Young Democrats work to energize youth voters
By CHRISTINE KRALY
News Writer
WASHINGTON
On campuses and in polling units across the nation Tuesday, college students and volunteers rallied to support Democrats Al Gore and Joe Lieberman and the voting process in general.
Tashik Trich, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Maryland-College Park, was no exception.
Trich spent the day on her feet at the campus's student union, talking up the importance for young blacks to vote, especially for Gore, and she didn't show one bit of fatigue. That's probably because the executive vice president of the campus Black Student Union is a self-proclaimed political hound.
"I was always a person who hates to see things not getting done," she said. "I like things to develop, create new things, events programs, whatever it may be — to bring about change. You can't progress if you're not changing."
Part of the change Trich hopes to make is a general increase in youth voting.
Low turnout for young voters isn't good, the criminology and politics major said, because "we're the next generation. We're the ones who will be leading the nation."
"If we do not let them [candidates] know that we have a focus, that we are important, that we do have needs," she added, "then they'll never focus towards us."
Sara, 23, who works for the federal government and could not give her last name, is a recent graduate from Smith College in Massachusetts and worries about youth voting apathy. She was one of several volunteers handing out election information fliers supporting Gore in front of polling spot at Hine Junior High School in Washington Tuesday.
As a recent graduate, she added, she feels it is vital to students that Gore win the presidency, especially for his stance on education issues. It's very important, she said, for young people to make their voices heard because "voter turnout for our generation is so low. We need to show the leadership that we have a voice."
She calls herself "100 percent supportive" of Gore and Lieberman, and said more Democrats need to be in Congress.
Democrats are more in tune with important issues, she said, especially those that affect her as a young woman.
Rachel Kibiaer, a volunteer in D.C.'s Gore/Lieberman headquarters, agreed. "[It's] crucial for women especially," specifically those of reproductive ages, to understand and agree with the Democratic Party, she added.
In a room wallpapered with hundreds of "Gore/Lieberman 2000" posters, volunteers from across the Washington, D.C., area went to work campaigning for Vice President Gore.
Her job as a campaign volunteer is important, she said, because a lot of Democrats are not necessarily those who had the time or transportation to get out and vote.
Kibiaer, who plans to study political science at the University of Maryland next year, said she voted for Gore mainly because of his stance on contraception and financing education, both hot button issues for young voters.
"This is their future," Jean Daniel, deputy press director for the D.C. Gore/Lieberman headquarters said of the youth vote this year.
Daniel, who involved herself in campaign volunteering when she was college-age, said she is "shocked" at how few young people get out and vote.
"This is so much fun, I can't imagine not … investing in the future and being a part of it," Daniel said.
The 45-year-old public affairs director has worked on campaigns at the national and local level, and said young voters should take as much advantage of political volunteerism as they can.
"It's important for [students] to volunteer because one day they'll be in the age group where issues like Social Security will impact them," said volunteer Cynthia Owens, 49.
Owens, among others, spent her election day calling people encouraging them to vote, specifically for the Gore/Lieberman ticket. Other volunteers focused on providing transportation for those voters whom otherwise could not reach their polling places.
Volunteering for the Democratic Party, Trich said, is one way she has been able to help energize her generation in the political process.
"I think it's really important that we do show we are here, bring some attention to ourselves if we have to," she said. "So that they see that we care about what's going on."
All News Stories for Wednesday, November 8, 2000
