Rock the Vote Betrays 'Non-Partisan' Label

CNSNews.com ^ | 7-22-03 | Scott Hogenson

[Paul Atreides]

Voter apathy being what it is in America, voter registration drives are often lauded for their altruistic goal of engaging more people in the democratic process. Among such efforts are those of Rock the Vote, which aims to get more young people involved in voting and politics.

Promoted heavily on the rock music video cable channel MTV, Rock the Vote's very first introductory line is simple and straight forward: "Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, founded in 1990."

Given this up front pronouncement of being non-partisan, people who know absolutely anything at all about the American political landscape can be forgiven for raising an eyebrow over Rock the Vote's July 21 announcement that The Dixie Chicks have joined the group in a new voter registration drive.

The Dixie Chicks, you may recall, are the country music act that saw fit on March 10 to express their shame of President Bush to a concert audience in London. The group's Natalie Maines pronounced, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

Hence, we are to believe that Rock the Vote is somehow able to honestly maintain its 'non-partisan' identity by recruiting musicians who openly proclaim their shame of an American president.

The Dixie Chicks voter registration initiative is hardly the first instance of Rock the Vote displaying its duplicitous claim of non-partisanship.

In February, this liberal front group announced that Chuck D, who performs with the band Public Enemy, was named the recipient of the 2003 Rock the Vote Founders Award.

The MTV announcement of Mr. D's award included such tidbits as "Chuck furthered his politically charged tirade with Public Enemy's set, setting aflame such songs as 'Welcome to the Terrordome,' 'Fight the Power'... and the condemning 'Son of a Bush,' off the group's latest album, Revolverlution, that was punctuated by a buffoon in a George W. mask."

The MTV release continued with this fine reference to the current White House occupant: "You see this f---ing guy?" Chuck asked. "He stole the presidency."

I must have missed class in PR school the day they taught news release writing that includes obscenities leveled at sitting presidents as a means of promoting non-partisanship.

On political issues, Rock the Vote is similarly dishonest, directing Internet visitors to such famously non-partisan groups as the National Organization for Women, MoveOn.org, the ACLU, Greenpeace, People for the American Way, the National Education Association, the AFL-CIO, and similarly leftist organizations.

Rock the Vote's Campaigns and Elections section is no less tilted toward the left. It exhorts visitors to "take back our country," and proclaims "the vision of a society that we want to live in - one that values tolerance and diversity, and does not divide us along these sensitive lines - is not necessarily shared by the generation of politicians running our country."

Who is running our country these days? We have a Republican in the White House, a Republican majority in the Senate and a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. It would appear Rock the Vote wants young people to "take back" the country from one political party and not another.

If Rock the Vote wants to bill itself as a liberal organization dedicated to promoting what leftists love to call 'progressive' political solutions, that's fine and dandy. Open and honest debate is what our political process is all about and it ought to be encouraged, regardless of ideology.

But Rock the Vote is instead lying by calling itself non-partisan and it should stop the deceit and manipulation of young people. It is clearly engaged in a partisan political warfare.

And as we all know, the first casualty in war is truth.

Scott Hogenson is executive editor of CNSNews.com.

[RippleFire]

bump

[Old Sarge]

Win the hearts and minds of the kids, and they're yours for life. (Paraphrased from the Book of Proverbs - yes, a Scriture quote!)

[Chad Fairbanks]

Bttt

[Paul Atreides]

Anyone who ever believed that RTV was non-partisan is pathetic.

[Tuxedo]

Yep, definitely played a role in Clinton getting elected. A visit to their website will turn one's stomach. Their list of artists is a nice boycott list. Although I think Reba McIntire and Dwight Yoakum are out of place on it.

[kylaka]

Only one problem. Research indicates new voters under the age of 30 are mostly (>50%) conservative in their views. So I say to RTV.... sign 'em up.

[johnfl61]

Is anyone suprised that the DEmonRat party owns MTV and the enertainment industry?

[chudogg]

take a look out their website.

Under the enivornment section they have this...

The Artic Refuge is among the last area of Alaska’s North Slope that does not allow drilling. The newest Energy bill before the Senate threatens to open up the tundra to oil drillers. Head to www.savearticrefuge.org to sign a petition that lets Congress know how you feel.

No Petition for those who want to have a sane energy policy?? Okay, well lets check out the economy.

The current job market is one of the worst in memory if you are a young adult. Whether you are leaving high school or college, jobs are scarce and debt is through the roof. Wages are low. Health care and retirement benefits are gone. If you ever doubted the impact of government policy on your life, look at the unemployment figures.

A little sensationalist?? And of course if your a young adult you probably dont remember anything past 1998! Our economy is the worst in 5 years!!!! Lets check what they have under Violence

Ewww, look at the evil little gun. Helplessly turning that otherwise normal man into a violent felon!

Notice how the focus is on the GUN rather than the PERSON HOLDING IT!

Then in their Human Relations Campaign, they have this...

Rock the Vote’s creative team boasts the participation of Crispin, Porter & Bogusky—the brainchild behind the critically acclaimed and highly effective “Truth” anti-tobacco campaign—and multiple Emmy-award-winning Public Interest Productions.

