me a lot of trouble!!

[Warren DeMontague]

9. How openly can you talk to these kids?

Do they use birth control? Because the GOP wants to criminalize it.


If his issues are just with the economy, show him this:

[SoCalDem]

10. A few suggestions

SoCalDem (13508 posts)
Jan-20-03, 08:27 PM (ET)

Think That Voting Doesn't Matter?

This is what NOT voting got you…

1. Lousy schools
2. Dirty air
3. Polluted water
4. Hate radio on 24/7
5. Infotainment instead of news on TV
6. Payola for Politicians
7. Expensive medicine
8. War for the sake of oil
9. Institutionalized poverty for veterans
10. Unaffordable medical insurance
11. Low interest rates for the rich, high interest rates everyone else
12. High food costs, but poor small farmers
13. High cable bills
14. High phone bills
15. People making $400,000.00 (1%) or more getting 50% of tax breaks
16. Corporations taking Good jobs away from America, to avoid paying decent wages
17. An insane drug-bust policy that mainly benefits private prisons
18. A shrinking middle class..
19. A hatred of America that is spreading around the world like a virus
20. Unemployment
21. Pension plans morphed into 401-k’s only to be stolen by greedy CEOs
22. Laws that NEVER favor “the little guy”
23. Higher property taxes, as states lose federal funding
24. Union busting with a vengeance (low paid “wage slaves” are the ultimate goal)
25. Government spying on your every move
26. Wars that are started by Rich Old White men, but fought by mostly poor or middle class ..
27. The draft?? Rich and well-connected kids don't get drafted..How about YOU?? How about YOUR KIDS??

How did your absence at the polls make these things happen?? Well, while you were voting for “Kelly” instead of the other singer or you were stressing about whether Ross & Rachel would get back together, the politicians in DC were busily stuffing money into their pockets , and passing legislation that screws YOU and favors the guys with the big bucks..

How can you stop it?? Get informed… Vote the bastards OUT.. Take back YOUR government.. Do it from the ballot box.. Newspapers, radio & tv companies are ALL OWNED by the same few rich guys who just want you to buy their stuff and shut up.. Get your news online… Read foreign newspapers.. Find out what is REALLY going on..

Quit whining about how miserable your life is, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT !!!

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

11. Thanks everyone!

Those are all great tips and I really appreciate them. Now to make a believeable case. We've told him about the draft and he is skeptical about it. I think I'm going to have to get solid proof of the things we are saying. Back it up with sound sources. Print them out and deliver them directly to him.

Thanks again!

[tanyev]

12. Judges. Judges. Judges.

eom