m***@use.net
2008-10-31 16:16:18 UTC
"Be the Change" Aims to Get Out the Music Vote
By Steve Silberman, AlterNet. Posted October 31, 2008.
Graham Nash and other big name music acts get out the vote with
Election Day phone calls to their fans.
Hip-hop stars Chingy, Q and MC Lyte have joined forces with two-time
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Graham Nash in an
innovative get-out-the-vote effort that aims to mobilize young voters
for election 2008 by leveraging the power of social networks. This
cross-generational GOTV coalition, called "Be the Change," has been
launched by Music for Democracy, a new political action committee that
is using the passion of music fans and emerging online technology to
engage a new generation of voters in the electoral process.
Other groups that have signed on for Be the Change include R&B diva
Chilli and jam-band favorites String Cheese Incident and Hot Buttered
Rum. On Nov. 4, those who sign up on MFD's Web site will receive an
automated call from the group of their choice to remind them to go to
the polls, and a selected number of voters will receive personal calls
from the musicians themselves. Music for Democracy's Web site also
features in-depth interviews about politics with musicians Bruce
Hornsby, Michael Franti, Will Oldham, David Crosby, and Steve Berlin
of Los Lobos, as well as conversations with progressive politicians
like Howard Dean and Mark Begich, the Alaskan Democratic candidate who
is running for a Senate seat against Sen. Ted Stevens, recently
convicted on corruption charges.
"There's so much at stake in the next election, and it's not just
obvious things like getting the hell out of a war we shouldn't be in,"
says Crosby, who has been politically outspoken since the late '60s as
a founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash. "The
current administration has messed with the balance of power in the
United States. They've tried to amass all the power in the executive
branch, taking it away from the legislative branch and stacking the
courts. They abrogated our civil rights with the so-called Patriot Act
and took away habeas corpus and our right to privacy -- things that
were basic building blocks of this country."
The national director of MFD, Bear Kittay, says that Be the Change
"has the capacity to revolutionize the power of artists to make a
quantifiable impact on the outcome of this election, harnessing
technology and culture in ways that are key in this new age of wired
political participation." The technological core of the GOTV effort is
a simple online application -- known as a "widget" -- that can be
embedded on nearly any Web site, enabling voters to sign up for calls,
e-mails and other contact from participating artists.
"Young voters rightfully demand more than a smiling celebrity with
good talking points," says MFD's executive director, Mitch Manzella.
"This is not merely linking a candidate to a popular musician's name.
Be the Change gives fans a chance to hear the reasoning behind a
thoughtful endorsement, and as a result, respect the position as more
than merely a photo op." The PAC is also hosting a contest in which
fans earn points by recruiting others to join Be the Change.
"Rockstar" fans who earn the most points win a live phone call from
their favorite artist on Election Day. The contest will expand MFD's
ability to target and engage young voters by capturing their contact
and demographic information.
MFD's strategy is focused on swing states like New Mexico, where the
organization is targeting the roughly 79,000 Democratic-leaning likely
voters needed to overcome George W. Bush's 2004 margin of victory in
the state. Young voters in Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia and
Florida will also be targeted by the Be the Change campaign.
Kittay points out that funding for groups that provide outreach to
young voters is only a fraction of what it was during the 2004
election, and those efforts often overlook voters who are not
attending college. MFD fills this void by targeting 18- to
29-year-olds through online music communities and social networks like
Facebook. "This project is using new technologies to break down the
barriers between Democratic musicians and their fans and make a strong
statement on Election Day," he says.
Steve Silberman is a senior writer for Wired magazine.
By Steve Silberman, AlterNet. Posted October 31, 2008.
Graham Nash and other big name music acts get out the vote with
Election Day phone calls to their fans.
Hip-hop stars Chingy, Q and MC Lyte have joined forces with two-time
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Graham Nash in an
innovative get-out-the-vote effort that aims to mobilize young voters
for election 2008 by leveraging the power of social networks. This
cross-generational GOTV coalition, called "Be the Change," has been
launched by Music for Democracy, a new political action committee that
is using the passion of music fans and emerging online technology to
engage a new generation of voters in the electoral process.
Other groups that have signed on for Be the Change include R&B diva
Chilli and jam-band favorites String Cheese Incident and Hot Buttered
Rum. On Nov. 4, those who sign up on MFD's Web site will receive an
automated call from the group of their choice to remind them to go to
the polls, and a selected number of voters will receive personal calls
from the musicians themselves. Music for Democracy's Web site also
features in-depth interviews about politics with musicians Bruce
Hornsby, Michael Franti, Will Oldham, David Crosby, and Steve Berlin
of Los Lobos, as well as conversations with progressive politicians
like Howard Dean and Mark Begich, the Alaskan Democratic candidate who
is running for a Senate seat against Sen. Ted Stevens, recently
convicted on corruption charges.
"There's so much at stake in the next election, and it's not just
obvious things like getting the hell out of a war we shouldn't be in,"
says Crosby, who has been politically outspoken since the late '60s as
a founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash. "The
current administration has messed with the balance of power in the
United States. They've tried to amass all the power in the executive
branch, taking it away from the legislative branch and stacking the
courts. They abrogated our civil rights with the so-called Patriot Act
and took away habeas corpus and our right to privacy -- things that
were basic building blocks of this country."
The national director of MFD, Bear Kittay, says that Be the Change
"has the capacity to revolutionize the power of artists to make a
quantifiable impact on the outcome of this election, harnessing
technology and culture in ways that are key in this new age of wired
political participation." The technological core of the GOTV effort is
a simple online application -- known as a "widget" -- that can be
embedded on nearly any Web site, enabling voters to sign up for calls,
e-mails and other contact from participating artists.
"Young voters rightfully demand more than a smiling celebrity with
good talking points," says MFD's executive director, Mitch Manzella.
"This is not merely linking a candidate to a popular musician's name.
Be the Change gives fans a chance to hear the reasoning behind a
thoughtful endorsement, and as a result, respect the position as more
than merely a photo op." The PAC is also hosting a contest in which
fans earn points by recruiting others to join Be the Change.
"Rockstar" fans who earn the most points win a live phone call from
their favorite artist on Election Day. The contest will expand MFD's
ability to target and engage young voters by capturing their contact
and demographic information.
MFD's strategy is focused on swing states like New Mexico, where the
organization is targeting the roughly 79,000 Democratic-leaning likely
voters needed to overcome George W. Bush's 2004 margin of victory in
the state. Young voters in Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Virginia and
Florida will also be targeted by the Be the Change campaign.
Kittay points out that funding for groups that provide outreach to
young voters is only a fraction of what it was during the 2004
election, and those efforts often overlook voters who are not
attending college. MFD fills this void by targeting 18- to
29-year-olds through online music communities and social networks like
Facebook. "This project is using new technologies to break down the
barriers between Democratic musicians and their fans and make a strong
statement on Election Day," he says.
Steve Silberman is a senior writer for Wired magazine.