Barack Obama/youth vote

The following relates to Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and the influence of the youth vote in U.S. presidential election, 2008.

Youth outreach
On March 19, 2007, the Obama campaign announced that Hans Rimer, "who spent the past four years as the political director" for Rock the Vote, signed on as Obama's National Youth Vote Director.

About a "clean" Iowa caucus
An October 10, 2007, Wall Street Journal article by Elizabeth Holmes casts a glimpse into the Obama campaign's efforts to shape the youth vote for the Iowa caucus.


 * "'Many of you can caucus in Iowa,' Mr. Obama told scores of high-school students, via conference call, from around [Iowa in September 2007] for the kickoff of the weekly 'BarackStar' nights held for teens at the campaign’s 31 field offices. 'I hope you realize how much power you have, potentially, to change the world.'"


 * [snip]


 * "The Obama campaign is also actively cultivating teachers, along with high-school principals, using them for entree to the youngest voters. Sometimes Obama aides try to hunt the adults down at home, begging for classroom time."


 * [snip]


 * Obama, "driven both by necessity, and his particular appeal ... has a proverbial seat at the cool kids’ lunch table, with his appearance on the cover of Vibe and having met with the likes of rapper Ludacris. ...


 * "So Rachel Haltom-Irwin, the campaign’s 25-year-old Iowa Youth Vote director, attends many of Sen. Obama’s appearances, building the campaign’s email database. At a stop in the tiny town of Guthrie Center, she approached the student band and passed around a sign-up clipboard.


 * "Under the heading of 'BarackStars,' the field offices hold weekly gatherings tailored toward teens and hand out information packets to be distributed back at school. ...


 * "In Storm Lake, a picturesque town in northwestern Iowa, Sen. Obama’s team invited high-school teachers to bring students to a midweek event. The district accepted the invitation and provided a bus to transport 60 students. ... "


 * [snip]


 * Teachers Elise Walz and Jenna Broghamer of West Lake High School in Iowa City "recently hopped one of many campaign-hired school buses to the Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola — an annual event sponsored by the state’s veteran Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin. In presidential campaign season, the event draws the top Democratic contenders."


 * [snip]


 * Walz and Broghamer "readily joined in [at the rally] whenever they heard an Obama staffer start to cheer, but looked unsure when rival campaigns approached."


 * "On the bus ride home, ... Dean Fluker, a recent University of Iowa graduate, ... [told] Walz, who pulled her voter-registration card out of her khaki Coach wallet, that they would have more tutorial opportunities close to the actual caucus date."

Bus rides in Iowa
On September 30, 2007, Lori Hays commented at TomHarkin.com:


 * "I rode a bus from Iowa City to the Harkin Steak Fry with other Obama supporters from the area. There were busses from other parts of the state too. We had a great time together. Some of us did not want to drive. Some of us did not have the money for gas. Some of us do not have cars. Some of us thought it would be more fun to ride the bus. However, all of us enjoyed being together on such a memorable day. I am proud to be part of the Obama campaign. We are building a community of supporters who work together and have a lot of fun together too. Join us sometime-we welcome everyone!"

