The first election I voted in was Gore/Bush in 2000. Needless to say it was a rude awakening to voting and politics in this country (I actually worked quite hard on the Gore campaign).   After that election I put my political dreams on hold (I wanted to run campaigns), and like the man I voted for, I decided that my energy would be better spent other projects that could help change the world - and thus turned to the cinema.

It is with that history that I am super excited for my little brother who will be voting in his first election this year - what an amazing first election to vote in!!   And even though I firmly believe the election is too far away to get excited by the current polls, I do have some hope that my brother’s first vote will end with a happier result than mine did.

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As the election draws nearer it’s becoming more and more important to encourage everyone to vote this go around.

In regards to the youth vote, The Nation has an interesting piece up about the influence of Rock the Vote on the election this year:

While RTV held the biggest name brand in youth politics, youth turnout declined in 1996 and 2000, and a lot of political minded folks concluded that Rock the Vote wasn’t getting the job done. As described in [the] book, Youth to Power, the vacuum left in youth organizing by the failures of Rock the Vote in part inspired the boom in youth organizing that occurred between 2003 and 2007.

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