Investing in YOUR Future

These days, it seems like young people have enough on their plate: unemployment, health insurance, mounting personal debt. Couple that with an economy in crisis, and it seems like the financial well-being of an entire generation is in jeopardy.

To help remedy these problems, Mobilize.org and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation will convene a grant summit in Chicago from November 18-20, called “Exploring the Millennial Generation’s ROI [Return on Investment].” After all, coming up with creative solutions to our economic problems requires a substantial initial investment of passion, time, and money... And as any seasoned investor will tell you, any good investment should result in a great payoff!

We have to come up with sustainable solutions that will:

a) utilize the strengths and resources of the Millennial generation
b) establish creative new ways for Millennials to achieve financial health
c) generate a substantial return on investment - both financially and socially

So put your thinking caps on – Mobilize.org will be awarding grants up to $25,000 for great ideas that “begin to address the the barriers preventing our generation from achieving financial health.” Declare Yourself will be there – will you?

Visit Mobilize.org for more info and APPLY before October 17th. Email info@mobilize.org or call 202-736-5703

Bloomberg Supports Voter Registration Modernization

Last week, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced “Easy to Vote, Easy to Run,” his new plan to modernize the registration and election system.

Though many of the plan’s proposals might seem far-fetched, some are very simple and easily implemented. Some highlights include:

− A “Democracy Index,” which will measure the effectiveness and preparedness of election administration in different areas of the city. Metrics will include: registration, length of lines at the polls and how long it takes for votes to get counted.

− 311: New York City’s new Official Voting Hotline – where city residents can get all of their voting questions and concerns taken care of: “Where do I go?” “How do I get an absentee ballot?” and “I was a victim of voter fraud!”

− Support for National Voter Registration Modernization, which would help boost voter participation and cut down on administrative costs.

− Support for Weekend Voting, an initiative sponsored by Reps Herb Kohl (WI) and Steve Israel (NY), which would change voting day from Tuesday to Saturday and Sunday.

In addition, Bloomberg’s proposal would also make it easier for everyday Americans to run for office by:

− Lowering the number of signatures required to get a spot on the ballot

− Opening up the petitioning process so that Independent voters can nominate candidates of their own via the petitioning process.

Many of these proposals are quite vast in scope, but efforts like these show that our politicians are well aware of the problems with the current electoral system and are doing their best to correct it.

Many of you are well aware of our own staunch beliefs in support of Voter Registration Modernization (VRM). Over the next few years, we hope to work alongside other like-minded organizations to raise awareness for this cause and build the infrastructure and legislation needed to make sure every vote counts.

Remembrance and Service

"The anniversary of 9/11 is always a very personal day of sadness and reflection for me and my family, but it can also be a day when the nation comes together to embrace once more the spirit of compassion that helped our family and the entire 9/11 community see us through the very dark days following the attacks. Rightly so the anniversary of September 11 will finally become a national day of service and remembrance and such a designation not only pays appropriate tribute to those who were lost and those who rose in service, but also provides a constructive and meaningful way forward for our nation."

Jay Winuk, co-founder of MyGoodDeed, and brother of volunteer firefighter Glenn, who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center South Tower.

To participate in remembrance of the victims of September 11, 2001 by taking part in national service today or this weekend, search for local opportunities here.

Activism and the internet: youth presence is pronounced, growing

While democratic involvement is still rooted in the upper and middle classes, it seems that the millenial generation's online engagement may be breaking through socioeconomic lines. In a study released by the Pew Internet Project based on surveys conducted this August, respondents reported an interesting mix of figures related to activism and the internet. Historically, civic participation has a strong correlation with economic standing; those in the bottom one-sixth of all earners have voted at around half the rate of people in the top one-third bracket consistently since the 1940s. According to the report, the internet has yet to radically change this trend: those who earn over $100,000 were more than three times as likely to have participated in some online political activity than those who earned under $40,000.

Still, the report makes two important points. Firstly, political participation on social networking sites seems to transcend class lines:

Taken together, just under one in five internet users (19%) have posted material about political or social issues or a used a social networking site for some form of civic or political engagement. This works out to 14% of all adults -- whether or not they are internet users. A deeper analysis of this online participatory class suggests that it is not inevitable that those with high levels of income and education are the most active in civic and political affairs. In contrast to traditional acts of political participation—whether undertaken online or offline—forms of engagement that use blogs or online social network sites are not characterized by such a strong association with socio-economic stratification.

Furthermore, when the data of online activism was broken down by age group, the youngest cohort was overwhelmingly participatory:

Some 37% of internet users aged 18-29 use blogs or social networking sites as a venue for political or civic involvement, compared to 17% of online 30-49 year olds, 12% of 50-64 year olds and 10% of internet users over 65. It is difficult to measure socio-economic status for the youngest adults, those under 25 -- many of whom are still students. This group is, in fact, the least affluent and well educated age group in the survey.

Thus, the study implies that while socioeconomic status is still prevalent in determining political participation online or off, this may change as a new generation of internet-users grows older.

On another encouraging note, the report found that online activism doesn't just mean teenagers are engaging in simply clicking on Facebook links, In fact:

Those who use blogs or social networking sites politically are much more likely to be invested in other forms of civic and political activism. Compared to those who go online but do not post political or social content or to those who do not go online in the first place, members of this group are much more likely to take part in other civic activities such as joining a political or civic group, contacting a government official or expressing themselves in the media.

Secretary of Commerce

Name: Gary Locke
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of appointment: Lawyer, Washington co-chairman of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's bid for president
Age: 59

A third-generation American with paternal ancestry from Taishan, Guangdong in China, Locke is the second of five children. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in political science in 1972, and went on to gain a law degree from Boston University School of Law.

After serving in the Washington house of representatives, Locke was elected the first Chinese American state governor in United States history in 1996. While some Democrats criticized the governor for his stringent no-new-taxes strategy, but he would become a favorite of the party and was even considered as a vice-presidential pick in 2004.

