Why the Youth Vote is so important . . .

I remember when I was first eligible to vote in a presidential election in 1980. I thought most of my life was ahead of me and had only a passing interest. The best candidate on the campus of the University of Illinois - Chicago was John Anderson. He was running as an independent. He wasn't part of two parties that seemed to endlessly low-blow each other. His message was straightforward and simple. The government and the public were going to have to work together to overcome our current economic conditions of high interest rates, poor job growth and increased dominance by Japan in the global market. Sound familiar? It wasn't too long after the U.S. moderate Shah of Iran was replaced by the Ayatollah Komenhi and the U.S. embassy personnel were being held hostage or our support of Iraq's Saddam in its prolonged war with our new enemy the people of Iran. I clearly remember the Beirut bombings killing hundreds of Marines. For a long time I was a member of this most esteemed "gun and rod" club and was impacted by these events.

A quarter century later, the activism that marked much of the 60's and 70's with movements for social, economic, and environmental justice seems to have died down in most of the baby boomer generation, as we get older (and hopefully wiser) entering our 40's, 50's and 60's. I look into my own children's faces as they approach their teens and wonder if we've forgotten our promises of no more unnecessary wars based on lies. Are we sliding backward on women, minority and same gender equality? Environment? Poverty? Sadly, yes!

Last night at Wilson Hall on the Brown University campus, I saw a remarkable thing. I have looked in the challenging and questioning faces of Bryant University students before in my business and entrepreneurship classes, but this was different. There were 40 students who volunteered their time to listen to the "rap" from representatives from Jennifer Lawless, Matt Brown, Sheldon Whitehouse and my campaign. I thought these reps did a good job representing their candidates. The thing I was struck by first was there was better than a 4 to 1 ratio of female to male attendees. This is profound. First, women's voice MUST be louder and stronger by influencing not only the outcome of future elections, but the selection of candidates who will ensure equitable representation (by either gender) that is most fit to hold office, whether public or private. Their sheer numbers were telling. When I think of the number of educators, care providers, and heads of social outreach organizations, I tend to think women and I wonder why when England has had their Margaret Thatcher, Israel their Golda Mieir and India their Indira Ghandi, when will the U.S. be ready. Heck, China's #2 government official is a woman. Equity is long overdue and this was in these ladies' hands.

While we patriotically praise many of our husbands, sons and fathers who serve in Iraq, we seem to forget the numbers of women, our mothers and daughters, who serve and sometimes die for a war built on lies. We forget that for every man serving, there is likely to be a female child, wife and mother who all struggle while we look towards our elected officials and wonder why about this poorly executed occupation with no exit strategy when the public has clearly shared its majority sentiment. The silence is deafening.

The time I spent talking to these young, powerful and virile minds in the relative comfort of a third floor classroom, while their often less advantaged counterparts exist on a day-to-day basis also was cause for pause. While they were the minority willing to listen, they were there to see whether there was a clear and compelling reason to choose one candidate over another and offer help. I was proud of them for being there and caring. The struggle with any period in history is to engage our youth. The youth IS OUR FUTURE. They must ask, as they did, “Should Democrats vote along party lines?”, “What is your position on exit strategies for the War on Iraq?” and finally, “Can you sum up in three words your campaign's mission?” (I picked ALE - Action Leadership and Empowerment) and so on.

But, the biggest fear I have is what two courageous and cogent potential volunteers shared after our gathering.... Interestingly, both male,.... What are Democrat candidates doing to distinguish themselves? Frankly, I agree. Most sounded pretty vanilla, knocking the other candidates in their party and/or the Republicans. I'd like to think ours was different because our actions reflected leadership and purpose. We offered the respect of having the candidate speak directly to the attendees and while, I'm imperfect, I know where to get the answers to most of the pressing questions facing our country right now. While those of us older than generations "X" and "Y" may have the wisdom (and bias) born from experience, I also know I need youth to take leadership positions to influence other 18 - 30 year olds who have the power to change the political landscape. It's their future we're leveraging and theirs, in many ways, the voice that needs to be heard loudest.