Democrats Rally On National Voter Registration Day To Get Out The Youth Vote
Yesterday evening (Sept. 28), Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Jaime Harrison held a virtual rally in commemoration of National Voter Registration Day. National Voter Registration Day takes place every fourth Tuesday in September, so mark your calendars!
The event kicked off with a few minutes of miscellaneous royalty-free music. A rather raucous, overproduced selection, aptly entitled “Beach Party” (according to Shazam), truly encapsulated a central message: the Democratic Party needs young people. And we young people do love our raucous, overproduced, royalty-free beach party tunes.
It’s a tale as old as time. Leaders covet the energy – and in some cases, the exploitability – of young people. Young people (particularly young people of color) are playing an increasingly visible role in U.S. politics. Harrison’s rally capitalized on this trend.
The chairman’s cherubic visage lit up as he waxed nostalgic about his late grandfather and the importance of voting. Armed with his elder’s wisdom, Harrison poetically linked two four-letter words: HOPE and VOTE. “While I breathe, I hope…while I breathe, I vote,” he sermonized.
Harrison was accompanied by an entourage of Black women – a symbolism not lost on this viewer. Still, some skeptics may interpret such optics through a feminist, historical lens. Regardless, the party grandees yielded much of their time to the more youthful panelists: Jonnette Patty (who, refreshingly, greeted the panel in Navajo), Ric Galvan, and Tylik McMillan.
McMillan, a suave, smartly-dressed protégé of Al Sharpton, repeatedly invoked the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. He isn’t the only activist to draw this parallel: rising star Stacy Abrams dubbed the recent spate of draconian voter legislation as “Jim Crow 2.0”. Patty and Galvan also offered some thoughtful remarks. Galvan, taking aim at a fair-weather, carpetbagging consultant class, pleaded “We need to know that the folks coming in to do this work are gonna be here with us when the power goes out”. Patty lamented the ways outsiders and occupiers (especially the government) have failed indigenous communities. Patty and Galvan hail from Nevada and Texas, respectively – two states with some of the lowest voter registration rates in the country (see here).
In the melee of the 2020s, even seemingly apolitical organizations like the NFL have come to recognize the importance of getting out the vote. Other institutions, like historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), have long been loci of activism. The DNC panelists acknowledged and embraced this tradition. Lest we forget, it was four HBCU students who staged the famous Greensboro sit-ins of 1960.
Atop Capitol Hill, the U.S. Senate still struggles to pass House Resolution 1, the For the People Act. The Act, if approved, would revolutionize the U.S. electoral system.
If you need to register to vote, please visit iwillvote.com for further instructions, or call 833-336-8683. Para Español, visita aquí o llama 866-296-8686. Your area may be having elections this fall, so register before your state’s deadline!
Love this article! Shout out to the author, as it is exceptionally well written.
However skeptical one might be, it is a strategy that has historically worked well for the Democrats, and one which the GOP has failed to match.
Stacy Abrams is symbolic of this. Her efforts in enlisting mass registration of voters has turned Georgia decidedly purple, with the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia and Macon now leaning heavily Democratic, with a combined population greater than the conservative rural areas. Of course, the Democratic party often fails to keep the promises made when recruiting new voters, but that, perhaps, is for another article.
A joy to read. Witty and refreshing style that expressed the importance of this event as well as its role in the bigger picture. Thanks Ms. Miller.
I gotta agree that the importance of youth is definitely being utilized by both parties, my concern is that how much of the youth is still feeling disenfranchised by the dems to rally support for the party. Big ups for the authors sources and making them available:)