In a surprise move, Locke announced in July 2003 that he would not seek a third term. He went on to join an international law firm and to campaign for Hillary Clinton. On February 25, 2009, Locke was announced as President Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Commerce. His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on March 24, 2009.

In Memoriam

Senator Edward Kennedy, an unrelenting progressive presence on the senate floor, passed away Tuesday night. We honor the 77 year old senator's longstanding struggle for civil rights, a half century's fight for Americans in need. Among Kennedy's achievements; the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which fundamentally altered the demographic composition of the nation, countless voting rights bills including that which gave 18 year olds the right to vote, post-Watergate campaign finance reform, the Civil Rights act of 1991, and the increase of minimum wages.

Kennedy was a liberal anchor during the conservative presidency of Reagan, during which he doggedly fought to preserve and improve the Voting Rights act. The senator's ongoing work to provide affordable healthcare for all Americans is still reverberating as reform agenda moves through Washington this summer. Even for his political opponents, senator "Ted" Kennedy was a compassionate and appreciated presence on the senate floor. As longtime friend and coworker Joe Biden said this morning, Kennedy spent his life "working for a fair and more just America."

Should town halls go virtual?

The past several weeks of the healthcare debate have been marked by increasingly chaotic public forums. Town halls became popular over the last few decades as a convenient and personal way for democratically elected representatives to connect with and answer to their constituents. However, as the growing controversy over healthcare reform has come to a head, disruptive conflict has overwhelmed what had previously functioned as a friendly if challenging atmosphere.

Groups of health care reform-opposers have overtaken town hall proceedings, asking incendiary questions of defensive lawmakers and in some instances turning the forums into unmanageable mobs. Some representatives have voiced suspicion that those attending their town halls are even constituents, pointing out that conservative groups have turned to "astroturfing," or organizing phony grass-roots groups to help shut down constructive debate.

"Town brawls," as the media has begun referring to them, may not be the ideal situation in which to get real feedback from constituents, and some representatives have turned to telephone conference calls, which allow for citizens to call in questions to their local lawmakers. Last week, CitizenTube asked citizens to submit questions for Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH), and other representatives like Steve Israel (D-NY) have also turned to online question and answer sessions to connect with Americans on the healthcare issue. Check out their videos, and see if your representatives have done the same!

While online forums such as these do lose the intimacy of a public appearance and allow for advanced preparation, the recent conduct at town hall meetings has made it difficult for lawmakers to have an informed, honest discussion with their constituents. What do you think? Are town halls better off on the web?

"Some places are downright hostile to student voters..."

Last week, nearly 2000 people from across the country convened at the Netroots Nation conference in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, Declare Yourself couldn't be there... but Sarah Burris, of Future Majority, attended the voter registration panel and wrote about her experience. Check it out:


One of the panels I attended at Netroots Nation was Repairing our Democracy: Voter Registration Modernization and other Solutions with speakers Secretary Debra Bowen California's Secretary of State, Dean Logan the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for Los Angeles County (the nation’s largest county), Jonah Goldman a national expert on voting and elections, and Justin Levitt counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. The panel was also moderated by Eric Marshall, campaign manager for the National Campaign for Fair Elections in the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law's Voting Rights Project.

Highly knowledgeable experts on the panel seemed to develop the consensus that the system is broken.

"We must have a system of error correction that is speedy enough so that people aren't disenfranchised and the error is corrected," Secretary Bowen said. "We need more consistent rules of residency for students. Some places are down right hostile about allowing students to vote, some are welcoming, but many are very hard on students."

"There are huge barriers to over seas voters and our military. When I visited Iraq and Afghanistan I met with the voting official who is not elected but appointed to do the job. . ."

Bowen continued to describe an over 500 page manual that the military official must be familiar with because there are so many voting laws for each state he must know.

"If we're disenfranchising people who are serving us it's time for the states to voluntarily figure out one cohesive consistent way that it works."

LA County Clerk Dean Logan told a story about a meeting he had with other election officials where it was asked if they could redesign the entire voter registration from if anyone would keep the original... none would.

Logan said they had 500,000 newly registered voters, and on the 15 day cut off for voter registration deadline California Counties had a Midnight Madness for people who had up to the last minute to register to vote.

"We had people coming in in their pajamas and it was packed! But the day after that cut off, we received 64,000 forms by people who missed the deadline. The next day 100,000 people sent in forms. We failed them administratively," he admitted.

But, Mr. Goldman said that new technologies provide a "non-partisan solution to a non-partisan problem that we can all work to fix."

Mr. Logan agreed believing

"despite this archaic system we are using technology better, allowing people to verify their information. But if you're online and realize that you need to change your address or you need to correct it, then that's where it stops, there is no way to update that."

The panel agreed the system breakdown is targeted at registration itself. Everything that happens on the back end is relatively smooth, even Logan said that when it comes to provisional ballots 80-90% of them count and can be verified, but the breakdown happened in the registration process somewhere.

Secretary Bowen said the argument against a massive reorganization and standardization effort would be the constant "states rights" argument. But Bowen believes that registration difficulties that occur in places like Florida and Ohio do affect California in a substantial way. Everything from Universal Registration to Election Day Registration are all options on the table but neither are being considered at the federal level.

The Military and Overseas Voters Empowerment Act (“MOVE Act”) authored by Senator Chuck Shumer was approved by the US Senate

"after a Rules Committee survey last May showed that as many as one in four ballots cast by military voters went uncounted in last year’s presidential election," Shumer's office said.

Among other things, "the bill would require states to provide ballots electronically. Additionally, it beefs up the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) at the Department of Defense, which is the main source of election-related information and assistance for many members of the military. The legislation, S. 1415, also addresses problems the military and overseas voters face in registering to vote from outside the U.S. It would bar states from rejecting military ballots for lack of a “Notary” signature—a feat difficult to achieve in the bases of Iraq and Afghanistan."

The Student VOTER Act was also re-introduced this session back in March. Late July will also bring the second hearing for the Student VOTER Act in the Committee on House Administration and will hopefully go into mark-up in September when it should also be in line for a floor vote.

