wactivist.com

From the LA Times ... as it moves into its 16th year, Rock the Vote itself is being rocked by crisis. Saddled with about $700,000 in debt, the group has cut its staff from more than 20 people in 2004 to just two today. Its president, who left last summer amid disagreement about the organization’s direction, has yet to be replaced. And last month, Rock the Vote was sued for the second time in just eight months.

Let me just say this, Rock the Vote is a failed organization both in execution & management and more importantly in CONCEPT. It is interesting to see that these problems are now catching up with them. I have to admit – their demise makes me a little giddy.

Now I know—you are a good progressive who is thinking “WHAT, WHY ON EARTH IS ROCK THE VOTE BAD?” Well lets ignore problems with how the organization itself is run, how it is frequently a tool of music promotion more than it is of civic engagement, and how the obsession with being “hip and cool” ignores huge segments of the youth population … and lets think about what it is they do.

Rock the Vote is all about making it COOL to … wait for it REGISTER to vote. There are two problems with this. First the whole making voter registration TRENDY is hardly the making of long term civic engagement. Second registration just isn’t enough and that is all the RTV does. Don’t get me wrong, registering young people with the help of celebs and mass media is is a great idea – but as I have famously said before … (time for a blockquote of myself) ... from the Nation

“We want to create a youth-vote organization, like Rock the Vote, but partisan—and not just registering people to vote but educating voters. Registering someone to vote is like giving them the keys to the car. You still have to tell them where the car is parked and when it’s going to be around.“

And yup, that is the article that called me a Crack Organizer, and in a good way. Back on topic though … Rock the Vote has been around now for about 15 years. So why has RTV failed? Simple – these hipsters are ignorant to the importance of Tom Reade’s four favorite letters (not those four) – *G*et *O*ut *T*he *V*ote

RTV sucks because they have nothing to do with turnout! They don’t help educate people on HOW to cast their ballot, WHEN to cast their ballot, or frankly even WHY to cast their ballot. Instead they offer this in-congruent mixed message of “registering is cool” and “registering is your duty”.

So … RIP RTV. When you guys stop sucking up all the “youth vote” money – maybe we will be able to really make some progress with the important mission of cultivating life long civic engagement from an early age.