By Jonathan Gainer, 16, Y-Press
Gavin Bauer, 18
Portland, ME
It took a while, but the Blunt Youth Radio Project has helped Gavin Bauer find his voice.
Gavin joined Blunt Radio his freshman year but didn’t really get involved until this year. Started in 1994, the project produces a weekly call-in talk show that airs Monday nights from 7:30 to 8:30 in the greater Portland area. The subjects range widely, from teen motherhood, to voting, to suggestive language.
Besides reporting and engineering for shows, Gavin has explored a variety of topics for the program, including homelessness and the Iraq War. He also is involved in politics on a personal level. During the 2004 elections, he volunteered with the Kerry campaign and has helped the Obama campaign during the Maine primary.
What would you consider your biggest success on the radio?
The first time I had a feature on the radio and I could hear my own voice and my family heard it, that was really exciting.
What are some of the problems facing youth in your area?
I know several high school dropouts, and they just really aren’t given a lot of options. The minimum wage is really low; that’s a huge problem for a lot of people, especially when teens drop out of high school and they start entering adulthood and they have no opportunities to ever make more than minimum wage. Because as an adult, when you’re paying taxes and you’re trying to get an apartment or whatever, you really can’t afford to live on minimum wage.
If you could talk to any candidate about any issue, what would you talk about?
I would definitely choose to talk to Obama because I think not only is he the candidate who I can connect most with, but he’s the candidate who I hope wins the presidency.
It would definitely be hard to choose one issue. I have some pretty strong views on a lot of them — the environment, just the whole way our economy is working and our welfare system, and just things the government could be doing better. I think that all handguns should be illegal, as well as all machine guns and automatic guns.
According to Rock the Vote, this is the first year that leading Democratic candidates all have a youth director and a youth voter outreach program. What other things do you think that politicians or the parties can do to incorporate youth more?
I think they’re doing a good job of the whole outreach aspect. It’s hard to incorporate youth without kind of blatantly advertising to them. It’s good that the videos get up on YouTube so kids who don’t watch the news or watch the debates still get an idea of what their views are.
Also recently, I don’t know if you have heard about this, but I heard from one of my friends that there’s a competition for students who can make a 30-second film, a pro-Obama ad. And there is some sort of big scholarship or something for the winner.
By Max Gabovitch, 15, Y-Press
Rachel Briggs, 17
Honolulu, Hawaii
Rachel Briggs is a youth volunteer for the Obama campaign in Honolulu, HI. Organizing supporters’ contact information, working at fund-raising events, and starting a student chapter in her district are some of Rachel’s accomplishments.
Rachel first became interested in Obama after a discussion with a teacher, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s half-sister. But she didn’t start supporting him until she did her own research into his policies.
Why do you think young people seem to be more involved in the presidential campaigns this year?
I think the candidate has changed. I think that the message that we’re getting from this candidate, from Obama, is very different than what we’ve been hearing before. He’s telling us that we do have a voice and that we are important and that he cares about what we’re saying and that he’s willing to listen to us. He has interesting and new ideas, and he’s saying he doesn’t want to be a part of the old Washington politics. I think that that new message is just very exciting.
What’s been the best response to your work?
I think that the best response to my work was on caucus night here in Hawaii. I went down to my local caucus, and usually there‘s about 50 people there on caucus night, and there was like over a thousand people. Just seeing all those people there, connecting how they had gotten the calls and all the organization that I’d worked on, kind of seeing the results of how that played out was I think the most satisfying response.
If you could talk to the candidates about any issue, what would it be?
The environment. I think that’s really a disaster right now and I think we need to make a change if we want to have a world in the future.
What advice would you give to other kids who want to get politically involved?
Just do it. I had thoughts of politics as something kind of very far removed and not really accessible, but then I realized that as soon as I kind of decided that I wanted to be involved and get out there and started talking to people, it was really so easy to become a part of the campaign and to start working on it. So it’s good to take action.
By Izaak Hayes, 17, Y-Press
Jack Boeglin, 19
Carmel, Indiana
Jack Boeglin has been following Barack Obama since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. After doing some research, he decided to start a chapter of Students For Barack Obama at his high school.
Like many other young people, Jack appreciates that Obama is a relative newcomer to Washington politics. “Presidential candidates in the past have almost universally been older white men. They were people who’d been involved in Washington politics for a long time. … Too many young people had a hard time identifying with them,” he said.
A week before the Ohio primary, Jack, his brother and two friends traveled to Cincinnati to campaign for Obama. He felt pretty good about their efforts. “Door to door, I got some people who were supportive, who actually said they would go out and vote. I got several Undecideds to sway to his side, and I actually got a couple of registered Republicans, because Ohio is a open primary, to say that they did like Barack more and that they would go out and vote for him as opposed to Senator Clinton in the primary.”
What inspired you to become involved?
In 2004, I saw his speech at the Democratic National Convention; he was the keynote speaker, and I got interested. When he released his book, The Audacity of Hope, I read that, became more interested, started looking into his positions, and I have supported him ever since he became a candidate for the presidency. I’ve donated money along with some of the rest of my family, and I’m now trying to work for him as much as I can.
What was the funniest thing that someone said to you while you were campaigning?
I went to a house that had several Obama signs, and when I went to the door, a man who was at least 90 years old came outside. I asked him whether he was a supporter of Barack, and he didn’t even know whom I was talking about. So I wasn’t really sure how to handle that situation.
If you could talk with Barack Obama, what would you say?
I would talk to him about who he plans on appointing to his Cabinet and to his personal advisers. Experience is a real issue, and it’d be nice to know who he plans on surrounding himself with to help him out with those challenges. I’d also like to talk to him about free trade. That’s been a big issue in this campaign, and I know it’s gotten a lot of people pretty worked up.
