The ongoing debate about former Republican Congressman Mark Foley’s explicit e-mails to congressional pages focuses on the lurid details of the affair and the scandal’s possible impact on the upcoming midterm elections. But most of the discussion ignores what could be a far more consequential effect: its impact on youth political participation.
Questionable behavior by politicians, particularly when directed toward young staffers, runs the risk of turning off young Americans from politics. This would be a damaging consequence.
Nationally, young people already vote in lower numbers than any other age group. Only 47 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in 2004. Youth participation is alarmingly low, particularly when compared against the turnout of all other ages (66 percent in ’04).
Today, political scandals are more easily preserved and publicized. Foley was brought down by “IMs” and e-mails, and it was a blog — a then little-known forum — that first broke the Monica Lewinsky affair.
New media are changing how politics is played, like it or not.
Sen. George Allen, R-Va., learned this the hard way. Hours after he derided a 20-year-old volunteer on his opponent’s campaign as “macaca,” the footage was posted on YouTube. The seemingly racist remark was viewed by so many people in such a short period, Allen’s once safe Senate seat quickly became “in play.”
Ned Lamont successfully channeled these same forces. It was high-profile bloggers, utilizing YouTube and their online community, who sparked his primary upset of Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.
Whatever the outcomes in November, neither Allen nor Lieberman expected such a tense October.
Blogs, once peripheral forces of alternative media, are becoming increasingly mainstream. Leading bloggers are now offering their services to campaigns and politicians are vying for the backing of the blogosphere.
New sites are being launched to create new forums for political debate.
Campaigns Wikia, a user-powered site started by the founder of Wikipedia, recently announced its forthcoming effort to offer “candidates an Internet presence to manage a campaign and gain direct access to voters.”
The most popular and powerful online players recognize the opportunity they have to expand political debate.
Social networking site Facebook has launched an Election 2006 feature to introduce its 9.5 million users to candidates across the country.
MySpace recently announced its own voter-registration drive, allowing its members to boast that they “Registered To Vote On MySpace.”
Efforts to enable people to register via text-message are underway.
Both Apple and Google lend their respective expertise to support the civic outreach of GenerationEngage, the organization I co-founded nearly two years ago to connect non-college youthto meaningful political debate.
In races across the country, these instruments, often in the hands of young people, are drawing more people into the process.
A 20-year-old student from the University of Maryland, volunteering for Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, created a Facebook profile for the Democratic candidate for Maryland governor.
It was the 19-year-old son of Len Musil who created a MySpace page for the Republican in the Arizona gubernatorial race.
Aspiring politicos and policy junkies will continue to flock to D.C. despite this latest sordid affair. In some, optimism will continue to brim anew. But those are the truly passionate. What about American youth writ large, whose role in democracy is to take an active interest in local and national affairs — and to vote on Election Day?
Youth-friendly technology and adolescent organizational and informational tools are the reason more young people are exposed to disheartening political scandal.
But these same tools also present an opportunity to draw more young Americans into politics and to the polls. They have the potential to reach beyond the already-committed, to connect with young Americans who might be wondering: should I care and does it even matter if I do?
By reaching out to more young people and empowering them to impact the ongoing debate, we increase the likelihood that they answer a resounding and collective “yes” on both accounts.
Devin Talbott is co-founder and chairman of GenerationEngage, a grassroots youth civic engagement effort.
