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TechnoratiYoung Activists Furious With Clinton, Dodd
Many youth activists are furious with the campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) for suggesting that college students who did not grow up in Iowa should not caucus there in January - and they are delivering that message both publicly and privately.
"It's terrible to have candidates making misleading statements about whether or not students can caucus," said Alexandra Acker, executive director of the Young Democrats of America.
"I'm very worried about the caucus-day implications of this," Acker said, concerned that discouraging students from caucusing will make an existing problem worse. "Students are disenfranchised at higher rates to begin with."
Young Voter PAC, another Democratic youth organization, has also responded aggressively. The political action committee, which works with Democratic candidates to engage young voters, founded the Facebook group "Hey Clinton, Stop Telling Young Voters to Stay Home."
Rock the Vote issued a statement encouraging students from out of state to vote. Student PIRGs Young Voters Project put out a release from a number of its student leaders in Iowa saying, "We live here in Iowa for the majority of the year. ... To say that students who didn't grow up in Iowa, but who now live here, shouldn't have the choice to participate in the caucuses is blatant voter disenfranchisement."
The argument centers on whether to encourage Iowa college students from out of state to caucus in Iowa - as the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is doing - or to frown at it, as the Clinton and Dodd campaigns have hinted at.
Drawing an implicit contrast with the Obama campaign, Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said, "We are not systematically trying to manipulate the Iowa caucuses with out-of-state people; we don't have literature recruiting out-of-state college students."
And Dodd's Iowa state Director Julie Andreeff Jensen accused Obama of "scheming to evade either the spirit or the letter of the rules that guide the process."
By last week, it seemed that youth activists like Acker had made some headway when both campaigns released statements saying that all eligible voters should caucus. But both candidates and their surrogates have continued to sound ambiguous notes since then.
Dodd declared that students who did not grow up in Iowa should not caucus, saying, "If you're from Hartford, Conn., and you're going to school at the University of Iowa, and you're paying out-of-state tuition, you're [unfairly] casting yourself as an Iowan."
David Yepsen, the influential Des Moines Register columnist, criticized the Obama campaign Dec. 1 for distributing a pamphlet informing student supporters that even if they are out of state on Jan. 3 they can return to Iowa and caucus at their school precinct.
Yepsen wrote, "These are the Iowa caucuses. Asking people who are 'not from Iowa' to participate in them changes the nature of the event."
Yepsen himself admits that it's legal for any student at a four-year college in Iowa to vote. The Iowa secretary of state posts information on how students can caucus from their campus address.
But the Clinton and Dodd campaigns seized on the opening to appeal to older Iowans' potential resentment of Obama's support from young people by issuing statements echoing Yepsen's sentiments.
And Sen. Joe Biden (Del.) said the Obama campaign was "tamper[ing] with the caucus."
Then on Monday former President Bill Clinton waffled in response to a question at Grinnell College in Iowa about whether Sen. Clinton wanted Grinnell students from out of state to caucus for her.
Clinton revealed the campaign's new line of attack on students from out of state by saying, "If this is your primary political identity then you should vote, but if it isn't and you're going to turn right back around and vote in a primary the next day then you shouldn't because it means that your primary identity is not in Iowa."
The Hillary campaign has since issued a statement encouraging students to vote provided they don't fraudulently participate in both their home state primary and the caucuses.
The Clinton campaign did not provide evidence that this has ever happened, or explain the cause of their sudden concern about it, when asked by Politico.
Alec Schierenbeck, 20, is the president of College and Young Democrats of Iowa and said he intends to caucus, though he is undecided on a candidate.
Schierenbeck, a junior at Grinnell who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., was in the audience and said he was horrified by Clinton's answer.
"This is a Republican tactic," said Schierenbeck, citing the campaign of Danny Carroll, the former Republican state representative for Grinnell's district.
He sent a mailing in his 2004 reelection campaign that asked, "[W]hy would you let 1,000 east-coast liberal kids elect your representative?" in reference to Grinnell students. (In fact, less than half Grinnell's 1,400 students are from East Coast states.)
Schierenbeck is hardly the only politically involved student from out of state in Iowa. As Politico has reported, the co-chair of Hillary Clinton's University of Iowa student chapter, Nikki Dziuban, is from Illinois.
