Gore Focuses On Youth Vote
The Gore campaign is waking up to young voters.
The campaign has kicked off a series of "At the Table" talks aimed at stirring interest among younger voters across the nation. The vice president and daughter Karenna, the national chair of GoreNet, the arm of the campaign that targets the youth vote, met with a group of young people at a coffeehouse in New York. A similar event will be hosted by another Gore daughter, Kristen. Tipper Gore and Sen. Joe Lieberman and his family will also take part in the series.
"The vice president is trying to take the initiative to break the cycle that results in the lack of young voters," said Gore spokeswoman Michelle Kucera.
Young people's lack of interest in politics can be attributed to both the candidates and the youth of America, says Julia Cohen, executive director of YouthVote 2000, a coalition of organizations trying to mobilize young voters.
"There is culpability on both parts," Cohen says. Young people "feel like politicians aren't listening to them, so they don't vote; so politicians don't listen to them. It's a vicious circle."
A vicious circle that results in low voter participation among the nation's youngest voters: Adults aged 18-29 accounted for only 9 percent of the turnout in this year's presidential primaries.
"In a close race, as this promises to be, obviously who the young people go for can make all the difference," said Russ Freyman of Third Millennium, a nonpartisan, nonprofit Generation X think tank that put out Neglection 2000, a study of the gulf between young voters and those running for office. While Freyman believes the two sides will have to meet somewhere in the middle, he says leaders have "some element of civic responsibility … to try and reach this group of Americans."
The Bush campaign has touted the candidate's photogenic nephew, George P. Bush, as its youth messenger. George P. chaired the Youth Convention portion of the Republican convention in Philadelphia this summer, but he has yet to plan any campaign events specifically aimed at younger voters.
Bush campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker says "It is one of the governor's top priorities to bring people into the process that may have lost faith in the system" - a group that she says includes younger voters.
Gov. Bush "is looking for ways to reach out to parts of the population that are not ordinarily political," said Tucker, citing Bush's planned appearances on Oprah and Live with Regis next week.
Gore's effort to reach out to the youth population on New York was met with both approval and skepticism by those who attended.
"I am so excited we finally have someone who wants to listen," said 28-year-old Stephanie Wolf, a Manhattan public school teacher. "This is a way to connect with us."
Jefferey Stynes, 26, was slightly less enthusiastic. "I don’t know how much difference it will make," hsaid, "but it is better than nothing."