Matthew Segal from the Student Association for Voter Empowerment told me via email that Majority Leader Steney Hoyer has been extremely supportive so he's optimistic we can get the bill on the floor this year. If you missed it, former US Senate Leader Tom Daschle has been a fantastic public advocate on the Student VOTER Act, and Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the subcommittee on elections within the Committee on House administration has also now signed onto the bill, as has Susan Davis, who is another member of both the full committee and subcommittee.

Segal says

"their leadership will assist us in getting the bill marked up this September. We [also] hope that other youth organizations will join us in making this one of their principal legislative priorities for 2009 and 2010."

As Bowen said, issues like Voting Rights aren't as sexy as issues like Health Care, but the ability to register to vote, be able to vote, and have that vote counted as its cast is the foundation of our democracy. We should be able to count on all of those things.

Read the original text of the article HERE.

Getting the Scoop: a Fresh Model for Media?

As social critics are singing the dirge of traditional newspapers, new media is emerging in unlikely and innovative ways. From citizen reporting in the form of personal video clips on sites like iReport.com to the blogging power player Huffington Post, politically inclined Americans have an ever-expanding array of media outlets to choose from.

Now, the Facebook generation has its own avenue for critical coverage and analysis of compelling current events; Scoop44, launched in May, is a self-operated online news outlet created, edited, and written exclusively by young people. The site, whose name refers to the 44th administration currently in power, covers a variety of topics, from Washington politics to internet culture to race in America, across a range of platforms including traditional articles and video blogs. Scoop44 was created by Harvard undergrad Alexander Heffner, and most of the site's staff are still in college or even high school, an antidote to the image of weathered journalists that pervades traditional media.

One striking aspect of the site is the "change detectives" section, in which the young writers analyze current news as it pertains to the Millenial generation, and keep a critical eye on political promises and how they play out in reality. As the rapidly expanding (and in some cases disintegrating) field of communications continues to evolve, Scoop44 will certainly be on the radar as an example of cutting-edge reporting and commentary. Check out this interview with the publication's president:

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Name: Kathleen Sebelius
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of appointment: Governor of Kansas
Age: 61

Kathleen Sebelius graduated from Trinity Washington University and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas. An avid jazz lover, Sebelius has served as a Kansas Representative, state Insurance Commissioner, and Governor.

Sebelius was praised as governor for working as a strong bipartisan leader who eliminated over $1 billion in debt, increased public education standards, and shedding wasteful spending practices.

Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as the 21st Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday, April 29, 2009. The Secretary governs one of the largest civilian departments in the federal government with more than 67,000 employees. HHS is the principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans..

The Great Twitter Race

If Ashton and CNN were last month's hot Twitter-race, this month, we've got our eye on Senator John McCain and the White House!

McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) just surpassed the 1 million mark, easily beating out the White House account (@whitehouse) that has approximately 844,000 followers. Other popular politicians on the site lag behind, but still boast respectable followings; Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill and South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint are the most followed but each have less than 30,000 subscribers.

The most watched politician still remains President Barack Obama (@BarackObama), and other notable political figures on Twitter include CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Vice President Al Gore.

Secretary of State

Name: Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Current city: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of appointment: United States Senator (D-NY)
Age: 61

A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham entered the public spotlight in 1969 as the first student to deliver the commencement address at Wellesley College. She embarked on a career in law after graduating from Yale Law School in 1973.

When she was First Lady of the United States, her major initiative, the Clinton health care plan, failed to gain approval from the U.S. Congress in 1994, though in following years she played a definitive role in the establishment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act.



In 2000, Hillary Clinton made history as the first First Lady elected to the United States Senate, and the first woman elected statewide in New York.

In the 2008 presidential nomination race, Clinton won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history, but she narrowly lost to Senator Barack Obama. As Obama's Secretary of State, Clinton is the first former First Lady to serve in a president's cabinet.

Schumer: Taking on the System

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, only 68 percent of Americans are registered to vote. Compare this to a rate of 100 percent in Argentina, or 97 percent in Belize, and it becomes apparent that the United States’ might have dropped the ball. Nations with higher voter turnout than America’s average of 54 percent (though to be fair, the estimated turnout in the 2008 presidential election was as high as 63 percent) include Malta, New Zealand, Iceland, Germany, Venezuela, Norway, Brazil, Israel and Estonia.

Fortunately, policymakers are gearing up to introduce legislation that will simplify and expand the voter registration process, hopefully in turn increasing civic engagement and enthusiasm about voting. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, has begun to draft a National voter registration modernization bill. Chances are the legislation will follow the recommendations of the commissioned report “Helping Voters Today, Modernizing the System for Tomorrow,” compiled by the nonpartisan coalition Election Protection.
Some of the key policy recommendations include:

*Automatic registration: instead of leaving voter registration to individuals or third-party organizations, the government should actively and automatically register citizens to vote based on state databases that individuals may opt out of.

*Permanent registration: changes like new addresses should not require complicated new registration that many citizens are not aware of. Instead, the choice to update voter information should be given in situations such as registration of new address at the post office.

*Election day correction: voters who are not automatically added to the rolls, or those who have minor inconsistencies in their information should be able to update their registration on election day if they have official proof. No eligible citizen should be turned away at the polls because their name was not added or was taken off of the list.

*Decrease voter disinformation: provide adequate education about voting and prohibit voting practices intended to misinform, intimidate, or disenfranchise citizens.

*Provide adequate resources and incentives to election officials to ensure efficient and well-performed election management.

*Implement "no excuse" early voting: expanding the dates for voting and making poll time flexible will encourage a greater proportion of the population to vote.

What do you think of these ideas? What other reform could the United States voting system use?

80 Million Strong: Summit Recap

If you haven’t yet read Claire’s post about her own experience at the summit, be sure to check it out below! Participants at the 80 Million Strong event last week enthusiastically covered a smattering of important issues affecting the millennial generation during the recession, and broke into lobbying sessions with over 70 congressional representatives to promote their agenda.