She intends to caucus for Clinton and will bring other Iowa students from Illinois back to school over winter break with her.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign has drawn criticism from other campaigns for refusing to sign a pledge saying that campaign workers who moved to Iowa to work for him will not caucus.
But the Richardson camp has also said that it will not encourage student supporters who grew up out of state to come back for the caucuses. Richardson's spokesman Tom Reynolds suggests that doing so violates "the spirit of the law."
Obama, meanwhile, has not backed down. Campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told Politico in an e-mail, "We should be encouraging young people to participate in the political process - not looking for ways to shut them out."
Schierenbeck agreed.
"We don't have a student over-engagement problem in this country, we have an under-engagement problem. Every elected official should take every opportunity to encourage young people to vote."
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was updated on Dec. 13 to note that Bill Clinton's comments did include a remark specifying that he was talking about caucusing in Iowa and voting in another state's primary election.
It was also updated to clarify details about the question posed to President Clinton. The question was not asked by a Clinton-supporting student from Minnesota, but by a student from Nebraska who does not support Clinton. The confusion arose because his question was about a friend of his from Minnesota who received an invitation to the event from the Clinton campaign.
© 2007 Politico.com
45 Comments so far
Show AllMRFOAD, how do college students caucus in the state they came from when they are in school, during midterm exams? Just hop on a plane and charge back and forth across the country?
As a life long Iowan I believe that out of state students should neither be allowed to caucus or vote in my state. They can cast absentee in the state they come from.
It would be wrong to have candidate X or candidate Y win our caucus just because students who are in our state for part of the year for 4 or so years voted for that candidate.
For the record, neither Obama nor Clinton are among my first or second choices when I caucus. For that matter, third or forth choices either.
I agree with guizar. Sadly this country is too racist to vote in Obama. People won't admit it, but they are.
His candidacy would bring out the rednecks in droves beyond the Republicans' dreams.
johncpt December 14th, 2007 7:40 pm
"What a sad day. All this commotion directed at destroying Hillary's campaign. I can't find the words to say how completely democrats have, once more, been duped by media and the Clinton-haters, to throw away the best candidate we have against the republicans."
Actually it is the Clintons that have duped the Nation. Bill through NAFTA, various other trade agreements, plus outsourcing, and insourcing threw millions out of their good paying manufacturing jobs, causing them to lose their retirement, and their homes. Now Hillary wonders why her message that she will fight for the middle class doesn't resonate.
Lobo Gris
In every poll, John Edwards beats every Republican more than all the rest of the Dems. He will be the best leader of the free world. If you aren't aware of his positions then just read them on his website. They have been there for over a year and are the best solutions to our problems. He knows how to beat these crooked corporations and take back our government from the lobbyists. Just do the research before making your votes final. President Edwards is our best hope for prosperity and peace in the world.
Ultimately a democracy is about voting on issues -- not on personalities. Whoever delivers on the popular will should be wholly transparent. It shouldn't ultimately matter who's in the monkey suit, so long as they listen to their constituents.
I don't hate Hillary. She's just not right for the job.
Ms. Brown from the 2004 primaries, now THERE is a woman I would have voted for. Barbara Boxer, THERE is a woman I would vote for.
My first and second choices in this race are Kucinich and Obama. We'll see what I get, come election day...
INSTANT RUN-OFF VOTING, ~SANS~ ELECTRONIC MACHINES, ANYONE!!?
Nostalgic for Nixon - whoda thunk it?
First, it's a wonderful thing for people of all ages to participate in our dmocracy. Second, I've seen many comments in blogs lately calling Obama supporters "kids". Third, it's no accident that so many "kids" are getting involed in politics due to being inspired for the first time to think there is someone they can acually vote for who cares about their future. Barack Obama is that person. What young people (and some 59 year old young people such as myself) see is someone who is of a younger generation who doesn't carry all the baggage of the baby boomers. Good for them and good for all of us. Of course they don't intend to caucus in Iowa and vote somewhere else and the Obama campaign is not advising them to do so. Why can't the cynics get it that Obama is for real about uniting all Americans (much less the world)? This is the message that young people respond to, as well as the rest of us who are disgusted with the typical politics that have played out over the past 20-30 years.
