Comments on: What gets Millennials excited?

By: NJHollenback

NJHollenback — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:57:13 +0000

Which begs the question, why don’t Millenials consume local media? (I don’t right now either and that is not good). Additionally the election of a mayor of a major US city is hardly “under the radar.” Or at least it should not be. Moreover if someone can’t figure out how to register, perhaps that person should not be voting. A quick call to DNC/RNC local office should have resolved the issue.

We need strong leaders from the Millenials. Getting involved in the “non-exciting” work at a local level is a good place to sharpen one’s skills.

By: byron

byron — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:38:25 +0000

Good points! As I present to young people about politics and civic engagement, I find that they want to be and are willing to be involved if they see it is relevant for them and believe their participation will make a difference. They do not want to be part of the far right/far left argument, they want to be pragmatic and get something done. I believe they were so optimistic about President Obama’s campaign because he was the first poititician since JFK to tell them they must be involved and “yes we can” make a difference. I also believe they are becoming disillusioned because there does not seem to be a big change yet – Republicans seem to be more anti democrat than anything else and the Democrats seem to be almost as unwilling to talk with the right as the right was unwilling to talk to the left under President Bush.

Millenials are out there and are aware they can make a difference but they need to be courted to expect their support.

By: Jason Potteiger

Jason Potteiger — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:05:22 +0000

I very much agree with your analysis here. I think another problem that comes into play is that most local elections are very under the radar. As you said, we’re not really settled into our locations yet–and even if some are I think they likely aren’t expecting to be there for long–so I doubt many of us millennials are regularly consuming much local media. Further, a few years back my roommate wanted to vote absentee in Pennsylvania, and forget about how hard it was to find what district and ward he was in, but getting the paperwork to fill out, heck even finding the right website was nearly impossible. In national elections there is constant messaging and easily accessible information available to voters. In local elections it can seem impossible just to register.