Speakers included the Honorable Ken Salazar, Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL), former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), Jared Bernstein, chief economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden.

Why was the summit necessary? For those of you who have just entered the workforce, you might have some idea; 17.8 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds in America are jobless, a figure that is almost double the national jobless rate of 9.4 percent.

During an interactive voting session during the two-day conference, the civically inspired members voted on top priorities for Washington. Some highlights from the top ten policy recommendations:

*Target youth social entrepreneurship by developing a Youth Innovation Fund, modeled after the Social Innovation Fund, to grant money to young social entrepreneurs addressing critical needs of American communities.

*Make AmeriCorps more viable for all interested parties, regardless of socioeconomic status, by raising wages so that participants are not working at or below the poverty level.

*Provide low-income students who cannot otherwise afford college with free education at a state university contingent upon their volunteer service in the public sector with a Community Scholars program

*Establish a public service academy, similar to military academies like West Point.

*Ensure health care coverage access to young people by extending dependent status for insurance coverage up to age 26 years of age regardless of student status and/or expanding Medicaid to include childless young adults. Establish a national standard for health care coverage instead of relying of state-to-state legislation.

*Come up with solutions to the student loan/debt issue. Create income- based repayment including private loans and unify the existing three strands of financial aid: Pell Grants, Loans, & Work Study

*Form a young diplomatic service program, aimed at those who usually are not exposed to this sort of opportunity (like community college students,) to foster deep relationships between citizens, cultures, and governments using funding for the Public Service act.



To learn more about the proposed policies and to get a full summary of the summit, check out 80 Million Strong. Also, be sure to stay tuned for upcoming information about another summit to be held in Chicago this October!

Secretary of Homeland Security

Name: Janet Napolitano
Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of appointment: Governor of Arizona
Age: 51

Janet Napolitano graduated from Santa Clara University with a Truman Scholarship, and continued to the University of Virginia School of Law. After working in the field of private law, Napolitano was appointed by President Clinton to the post of United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. She helped lead the investigation into the Oklahoma City Bombing. In 1998 she successfully ran for the position of Arizona Attorney General, where she focused on consumer protection issues and enhancing law enforcement in the state.

In 2002, Napolitano won the Arizona gubernatorial election. While governor, she became the first woman to chair the National Governors Association, where she helped to create the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisors Council.

President Obama nominated Napolitano for Secretary of Homeland Security mid-way through her second term as governor, and in January she became the first woman appointed secretary in the relatively new department.

80 Million Strong: Lobbying Congress

We're back from the 80 Million Strong Summit and excited about the issues and possibilities raised by the over 100 Millennials who contributed their ideas. Our own Claire Morgenstern (from Pittsburgh, PA) took part in the conference and lobbied her Congressman on behalf of the 80 Million Strong agenda. Read on to find out how Claire made a difference:


After a long day of formulating policy on everything from green initiatives and health care to student loans and cyber security, we returned to the Capitol to do a crucial final vote in which each participant would rank the policies we had created in order of importance. Once the votes were tallied, we would be able to see which initiatives our group felt were most crucial overall to the health and wealth of the millennial generation.

After an inspirational talk from Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, our main task that day was to leave the security of our meeting room and into the offices of senators and congressmen to lobby for the policies we had spent so many hours fine-tuning the day before. We broke into groups based on our home states and prepared for our pre-scheduled meetings with state representatives. My group, Pennsylvania, was made up of about six constituents who represented various regions throughout the state—Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, State College (home to Penn State), and towns and suburbs in between. We would be meeting with the legislative assistant of democratic senator Bob Casey. Having heard Casey speak in Pittsburgh to endorse Obama last Spring, I knew our proposal wouldn’t be a hard sell; still, it was important that our argument be well-articulated.

Casey’s thing is national security, so we brainstormed ways to connect his interests to our cause—creating more jobs. A pressing concern for our country is the need to increase cybersecurity. We reasoned that young people, on the whole, are more tech savvy than older people, which would make them the ideal candidates to fill new positions in an expanded cybersecurity sector.

Casey’s legislative assistant, Bryn McDonough, met us in the lobby of Casey’s office, which is located in the high-ceilinged, marble-floored Russel Building across the street from the Capitol. She led us into a conference room adorned with Pennsylvania memorabilia—copies of vintage postcards announcing “Greetings From” different cities throughout the state blown up to poster-size and a plate of oversized cookies that claimed to have been baked in Pennsylvania.

“I’m sure you have an agenda prepared,” Bryn said, gesturing to us to start. The chosen member of our group explained the growing need for cybersecurity experts, and that creating new jobs in this field would both employ large numbers of young people and help keep the United States safe. Another member of our group offered a personal story, as we had been told to do during our lobby training session that morning. She had graduated from Penn State a year-and-a-half ago with four degrees in the field of information technology. Since then, she has been unable to find employment, often going through the interview process but never getting hired. She went back to the job she held during high school, working at McDonald’s, but was forced to cut her hours from 40 to 8 hours a week. If her parents hadn’t taken her and her husband in, she said, they would be homeless. If the government created more jobs for information technology professionals, she concluded, she would be able to use her skills in a way that also helped her country.

Bryn patiently took notes while we took turns speaking.

“I completely agree with you,” she said when we were finished. “I am part of your generation too, and we know that the government needs to find a way to use the unique skill set that young people have and older people don’t.” She gave each one of us her card and invited us to a bi-weekly constituent breakfast that Casey holds, which happened to be the following morning. Then she shook our hands and led us out of the building.

What a lot of people don’t realize is how easy it is to make contact with your local state representatives, and that many representatives actually rely on feedback from their constituents to determine future courses of action according to what’s best for their state and the country. So if there’s something bugging you that you think your government representatives might be able to help with, don’t shy away from letting them know. Use the TALK BACK widget on the Declare Yourself website (scroll down) to write an email to your representatives. They’re called representatives for a reason—their job is to represent you. So make sure they’re doing it right!