Ah yes. The fun and games of voter manipulation begins already! We don't even have to wait until Novermber '08!
These college kids live 9 months (or more) out of the year in Iowa. They eat, drink, breath, and live the spirit of Iowa. They attend Iowa institutions that are uniquely Iowan by choice. They pay Iowa sales tax. Many of them pay Iowa license fees. Many of them pay Iowa income tax. They all indirectly pay Iowa property tax. They are impacted every day they are here by our Iowa law. If doing all of this for at 4 years doesn't entitle them to have a voice in Iowa politics, I don't know what does!
Iowa is proud and pleased to be the educational choice of kids that come from all over the nation and the world. Those who are citizens of the US have as much right to participate in our caucus as any other Iowan.
Obama is going to take Iowa and run with it! And then New Hampshire!
Go Obama! Go Obama! Go Obama!
Politics is a tough game. Didn't Hillary change states just to run for the Senate? We need to encourage young people to be more involved in politics. These young people will eventually clean up our mess. The sooner they start the better off we will be.
GO BARACK OBAMA
Good point, iammyself. That is why college students are allowed to register in the state they attend school. Clinton is just trying to disenfranchise anyone who might not vote for her. Sound familiar?
It is certainly a breath of fresh air to once again have college students actively participating in the political process beginning at the grass roots and at the beginning! As an octegenarian, it is great to see that we have some up and coming citizens who are concerned more about the future of our country than what we have seen in recent decades. It's about time to have folks more concerned about the welfare of future generations than money-grubbing strictly for themselves like the present day neo-con greedheads!
This is beginning to look more and more like the '68 race and Clinton like a cross between Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Alienating the young people is a bad idea as it could cost the dems as a whole a good deal during the election and split the party young-older.
Good point about Clinton not really being from NY. I might add that it's arbitrary that Iowans have more influence than Connecticutians, so why shouldn't we all get to be Iowans?
It gets old, arguing these dumb little principles within the context of a system that does not even pretend to be democratic.
"I am a Democrat and I fail to see what is wrong about not wanting anyone to vote in any form in a non-resident state."
Becky,
Do you not want students to be involved with the political system? How or when do you think the students will be able to caucus in their home states when they're at school?
And I thought Democrats were supposed to be so inclusive. Maybe just not the Clinton Democrats.
johncpt: "What a sad day. All this commotion directed at destroying Hillary's campaign. I can't find the words to say how completely democrats have, once more, been duped by media and the Clinton-haters, to throw away the best candidate we have against the republicans."
Please show me one poll which shows Clinton beating any of the top three GOP contenders in a November '08 matchup. In every poll I've seen, the Democrats don't win the White House if Hillary is the nominee.
What do you expect from people with no integrity? They've managed to throw Dennis and Mike Gravel out of the debates. I'm not sure where they would draw the line on doing whatever it takes to win, or if a line even exists for them. Once you've sold yourself for corporate money, and they have, you've lost your ethical boundaries. Of course, in the case of people like Hillary, these boundaries have been long gone. Check out her own corporate law history.
McDee:
"Hillary acts more and more like Nixon every day."
I think that's insulting Nixon.
johncpt,
This is NOT a campaign against Republicans. It's a campaign against corporate influence, corruption, cronyism, and the ongoing class-war against the poor AND middle-class.
What evidence is there that Hillary is on the right side?
What a sad day. All this commotion directed at destroying Hillary's campaign. I can't find the words to say how completely democrats have, once more, been duped by media and the Clinton-haters, to throw away the best candidate we have against the republicans. It's hopeless. The one thing you can be sure of, democrats will work their asses off, to find a way of losing, and they're doing it again.
Hillary is a carpet bagger in NY...Is she saying that the College kids are carpetbaggers? Her new health proposal is forcing everybody to buy insurance from her pals in the Insurance industry. Her old plan when her Monica loving husband was el presidente, she had Zoe Baird the president of Aetna design a plan for us, same as her new one, make money for the Insurance industry..
The Corporate Clintons are no different today than when
they were the Walmart Clintons, screw the working classes. Arkansas is all done.
