Assemblymember Jerome Horton (D-51) is submitting a resolution in the California State Assembly on behalf of California Young Democrats to encourage political parties and government to support the "youth vote" (US!!). Please look it over and give feedback. We'll be talking about it at the CA Young Dems. Meeting on January 28th at the Manhattan Beach Marriott.

Draft Language:

WHEREAS, Young voters between the ages of 18-35 are becoming an increasingly large segment of the voting population and deserve the attention of political stakeholders on all levels of government, political parties, the media and general public and,

WHEREAS, According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), in 2004, the country witnessed the highest turnout among young voters since 1992, with 20.1 million Americans under the age of 30 going to the polls and,

WHEREAS, In 2004, 16 percent of the total votes were cast by those under the age of 30 and,

WHEREAS, In spite of the recent gains, political parties on the federal, state, and national levels, continue to treat the youth vote as a second thought and have not fully devoted the resources necessary to increase their participation and,

WHEREAS, A recent survey taken of local party leaders from throughout the country suggests that very few of them believe young voters are essential to the long-term success of the party and,

WHEREAS, The same survey found that most local party leaders believe their focus should be on helping candidates win elections as opposed to building a loyal supporters, which will be the to the detriment of political parties as they consider their long-term viability and,

WHEREAS, Both major national political parties acknowledge their shortcomings with youth participation and voting and concede that new techniques must be established to reach this new generation of voters, and

WHEREAS, Young voters are not an anomaly, they share many of the same priorities as older voters, ranking “Moral Values,” the economy, terrorism, and the war in Iraq as their greatest concern and,

WHEREAS, While young voters may also be concerned with issues such as the cost of higher education and job training, and understand that many issues which do not currently affect them will eventually affect their everyday lives which further illustrates the need to participate in the process, therefore

Be it RESOLVED by the Assembly, that the State of California recognizes the importance of youth civic participation as essential to the future of our democracy and urges every organization involved in the electoral process and every level of government to focus its energies on encouraging youth participation wherever possible.

It turns out that voters don't like corrupt politicians. A CNN/Gallup poll shows Tom DeLay now losing to a generic Democrat. That's right, the poll shows DeLay losing to an unnamed Democrat by 13 points! Check it out:

"A CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey of registered voters in Texas' 22nd Congressional District finds incumbent Congressman Tom DeLay trailing a 'generic' Democrat by 13 percentage points, with 49% of voters supporting the unnamed 'Democratic Party's candidate for Congress,' and 36% supporting DeLay. Another 12% of voters are unsure who they will vote for, and 3% choose another candidate." (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll)

In case you don't have Texas' 22nd CD stats at the tips of your fingers, that's a 21 point slide for The Hammer since his last election. It's almost surprising what a little money-laundering will do.

I am out at the Democratic National Committee/Young Democrats of America meetings in Phoenix, AZ. This morning the DNC passed a resolution brought forward by YDA to start a "Youth Coordinating Council"...which really means a group that focuses on outreaching to YDs voters/potential voters (people under 36). And at the end, DNC Chairman Gov. Dean mentioned again "how the media got it wrong. Young people vote." This is great news to hear that the our Party understands that getting young people to vote is key to having a strong Party!

Also, a bunch of Young Democrats and DNC members phone banked today from Arizona for Steve Young, the Democratic Candiate for the 48th Congressional District (Orange County). It was great to see people from other states trying to reach out and help California.

Though I am loathe to put out a hit on a fellow Democrat, I have to say I think Kennedy made the wrong move. The only up side for Kennedy that I can see is that after this thing doesn't work out, she will have plenty of Republican connections. And, as we all know, Republicans are much more green than they are red -- so let's just say Kennedy won't have any financial difficulties.

Not only that, Kennedy admitted in their press conference/love-fest that she voted for all Arnold's propositions. Pro-business is one thing, but supporting Schwarzenegger's propositions is simply anti-labor. On top of that, I'm pretty sure the ink is still wet from when Schwarzenegger vetoed Leno's marraige equality bill. It seems that the left is saying Kennedy is no Democrat (or, as Dan Walters puts it, an "ideological traitor"), while the right is tearing out their hair screaming that Arnold is no Republican (see "Dems Pop the Champagne Cork! Welcome to our side Arnold!)".

Looking at it from the left, Kennedy will lose many friends and allies whether she helps Schwarzenegger succeed or not. This means that our party is losing a prime-time player. In my opinion, this alone is reason enough to say it's a bad move on Kennedy's part.

Covering the Duke Cunningham story at this point would be redundant. After all, he's got pretty much every major newspaper saying that he "Shamed the Capitol" or that he was involved in a "Brazen Conspiracy" or pointing out that his is the "largest bribery case" since the early 1980's, or perhaps writing about his "$7,200 French commode" (I hear it's gonna go up on Ebay... see also: here), well, it seem like mainstream media has got this thing covered. And we wouldn't want to beat a dead horse. No.

But, well, then there's this, courtesy of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham will likely get government checks for the rest of his life from his retirement pay ... despite his tax evasion and conspiracy convictions." (December 1, 2005) How ridiculous does it get? If there's any integrity whatsoever left in this guy, that money will go to charities. Besides, he probably won't need it considering he's got housing well taken care of for the next ten years or so.

We're on fire!

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