Your ideas please! The 80 Million Strong Summit

Tomorrow, 100 young Americans will meet in Washington to generate an innovative, open forum about how to provide the next generation of jobseekers with employment during these challenging economic times.

Declare Yourself will be actively participating as part of the 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs Coalition summit that begins Tuesday in Washington, D.C. On the agenda: making the government aware of the Millenial generation's difficulties in coping with the recession and providing creative solutions for these issues. Concrete proposals will center around creating jobs that have a foundation in volunteerism, public service, and evolving fields like technology, healthcare and the environment.

The summit will result in a collective legislative proposal that will directly engage with policymakers.

Please share YOUR ideas, questions, input and advice with US, so that we may bring your voices to the summit as well! Leave a comment, or interact with us on Twitter; send us a tweet @80MS

Check back for more updates!

Got questions about health care? Ask the president!

One of the hot topics in Washington is now coming to a computer screen near you. As legislation on health care reform moves through Congress, the White House is opening its ears to the public to answer questions from everyday citizens about how the administration is trying to bring affordable and accessible health care to everyone. On Wednesday, President Obama will hold an online town-hall meeting with some of his top health care advisors to answer your questions! This will be the first time the White House has used forums like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube in an official town hall meeting. Watch the President's video, and make your own response to it here!



If you are a Twitter user, ask YOUR question about health care using the hashtag #WHHCQ. If you have access to facebook, join the conversation here!

Secretary of Education

Name: Arne Duncan
Hometown: Hyde Park, Chicago
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of Appointment: CEO of Chicago Public Schools
Age: 44

Arne Duncan graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a degree in sociology. After a brief career in professional basketball (he has played pickup games with President Obama), he entered the field of education and became director of a program to provide better educational opportunities for children on the South Side of Chicago.


In 2001, Mayor Richard Daley appointed Duncan to serve as CEO of the Chicago Public School system. During his tenure, Duncan oversaw the nation's third-largest school district and established himself as a mediating figure with a knack for consensus-building. Obama lauded Duncan for improvements in the Chicago district-- known as one of the most challenging in the nation-- such as a rising graduation rate, merit-based pay for teachers, and the opening of new schools. Duncan eschews partisanship in issues of education; he has managed to maintain the support of teacher's unions despite his backing of reforms they oppose, and he was the only big-city superintendent to sign competing education manifestos put forth last summer.

Voter Registration Modernization

Over the past few weeks, the blogs have been abuzz with praise for Voter Registration Modernization (or VRM, as people have come to call it). VRM supports the automatic registration of every eligible American. It cuts down on registration errors, ensures every American their constitutional right to vote, and – according to a new study from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund – saves the nation quite a bit of money!

The PIRG study surveyed 100 counties for this study and concluded that those counties alone spent over 33 million dollars on “simple registration implementation and error correction issues in 2008.” With thousands of counties across the country, it’s difficult (and daunting) to hazard a guess as to how much America spends on the voter registration process in total.

“Too much time, effort, and money is spent at the local level reacting to and paying for our paper-driven, mistake-riddled registration process. Our system creates challenges for local officials and wastes taxpayer dollars,” says U.S.PIRG Education Fund Democracy Advocate, Lisa Gilbert.

At Declare Yourself, we’ve been championing VRM since early this year when we brought the issue up at the Constitutional Convention 2.0. Support for the initiative was overwhelming; at the mock-Continental Congress, convened delegates passed the Automatic Voter Registration amendment by an overwhelming 84%!

VRM would also allow us to concentrate more of our efforts on actually getting out the vote on Election Day and increasing participation in government. Perhaps this new study will convince Americans – and our legislators – that modernizing the voter registration system would benefit both the civic and fiscal wellbeing of our country! 

Jobs, Baby, Jobs!

A couple weeks ago, I made the long trek cross country to attend my best friend’s graduation from NYU (also my alma mater). Since Washington Square is under renovation, the graduation took place at the newly built Yankee Stadium, uptown. Fresh-faced grads swarmed the stadium, clad in purple robes and boundless optimism. Even the weather took an upward turn: the sun shining, the breeze whistling through the aisles.

The celebratory tone of the day masked the economic reality awaiting 2009 grads: the economy is down, jobs are scarce, Millennials don’t know where to turn. 

But listening to the speakers at NYU graduation, the trials of the economy and the job market seemed miles away. The theme running through the ceremony was "community." NYU, after all, is the most unlikely of communities – spanning the many boroughs and neighborhoods of New York City. 

Even the keynote speaker - Hillary Clinton - caught onto the theme of the day, stressing the need for every American to become a “citizen ambassador" and foster a truly global community. Addressing the dwindling job market, Hillary flashed a smile and beckoned the students, “We’re hiring!” 

Unfortunately, not all employers are so eager to take on new employees. Among young people, the unemployment rate is 19%. (That’s twice the national average!) My friends graduating now are facing one of the most unpredictable economies this country has ever seen.

In order to combat the dwindling job market, Declare Yourself has partnered up with a new initiative called 80 Million Strong for Young American Jobs. On July 14th and 15th, the 80 Million Strong Coalition is hosting a summit in Washington DC. At the summit, we’re going to be convening young leaders from across America to collaborate on ideas about how to build an economy that reflects our greatest strengths as a generation.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

After all, if we’re going to stand a chance in this economy, we’ve got to band together and form a community – a community that is 80 million Millennials strong. 

Trust me, if NYU can do it, so can we… 

SEE YOU IN DC!

We Won a Telly Award!

Remember our "Muzzler" PSA campaign starring Jessica Alba and Hayden Panettiere? Here's a bit of a refresher:

The production company who helped us produce the piece, United Front Films, submitted the PSA for the 30th Annual Telly Awards… And WE WON!

Video Credits: Producer: Michael Abbott, Director: Brandon Kraines, Writer: Greg Rosenzweig, Co-Producer: Sun de Graff

Curing Swine Flu: One Tweet at a Time...

