14 March 2008
Getting Them to the Polls (1)
The speakers are young elected officials Scott Merrick, Jeffrey Fontas and Andy Edwards, who are state representatives in the New Hampshire legislature; Tom Manatos, director of advance for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; U.S. Representative Jason Altmire, from Pennsylvania; and Raymond Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
The video was produced in March 2008 by America.gov and Crossborders.
(begin transcript)
Scott Merrick: “The experience of going down to Washington, D.C., and lobbying for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and talking with our congressmen, that one experience had a huge impact on what I’ve decided to do and what I will do from now on.”
Jeffrey Fontas: “I have the opportunity in this country to be a part of something bigger than myself. And if I disagree with the way the country is going, then I should do that.”
Andy Edwards: “I’m not going to waste my time and effort and energy trying to get someone else elected if I don’t think they represent the feelings of young people very accurately. In a state like this, it’s much easier to just do it yourself.”
Tom Manatos: “Young politicians are really looked at as leaders of this younger generation.”
Fontas: “In the new millennium we need to take a long, hard look of the policies of the past and ask ourselves if they have met our definition of success.”
Manatos: “If young people aren’t telling politicians what to do and what they want them to do to make a better America, they won’t know, and they’re only going to be listening to a certain population.”
Merrick: “One of the reasons I got involved was to get more younger people involved. I think people my age are finally starting to realize what’s going on, both in the nation and internationally as well. If we continue to vote, then the issues that matter to us, I think, will start to be addressed at a higher priority.”
Jason Altmire: “Well, there’s nothing more important than voting. I mean, that’s how we decide who our leadership is going to be.”
Edwards: “When you say you’re going to do something you stick at it until it’s done.
My inspiration, first and foremost, was Russ Feingold, the lone person to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001.”
Fontas: “Al Gore is probably my Number 1 political hero, and I like Obama, a lot.”
Merrick: “Howard Dean, for sure. He had a way of speaking to my generation and getting us involved.”
Raymond Buckley: “I think the young people bring a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, a lot of new ideas and solutions to problems, and I think it’s important to have young people involved in elective office, the party level as well, and make sure that their voices are heard.”
Manatos: “In America, young people, the generations of young people, are much, much more diverse than older generations. And having that global understanding is much different than the older generation.”
Edwards: “It’s very exciting to be politically involved right now.”
Merrick: “I really think there’s a common sentiment that people want fresh faces, they want kind of a new direction.”
Fontas: “When you get the message to young people that their voice matters and the only way that they can have it matter is to speak up and be heard, then I think a lot more young people will get involved.”
Edwards: “There’s different kinds of involvement, like there’s activism and then there’s just plain old democracy, like showing up on Election Day to vote.”
Altmire: “We have candidates that are attracting young people in greater numbers than ever before, and there’s no reason to expect anything other than a record turnout in 2008.”
Merrick: “We have the choice to get involved now to change things for our future and for our children’s future. And if we don’t get involved, we’re screwed. That’s the way I look at it, anyways.”
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
