Will Rock the Vote Rock the Vote in 2008?

[babylonsister]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/passingthrough/328720

Will Rock the Vote Rock the Vote in 2008?
posted by Michael Connery on 06/23/2008 @ 2:31pm

snip//


--Rock the Vote is starting to reengage field work. Sort of. After years with little more than an ad-hoc crew of volunteers, there are signs that the field program will be far more emphasized this year, if not yet a core component of the organization's work. Rock the Vote intends to put street teams on the ground in major battleground states, and there are rumors they will hire staff field organizers to coordinate a ground strategy. Rock the Vote also recently announced a partnership with Head Count, a nonprofit voter registration group that works at concerts. The groups will partner on this summer's Lollapalooza and Rock the Bells festivals.

--Rock the Vote's mobile program, which will issue text message reminders about when and where to vote has garnered over 40,000 participants thus far. Such reminders are proven to bump youth turnout 4 - 5%.

--As we've come to expect, the organization will also run a large PSA campaign, though such campaigns have always struck me as being more about maintaining the Rock the Vote brand than getting young people to the polls. This recently kicked off with an ad by Christina Aguilera and her son, wrapped in an American flag, echoing the original PSA by Madonna that catapulted the organization into notoriety.

So what is the verdict? Is Rock the Vote rocking the vote in 2008?

Maybe.

The online voter registration widget is kicking ass and taking names considering how early it is in the cycle, and the revitalization of at least some field work on the part of the organization is an encouraging sign, even if we don't yet know how extensive Rock the Vote's GOTV work will be in the fall. As a young voter and a progressive partisan, I find the Young Voter Platform to be a bit of a disappointment. They could take stronger stands on issues while still staying within the limits of their tax designation.

The important thing though is that the groundwork seems to be there for Rock the Vote to be a much more significant and effective presence on the trail this year than in previous cycles, but the bar is higher as well, raised by Senator Obama's campaign and more than a dozen other youth organizations that picked up the ball Rock the Vote dropped in the mid and late 90s. The potential is there for Rock the Vote to surpass its peak during the early 90s. We'll just have to wait and see if they can follow through.