In our last post, we blogged about the White House's newfound love of social media. Check out Obama's latest Weekly Address, in which he explains the importance of Twitter and Facebook in disseminating information about Swine Flu.

Avoid disinformation by checking out the @whitehouse tweets on the epidemic:

Obama Gets Schooled!

There’s been quite a bit of talk, in the past few months, about the importance of transparency in government. During the campaign, transparency was one of Obama’s favorite buzzwords and post-election, the White House has doubled its efforts to make sure that Americans are kept up to date on the latest news coming out of the White House:

-You can read the White House Blog

-You can check out the Weekly Addresses, Press Briefings, and important events on YouTube

-You can follow them on Twitter @WhiteHouse

-You can friend the White House on Facebook and MySpace

-You can keep tabs on where money is going in government via Transparency.gov

Social networking and Web 2.0 are definitely important strides towards Obama’s proclaimed “new era of openness,” but what are all of these networks really doing to improve transparency? This week, NYU’s Brennan Center took Obama back to school with their Transparency Report Card – awarding him everything from A+ to F!

What do you think? Is the administration not going far enough to improve transparency in government? Are they going too far? Leave us a comment!

More Voters in 2010!

This year, two million more young voters showed up at the polls than in 2004. According to CIRCLE, turnout rose to 51% -- the third highest youth voter turnout in history.

These numbers are encouraging. Young people across the nation are taking an interest in national politics in unprecedented numbers! However, the same statistic also indicates that 48.9 % of young Americans did not show up. 

Think about it like the glass half-full, glass half-empty conundrum… everyone's happier when the glass is just plain full!

CIRCLE’s research shows hat one of the determining factors in youth voter turnout was level of education. Typically, college enrolled voters turned out at a higher rate (62%) than those who aren’t enrolled (32%). This is likely due to last election’s large-scale campus organizing movements.

Looking towards 2010, Declare Yourself wants to find new ways to get young people to REGISTER AND VOTE – regardless of whether or not they’re in college. How do you think we should do it? Leave us a comment!

Serve.gov & the Civic Generation

Yesterday, Barack Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Learn and Serve America Act - sweeping reform that will triple the size of Americorps, strengthen existing nonprofits, and give educational grants to students who serve their country. Sweeping reform like this has not been seen since the creation of the Peace Corps by JFK in 1961. Alongside this new legislation, the White House also introduced Serve.gov, a new platform for volunteerism and national service.

And the timing could not be better: young Americans are clamoring for new, exciting ways to take part in their community. A recent USA Today article calls Millennials "the Civic Generation," whose philanthropic spirit echoes the Greatest Generation of the 1930's and 40's. Michael Brown, founder and CEO of City Year, says, “Community service is part of [the Millennials’] DNA.”

I couldn’t agree more. Working at a nonprofit does require passionate dedication to our jobs (and sometimes a bit of personal sacrifice!) Ultimately, we rarely make as much money as classmates who took corporate jobs, we’re often understaffed, and we routinely work long hours to get the job done… But, in the end, its rewarding to know that the work that we do every day will have an effect--even in some small way--on the lives of Americans across the country.

Want to give back? Check out these great resources:

National Service Hub: http://serve.gov

Peace Corps: http://peacecorps.gov

Teach for America: http://teachforamerica.org

City Year: http://cityyear.org

The United Way: http://liveunited.org

Habitat for Humanity: http://habitat.org

The Red Cross: http://redcross.org

Nonprofit Job Postings / Volunteer Opportunities: http://idealist.org

Volunteer Opportunities: http://declareyourself.com

We're a Webby Honoree!

Back before the election, Declare Yourself partnered up with VotoLatino to bring you "La Pasion de la Decision," a series of voter registration telenovelas/PSAs starring Wilmer Valderrama, Rosario Dawson, and Tony Plana.

We’re proud to announce that “La Pasion de la Decision” was honored with a Webby Honoree Recognition for Public Service and Activism in online video!

Check out the first telenovela in the series…

What will happen next? Will Rodrigo register to vote? Will he and Carmen ever marry? And why is Lola so evil? Check out the next three telenovelas at DeclareYourself.com!

UPDATE: Service Act Passes in Senate!

We recently blogged about the House’s passage of the GIVE Act, designed to provide educational grants as incentives to take part in public service.

Great news! Last week, the Senate passed similar legislation – the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act – which reinforces many of the key aspects of the GIVE Act. The bill expands service opportunities to 250,000 per year, motivates young people through educational grants, provides better service opportunities for seniors and Boomers and establishes a “Social Innovation Fund” to identify and grow organizations working to solve tough problems on a community level. Another key aspect of the Serve Act is that it designates 9/11 as a National Day of Service.

This bill is expected to easily pass the House and Barack Obama will be able to sign the measure as early as this week! However, as Obama notes,

“Our work is not finished when I sign this bill into law – it has just begun. While our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, it is up to each of us to sieze those opportunities.”

What will you do to give back to your community? Leave a comment!

Google Mapping Our Economic Recovery!

On February 17, 2008, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in a new effort to jumpstart our economy. As I write this blogpost, funds from the Recovery Act are being allocated in districts across the country to modernize our nation’s infrastructre, enhance our energy independence, expand educational opportunities, improve healthcare, provide tax relief and help Americans in need. 

All of that sounds great, but how are these funds directly affecting the American people? 

In an effort to answer that question, Representative Doris Matsui of Sacramento released a Google Map last week that details exactly where this funding is being allocated in her district. According to Matsui, “Transparency and accountability have been key components of the economic recovery bill." And how better to achieve these components than Web 2.0 technology?

Click here to check out the map. 

Curious where are funds going in your district? Email your Congressperson and ask that they put this information online like Representative Matsui!

Secretary of Labor

Name: Hilda L. Solis
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of Appointment: served in the United States House of Representatives for CA
Age: 51


Solis was raised in California by immigrant parents from Nicaragua and Mexico. She earned degrees from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and the University of Southern California and worked for two federal agencies in Washington D.C. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve in the State Senate, and was re-elected there in 1998. She is known for her work toward environmental justice and recieved the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000. She is the first Hispanic woman to serve as secretary in the U.S. cabinet.