Awww, thanks for doubling the cost of cigerettes and using it to tell me not to smoke! You are so generous!!

And if the democrats were in control of the whitehouse and congress, do you think they would be saying this..

We talk to young people every day, and this is what we hear: The job market is in a miserable state. Many young people can’t afford the education they need to get ahead. Personal debt and student loans are more burdensome than ever. And the vision of a society that we want to live in – one that values tolerance and diversity, and does not divide us along these sensitive lines – is not necessarily shared by the generation of politicians running our country.

Here are some of their links.. American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org MoveOn, www.moveon.org Recording Industry of America, www.riaa.org (I KNEW IT!) Children’s Defense Fund, Safe Start, www.childrensdefense.org The Family Violence Prevention Fund, www.fvpf.org Greenpeace, www.greenpeaceusa National Organization For Women, www.now.org The Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org United States Public Interest Research Group, http://pirg.org/uspirg National Education Association, www.nea.org People for the American Way, www.pfaw.org/issues/education AFL-CIO, www.aflcio.org UC Berkeley Labor Center Program on Young Workers, http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu

I think it was the former lead singer from SoundGarden who dropped out of RTV because he said he thought it was just to get young people to vote and let the peice fall where they may, but he saw that it was really an edorsement of the democratic party!

[Straight Vermonter]

The entertainment industry does not try to sway people but rather to pretend that anyone who is not ultra liberal is a nut. They portray extremely liberal positions as being in the mainstream to further their aganda.

[HitmanLV]

Does anyone ever ask why we, and others like us, seem impervious to this indoctrination and mind control? How did we all get through with our minds intact?
I'm serious!

[babyface00]

That's a great question. If we argue that its not a choice, but we're born that way, can we get special privileges and protections?

[Old Sarge]

The answer, FRiends, is what I posted: "Teach the child the lessons well, and he shall follow them all the days of his life".

We, like so many others, can credit our parents who raised us with love of country, love of neighbor, respect of elders, and standard-issue BS detectors in the form of wise grandparents.

God and Country - the Scouts don't forget. Neither should we.

[Thoro]

Only one problem. Research indicates new voters under the age of 30 are mostly (>50%) conservative in their views. So I say to RTV.... sign 'em up.

See, the thing that doesn't sit well with me, even if the above is true, is that I find it hard to believe that people under the age of 30, and especially under the age of 25, have any firm grasp of current events, past events leading to those current events, and who their duly elected representatives are and how they fit into either of the aforementioned.

To put it bluntly, I do not feel comfortable encouraging people to vote who have no grasp of the issues outside of that they know their candidate wears boxers.

[kylaka]

hard to believe that people under the age of 30, and especially under the age of 25, have any firm grasp of current events

Some do, some don't. I'm often dismayed by some of those in my own age group (50) who are completely clueless... as in "I'm gonna vote for Jim Jackass because he has nice (hair, teeth, wife, children... etc)".

When the realization that that person effectively cancels your own vote sinks in, its tough to remain rational and non violent.

These issues have been around since the beginning of the republic, and It still lives, so I remain optimistic, despite the liberals attempts to bend, fold, spindle and mutilate the constitution, at every turn, for the past 225 years.

[babyface00]

can credit our parents who raised us with love of country, love of neighbor, respect of elders, and standard-issue BS detectors

What's amazing, is that I can credit my parents for my good sense, but I still can't convince them not to vote DemonRat. They're "for the working man", dontcha know.

[jmcclain19]

And lets beat those uppity kids when they speak out of turn as well.

I say we lock 'em all up till their 40, that way, they can have no effect what so ever on our daily lives. Them kids, how dare they open their mouths and try to learn something.

What, did a college kid take a leak in your cheerios or something.

Ageism issues much? Scary, scary ideas.

[Thoro]

I was quite surprised to see another response to my post, especially since this thread was last active 5-6 weeks ago.

By your reply, I infer that you feel that the average MTV viewer, whom the article above discusses, has a firm grasp of issues and current events. I'm sorry, no matter how hard I try, I can not agree with that.

Also, from my understanding of your reply, unknowledgable voters are of no concern, so we should encourage someone, who has no idea what a widget is, that they should vote in favor of widgets because a cable music channel is pro-widget.

If you took ageism, which personally I find humorous because I'm not that far out of the MTV demographic, as the point of my post, you were looking to rebutt a point that was not there. Age is not my concern, ignorance is. I'll reiterate my point from my previous post: "To put it bluntly, I do not feel comfortable encouraging people to vote who have no grasp of the issues outside of that they know their candidate wears boxers."

[BATESEL]

I realize this thread is old, but I think it should be noted that, to the best of my knowledge, Rock the Vote has closed its own BBS service due to almost exclusively conservative activity.

[Timesink]

RTV is leftist scum, but they are no longer relevant or a danger, for two reasons:

1) As already noted above, today's young college students lean conservative. Besides, registering people to vote and getting them to show up at the polls are two different things. RTV was good at the former, but hapless at the latter.

2) Back in 1992, the average MTV viewer was a college student. But in the intervening years, MTV has moved further and further away from music and into cheap tawdry pop culture pablum, and the average age of its viewers has plummeted. It no longer matters how much support MTV throws to RTV now, because 15-year-olds can't vote.