Yes, they ought to caucus there and vote there. Just not caucus there and turn around and vote in the primary elsewhere. Do they get to vote twice too?
If students can vote in Iowa, they ought to be able to caucus there. Period.
Most of you have missed the point. Biden, Dodd, and Clinton have stated that if you are out-of-state students voting in the Iowa caucus don't vote in your state's primary also. This would be fraudulent and misdirect the point of the Iowa caucus and other caucuses. I do believe that Obama is misinforming the students when he wants them to vote at the caucuses, because he did not instruct them not to vote at their primaries if they do so. I guess he is just inexperienced in these matters.
Can someone explain what the hell "caucus", both when used as a noun and a verb, means? It doesn't sound very democratic, compared to a simple primary election.
*What's a "dormouse" anyway?
By Clinton's reasoning, her campaign appearance on any campus should have been off limits to out-of-state students.
Youths! Hail to you.
Go out and exercise your right. Enough of "the same old stuff - it has not served America well - time for a change"
The whole system is a mess, first of all a person winning Iowa is virtually assured of the nomination most of the other states have just got to tag along so in this great democracy most of the country is shut out. Then the vote counting is so fraudilent the eventual President doesn't actually represent many people, of course that is the whole idea, after all those pesky working class just don't know anything anyway they'll go and vote for some commie bastard and then we'll have to pay taxes.
By this logic, Ms. Clinton should give up her seat as U.S. Senator from the state of New York, because she didn't actually grow up there.
I am a Democrat and I fail to see what is wrong about not wanting anyone to vote in any form in a non-resident state. When I was a student I had an absentee ballot and wouldn't have dreamed of participating in a caucus or any other "voting" type venue in a state that I was in temporarily. This just seems to me to be yet another attempt to cast venom at Hillary Clinton.
Ba-ROCK O-BOMBA!!!
All this talk about changing America's political discourse is just a cover for the fact that Obama is no different from the rest of them.
The Clintons are crooks from the word "go" When he first ran for the presidency, I told my wife "He's lying" How true that was and came to be revealed. Whitewater Associated Murders, Lewinsky, Commodity Trading Scheme Payoff, Marc Rich Pardon and Payoff. That's where they got their millions. Dump these lying ctooks.
"Then on Monday former President Bill Clinton waffled..."
SHOCKING! Bill Clinton has NEVER waffled on anything.
Sorry, I just couldn't help it
Reminds me of the Nebraska -Kansas Act and the later result of having people cross over from Missouri to vote in Kansas.
Same thing? Maybe not. But, let me tell you, if you're not from this neck of the woods, or have no understanding of this region's political history, a politician might find a revolt on their hands -just the idea of interference could be enough-- Very interesting spin on the campaign trail.
Anyway, what's with the below quote? Who are "other campaigns"? Too vague for my taste. Anyone have info on these mysterious others?
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign has drawn criticism from other campaigns for refusing to sign a pledge saying that campaign workers who moved to Iowa to work for him will not caucus.>
Youth that don't caucus for Obama are racists!
Hillary acts more and more like Nixon every day!
You caucus where you vote. You campaign everywhere.
Let's say Laura had a shot to become president-- just to keep the Bush-Clinton thing going. Does anybody think George would be cutting brush out on the White House lawn during her tenure? Hillary isn't the problem; it's H/Bill. If you want to be prez, babe,get a divorce. He can find someone else to sleep with. Otherwise, forget it.
Newman/Redford 2008?
Just goes to show who's the inclusive candidate.
Just one more reason NOT to vote for Hillary Clinton.
If youthful activists get furious enough, maybe they'll show up and actually elect Barack president. It would be a great service to the country and the world---something to tell the Grandkids about someday, how they rose up, stared down the left/right machines (Rage Against The Machine anyone?) and altered a whole planet's dialogue!
Mrs. Clinton has waged a truly disgusting gutter campaign and her desperation to return to power knows no limits. Kindergarten research, racial smears and now this. I cannot believe that democrats of good conscience of whatever race or gender will support this garbage.
Further evidence that Hilary is simply working the system to get what she thinks she is entitled to, the presidency. The woman is unfit for public office of any kind due to her lack of ethics, her greed, her war mongering, and her utter hypocrisy.