School of Hard Knocks

A word from our Executive Director, Marc Morgenstern

I went to a college whose anthem blissfully toasted “Bright college years with pleasures rife, the shortest gladdest years of life.” I imagine these words coming out of the upturned mouths of letter-sweatered undergrads, all male of course, whose biggest concern was the ratio of vodka to vermouth in their post-game martini. After all, post-grad jobs were easy to pluck.

Those days seem quaint now. These bright college years have lost much of their wattage to chronic worry. And the loudest refrain, at least from the college students I know, is: how do I make a living in the worst economic crisis in eighty years?

So, with glasses held high we toast the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act this week. Forgive the tortured acronym because GIVE, like a similar Senate bill, provides higher education grants to students who participate in community service projects.

This effort not only triples federally-supported volunteer activities, according to our friends at Mobilize.org who were instrumental in pushing the bill, it answers the other question on collegiate lips: how can I afford to do good in this economy? All the calls for national service are as hollow as an empty glass if young people can only volunteer on 

their parents’ dole.

According to the latest federal stats, 15.5 percent of young people ages 16-24 are unemployed, way behind the rest of the nation's workforce. Education grants are great. But the “gladdest” legislative solution is creating real jobs that combine the urge to serve with a passable payday.

Secretary of Energy

Name: Steven Chu
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Current City: Washington, D.C.
Job at time of Appointment: professor at the University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Age: 61

The Secretary of Energy position was one of the most anticipated choices of the Obama Cabinet. In recent years, the boundaries of the job description have slowly blended with other cabinet positions. With the success of the Green Jobs movement, the Energy Secretary will have to focus more on jobs and labor. Our relationships with oil producing countries overseas have given the position an international flavor, and in the coming years the Secretary of Energy will have to focus much more on National Security and foreign relations. As America becomes a greener country, the Secretary of Energy will become an important voice within the Cabinet.

Steven Chu attended Berkeley and later became a professor of physics at Stanford University in 1987. Chu comes from a family of scholars; his father earned an advanced chemical engineering degree at MIT while his maternal grandfather earned advanced civil engineering degrees at Cornell University.As a scientist, Chu is known for his research in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. He is a vocal advocate for more research into alternative energy and nuclear power, arguing that a shift away from fossil fuels is essential to combat global warming.

John McCain Agrees to a "Twitterview"

During the 2008 campaign, the media often gave John McCain a hard time for not knowing how to check his email and many critics felt he was out of touch with the internet generation. At one point, McCain even admitted: 

“I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon... I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.” 

Now, John McCain is taking strides to combat his old image... and where better to start than Twitter?

On Tuesday March 17, at 12PM, George Stephanopolous will conduct a fifteen minute "twitterview" with John McCain! The fun part: since the interview will be conducted entirely through Twitter's microblogging platform, they’ll have to limit their questions and answers to 140 characters each.

Got a question you want to ask @JohnMcCain? Tweet your proposed question to @GStephanopolous right now! Then tune in to Twitter on Tuesday to see if your question makes the cut!

Secretary of the Treasury

Name: Timothy F. Geithner
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Current City: Washington D.C.
Job at time of appointment: President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Age: 47

Before his nomination to the Treasury, Secretary Geithner served as the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he began on November 17, 2003. He served as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the group responsible for preparing the nation's fiscal policy. Geithner's nomination came under scrutiny due to his failure to pay more than $30,000 in overdue taxes.

Geithner ultimately received Senate confirmation, but he was condemned for not following the rules of the Internal Revenue Service, which is a child agency of the Treasury Department he now oversees.

Not Good Enough!

24 million young people voted in the 2008 Presidential Election, but registration problems stopped millions more before they could get into the voting booth. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) began hearings March 11th on how to fix problems that hit 18-29 year olds especially hard. 

Calling voter registration "the life blood of our republic," Schumer opened arguments with an impassioned plea to address the voter registration problems that our last election made plain:

"In the 21st century people shouldn't be denied their constitutional right to vote because of problems caused by an antiquated voter registration system that was set up in the 19th century by the Whig Party."

The time has come to modernize our voter registration system.

Use our Gov It widget to tell Schumer and your congressman that we need new laws to protect our fundamental right to vote. Next year’s critical Congressional election will be here before we know it!

Extra! Extra! Check Out the Latest Headlines at the Newseum!

Last year, I helped my grandma move. Going through her garage, I happened upon a stack of old newspapers she’d kept in honor of important dates in history: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the first moon landing, the election of Ronald Reagan.

Since 2003, The Newseum in Washington has been doing the same thing – only on a broader scale. Every day, the Newseum features hundreds of front pages from newspapers around the world. Today, for example, they feature 748 newspapers’ front pages from 69 countries! Check out their amazing tool that maps daily newspaper front pages by city and state:

Visit the NEWSEUM site to play around with this great tool.

Also, if you’ve got a nostalgic streak, you can peruse their Archives section which features important headlines dating back to 2003 (when they first started building this archive). In an age of globalization, where news travels quickly, it’s refreshing to see that newspapers can still thrive on a local level.

Personally, as a member of the Millennial generation, I must confess that I do read most of my news online. But on occasion, I still find myself drawn to the newsstand, laying down my fifty cents for a published, printed record of the life-changing events that define my era.

Attorney General

Name: Eric Holder

Hometown: Bronx, New York

Current City: Washington, D.C.

Job at time of Appointment: Senior Legal Advisor to Barack Obama during his presidential campaign

Age: 58

In 1988, Eric Holder was appointed judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by President Ronald Reagan. In 1993 he stepped down and accepted an appointment by Bill Clinton to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Holder remained there until his promotion to Deputy Attorney General in 1997. In late 2007, Holder joined Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign as a senior legal advisor and also served on Obama's Vice Presidential Committee.

Holder recently came under fire for his remarks to the Department of Justice on race in America. As the first African-American to hold the position of attorney general, Holder is in an unique position to speak to this issue. Check out this video of his remarks:

What do you think?