Why do you think young people aren’t typically involved in politics and don’t vote?
There’s a little bit of apathy bred into the system, but mainly people don’t feel they know what’s going on, don’t care, or just never get around to registering before the deadline.
By Quinn Andrews, 14, Y-Press
Jennifer Jones, 18
Portland, Oregon
Jennifer Jones has been politically active since she was a high school freshman. Since then, she has worked passionately for the Democratic Party. She sees no problem with continuing her activism after high school, as she will be attending American University in Washington, D.C., in the fall.
Jennifer also has been active in The Bus Project, a student-run group that works for a hands-on democracy by organizing events (such as forums, voter-registration drives and bar crawls) to rally volunteers and voters.
Where did you get the idea to join the Bus Project?
It’s a very interesting story for me. Usually I think people just find it through their friends. I stumbled on it on the Internet. It was after the 2004 election and I was bored and I was like, “Well, I need to find something,” and I just was on a list that connected me to the Bus Project Web site, and I stumbled over “youth caucus” and saw high school and thought, “Cool,” so I got in contact with them. I was just looking for something to do politically because I knew I wanted to get involved that way.
What has been your best experience politically?
I got the white T-shirt award from the Bus Project, which is kind of cool. It’s like their special volunteer T-shirt and it’s kind of for star volunteers.
Do you plan to continue volunteering as the country gets closer to the November election?
I’m going to continue working at the Democratic Party, and what’s nice about that is that I don’t have to support one candidate, so I’m not in the middle of that. I try to think of myself as not having to choose. And I’ll be working with them through the summer and building up a base, and of course when we have our nominee, we’ll be switching for advocating for him or her. And then I’ll go to D.C. and hopefully do something either with the DNC or with the local presidential candidate or local candidate in the D.C. area.
What advice would you give to other kids who want to get politically involved?
Phone banking gets better after the first three times you call.
By Pratik Cherian, 16, Y-Press
Conor Rogers, 18
Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey
Four years ago, Conor Rogers saw a need for political volunteers and created the New Jersey Teenage Republican Organization to mobilize young people. Though it started out as a school club, it expanded to serve the county and then the state.
Conor’s organization, which is entirely student-run, mobilizes young people ages 14-18 to form a volunteer base for all kinds of Republican campaigns, including local, state and national races. Earlier this year, some members went to Florida to campaign for Republican hopeful Rudy Guiliani. Efforts now are focused on the McCain campaign, where members are manning phone banks across the state.
Conor has always been interested in politics and plans to go to The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“Next year will be the first year in history that I’m not a part of the organization,” he said. “So it’ll be definitely different.”
What was campaigning in Florida like?
That was a good experience. It was probably the best one that we’ve had as an organization. It was a lot of fun, a real hands-on campaign experience and stuff like that.
What advice would you give to other kids who want to get politically involved?
I would say if you want to be a leader, get a group of kids together. Volunteer. That’s the first place to start. Give the support your party needs to win, and the party will support you back.
If you could pass any piece of legislation, what would it be?
I would definitely fix the tax system. There needs to be major legislation that fixes the budget, everything from taxes to Social Security.
Who do you predict will win the election and why?
John McCain. I think the Democrats are going to have a split convention, and I think that’s going to help the Republicans. I think Hillary Clinton’s going to win the states heading into the convention, which is going to leave Barack Obama wounded.
Hillary Clinton would unify the conservative base against her. There’s a lot of concern about the conservatives not coming out for John McCain. With Hillary Clinton as a nominee, they would certainly come out. A lot of people who are moderate Democrats who are turned off by her style will vote for McCain.
By Mallory St. Claire, 17, Y-Press
Shaina Solomon, 18
Henderson, NV
Upon graduating from Coronado High School, Shaina Soloman will have more notches on her political belt than many adults. A highly motivated Democrat, Shaina has started a Young Democrats chapter, served as a caucus delegate, volunteered for numerous campaigns and is completing a paid internship with the state Democratic Party.
Shaina believes in the ideals of the Democratic Party. Her Young Democrats club had T-shirts made saying, “We're Democrats. We have heart.” Despite the excitement of the national presidential contest, Shaina says prefers statewide elections, saying she's more of a “behind-the-scenes” person.
The experience she's gained from her political activism is sure to aid her in many ways. She already has reaped one benefit: In the fall she’ll be attending the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on a scholarship.
What have you done with the Young Democrats?
[We started it] the second half of my ninth-grade year. I’ve been president ever since. I’m actually getting ready to give my reign over in our elections. I’m happy and sad. I’m moving forward, but it’s hard to believe ’cause it’s been four years with everybody.
Tell us more about your participation as a caucus delegate.
There is the precinct caucus, the county convention and the state convention, and then all this goes to deciding the delegates for a national convention. It’s really exciting.
At my caucus, what you do is you go into a room with a bunch of your neighbors, and my room had about 150 people. We got 11 delegates. So I was picked as one of the 11 and moved on to county convention as a delegate, where I was again selected as a delegate, and so I’m going on to the state convention, which is in Reno in May, and so that will be cool.
Who do you think the Democratic presidential candidate will be?
Well I’ve done a lot of switching around personally because I have been a hard-core Bill Richardson supporter, and so when he dropped out it didn’t really matter to me which one.
The other day, we were having a meeting for assembly district leaders, and one of my bosses was like, “I’m just gonna start out saying I don’t want to start out like people usually do, saying, ‘Who’s for Obama? Who’s for Hillary?’ I’m just gonna start out saying, ‘Who’s for McCain?’ and wait for nobody to raise their hand.”
So that’s what I’m all about. I want to be able to throw my support behind a Democratic candidate. I’m hoping that whoever gets the nomination, that they at least utilize Bill Richardson.