External articles

 * Ben Waxman, "Why Obama Wins the Youth Vote," Baltimore Sun (DemocracyGuard.org), January 19, 2007.
 * Josh Gerstein, "Edwards Challenges Obama for Youth Vote," New York Sun, March 5, 2007.
 * Brad Warthen, "Obama's youth registration drive," The State, August 13, 2007.
 * "Baracking The Vote," Hotline On Call Blog/National Journal, September 27, 2007.
 * Domenico Montanaro, "Obama Hopes for Strong Youth Vote," First Read/MSNBC, September 28, 2007.
 * Oliver Willis, "Will Young People Doom Barack Obama?" Like Kryptonite to Stupid, September 29, 2007.
 * Brian Motopoli, "Could A 'Hidden' Youth Vote Propel Obama? Presidential Hopeful Looks To Bring Young Voters To Polls In Iowa And Create Momentum," CBS News, October 4, 2007.
 * Adam Nagourney, "Will Obama Rock the Youth Vote?" New York Times, October 8, 2007.
 * Andrew Romano, "The Audacity of Youth. With the Hillary juggernaut growing in strength every day, Barack Obama is hoping Iowa's youth can help keep him in the game," Newsweek, October 8, 2007.
 * Bret Schulte, "A Push for the Youth Vote. They may be elusive and unreliable, but they're worth courting," US News & World Report, October 12, 2007.
 * psericks, "The Real Strength of Obama's Student Organization," MyDD, November 6, 2007.
 * Jill Lawrence, "Moved-up Iowa caucuses could hinder youth vote," USATODAY, November 11, 2007.
 * Reid Wilson, "Youth Vote May Bring Iowa Surprise," RealClearPolitics, November 14, 2007.
 * Jose Antonio Vargas, "Obama's Got the Youth Vote, And They Can In Fact Vote," The Trail Blog/Washington Post, November 16, 2007.
 * Marc Ambinder, "Will Obama Turn Out Young Voters?" The Atlantic, November 16, 2007.
 * Paul Waldman, "The Youth Vote, the Culture Wars and Barack Obama," The American Prospect, November 21, 2007: "Young voters are particularly important in this election, not because they alone will pick the next president, but because of what their increasingly progressive attitudes suggest about the evolution of politics."
 * Mike Connery, "Youth Vote Shifting in Iowa?" FutureMajority.com, November 30, 2007.
 * Mark Murray, "Obama's Controversial Youth-Vote Push," First Read/MSNBC, December 3, 2007.
 * Kathy Frankovic, "Youth Vote Hard To Turn Out, Hard To Poll," CBS News, December 5, 2007.
 * Jennifer Hunt, "Obama urges Iowa students to flood caucuses. But most will be on break and group's turnout is usually low," Chicago Sun-Times, December 6, 2007.
 * Aaron Blake, "Holy-grail youth vote favors Obama, also wants third-party alternative," The Hill, December 6, 2007.
 * David Yepsen, "Parties, candidates must make sure caucuses are clean," Des Moines Register, December 11, 2007.
 * "Candidates Court College Kids For Caucus Support. Obama Rallys University Of Iowa Crowd," NBC5.com, December 12, 2007.
 * nederlandsk, "22 Days to Iowa: The Youth Vote, Part II," obama for america/blogtheinternet.com, December 12, 2007.
 * "Obama, Courting Youth Vote, Writes Column for College Paper in Iowa -- Refers to 'Our Generation'," UWIRE (Editor & Publisher), December 14, 2007.
 * Ben Adler, "Obama youth appeal strongest on campus," The Politico, December 14, 2007.
 * Liz Mair, "Can the youth vote make a difference?" The Politico, December 17, 2007.
 * Kirstein Powers, "Crush on Obama? Barack the New Howard Dean?" New York Post, December 17, 2007.
 * Jose Antonio Vargas and Shailagh Murray, "Courting Students, And Hoping They'll Actually Cast Votes. Iowa Often Sees High Fervor, Low Turnout," Washington Post, December 26, 2007.
 * Mike Connery, "Turnout vs. Expectations: The Youth Narrative Post Iowa," MyDD, December 28, 2007.
 * Jake Tapper and Elizabeth Stuart, "Campus Kingmakers Bask in Candidates' Attention. Democrats and Republican Pursue the College Vote," ABC News, December 30, 2007.
 * Diana Marrero, "Campaigns search for elusive youth vote," Gannett News Service (USA TODAY), December 31, 2007.
 * David Yepsen, "In newest poll, soft preferences and newcomers make a fluid mix," Des Moines Register, December 31, 2007.

External resources

 * http://baracktheyouthvote.wordpress.com/
 * http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BaracktheYouthVote
 * http://blog.rockthevote.com/labels/Barack%20Obama.html