Pappas v. Faar: The Case for Automatic Voter Registration

It's been exactly four months since Election Day and some counties are still dealing with the aftermath of recounts, registration issues, and challenged ballots!

In the Santa Barbara County Supervisor race, a trial has been raging between the incumbent, Steve Pappas, and his challenger, Doreen Farr. In November, Farr won the election by 806 votes. After a recount, ordered by Pappas in December, one vote was switched to Pappas’ favor. Pappas contested the outcome, citing forgery and illegal registrations – most of which, he contends, occurred in the UC Santa Barbara and Isla Vista areas.

9,000 votes specifically from the UC Santa Barbara campus have been challenged. Due to exponential growth of voter registration efforts on the UCSB college campus, Pappas believes that registration fraud – and ultimately, voter fraud, has occurred. Pappas’ attorneys claim that (allegedly) incomplete and late voter registration forms should not be processed, and correspondingly, those votes should not be counted.

The voter fraud trial between Pappas and Faar is currently on hold, but when proceedings resume on March 11th, Pappas’ attorney is expected to call witnesses who participated in voter registration drives on the UCSB campus. With the echoes of these registration issues still reverberating throughout the local and national news, Americans must look for a way to modernize the system. The time has come for Automatic Voter Registration!

America relies on one of the most outdated systems of voter registration in the world. Wouldn’t life be easier if every American were automatically registered at the age of eighteen? This way, organizations like Declare Yourself could focus less on registering and more on getting out the vote! Also, elected officials like Pappas and Farr could spend less time tied up in court and more time legislating on issues that matter most to Americans!

Visit the Declare Yourself website to talk back to your officials and write a letter to your Secretary of State. Ensure the validity of your vote – and the votes of Americans across the country – by demanding Automatic Voter Registration!

Give Back: What Will YOU Do?

Students across America have rallied around President Obama's call to service. More and more young people are devoting their time to public service and volunteer opportunities in their communities.

Launched in 2006, the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll seeks to award colleges and universities for their commitment to community service through innovative and effective techniques. This year’s honorees were presented during the American Council on Education Annual Conference in Washington D.C.

The top six colleges (out of a total of 635!) were honored with the “Presidential Award”. Congratulations to:

• Emory University
• Michigan State
• California State University, Fresno
• Brookhaven College
• Duke University
• University of Missouri – Kansas City

Criteria are based on factors such as percentage of students engaged in at least 20 hours of service per semester, whether academic service-learning is a part of the core curriculum, and ratio of alumni who are current AmeriCorps and Peace Corps members.

The awarding is the highest federal recognition a college can receive for this type of commitment. It’s pretty cool seeing how many schools made the honor roll this year, which shows how many students and institutions are dedicated to being a part of their community and putting others before themselves.

Whether you’re in school or not, take some time out of your week to feed the homeless, clean a beach, rebuild the Gulf Coast. The possibilities are endless, but it begins with YOU.

Find out about opportunities in your neighborhood at DeclareYourself.com

Secretary of Defense

Name: Robert Gates

Hometown: Wichita, Kansas

Current City: Washington DC

Job at time of Appointment: Secretary of Defense (for George W. Bush)

Age: 65

Despite a flurry of dissent in the Democratic party, Barack Obama chose the incumbent Secretary of Defense (appointed by George W. Bush) to fill the current cabinet post. Gates joined the CIA in 1966 and spent nearly twenty seven years as an intelligence professional, serving six presidents. In 2006, Gates stepped in as Secretary of Defense after Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. He has also published two books: "Iran: Time for a New Approach," and "From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insiders Story of Five Presidents and How they Won the Cold War."

Communications Team

Press Secretary

Name: Robert Gibbs
Hometown: Auburn, AL
Current City: Washington D.C.
Job at time of appointment: Communications Director for Barack Obama's Campaign

Age: 37

Initially, some in the DNC regarded Robert Gibbs as a controversial choice for Press Secretary due to his campaign against the nomination of Howard Dean in 2004. 

However, Gibbs' skill in deflecting criticism from the Obama campaign quickly earned him the nickname "the enforcer" among Obama staffers. Plus, as a Southerner, his valuable insights earned him respect among the other advisers, and President Obama eventually started calling Gibbs his "one-person Southern focus group" (and judging by Obama's performance in Southern states such as Georgia and North Carolina, you can bet Gibbs earned this title!)

Gibbs held his first official press briefing on January 22, 2009. Check it out:

Photo from javno Video from AP


Communications Director

Name: Ellen Moran
Hometown: Amherst, Massachusetts
Current City: Washington D.C.
Job at time of appointment: Executive Director of Emily's List
Age: 42

Moran came as a surprising choice to many supporters due to the fact that she strongly supported Hillary Clinton through the Primary season. 

Though Moran didn't work on the Obama campaign, she has close ties to David Plouffe and David Axelrod.

Before being picked as Communications Director, Moran ran the organization Emily's List, which backs female candidates who support abortion rights. She has also worked for the A.F.L - C.I.O, coordinating their "corporate accountability campaign" against giants like WalMart; and the Democratic National Committee, doing advertising and coordinating campaign activities.

Photo from The Washington Post


Deputy Communications Director

Name: Daniel H. Pfeiffer
Hometown: Wilmington, Delaware
Current City: Washington D.C.
Job at time of appointment: Communications Director for the Obama Campaign
Age: 33

Pfeiffer is probably the most tech-savvy person on the White House staff. At 33, Pfeiffer doesn't quite qualify as a Millennial but he sure knows how to navigate the social networking world! He has an intimate understanding of technologies like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook - all of which played a big role in Obama's success.

Prior to his appointment, Pfeiffer had worked on numerous Senate campaigns, including Tim Johnson, Tom Daschle, and Evan Bayh. Back in 2000, Pfeiffer served as a spokesperson for Al Gore. His wife is a longtime aid to Rham Emanuel.

Photo from The New York Times