Overall, Youth Rights Activists Have Good Election Night
Special Election Report by the Creative Youth News Team
November 5, 2008

Numerous youth rights activists' picks won big at the polls.  These victories included landslides for Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, California Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass,  California Assemblywoman Lori Saldana,  Los Angeles County supervisor-elect Mark Ridley Thomas and Irvine Mayor-elect Sukhee Kang, all of whom support lowering the voting age. Congressman George Miller who took the lead in sponsoring legislation to regulate American Gulag Schools won a sizable victory.  He also worked to investigate deaths at Gulag Schools.   Anti-war leaders supported by youth activist also won big.  These included members of Congress listed above and Representatives Jim McDermott, Pete Stark, Ron Paul, Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, Diane Watson, Bob Filner, and others.  Youth activists also supported Robert Wexler, who had assisted Kucinich in working to get impeachment heard in the House Judiciary Committee.   Wexler also did well at the polls.

Although, Senator Mitch McConnell has taken a lot of positions that youth activists oppose, the youth continue to be grateful to him for "McConnell v FEC," wherein he got the Supreme Court to overturn a McCain-Feingold restriction on youth donations as unconstitutional.  McConnell's close race reflects the mixed feelings youth activist have towards his assistance with that issue versus his pro-war positions that have cost a lot of youths their lives before their first chance to vote.

Youth rights activists in California managed to push through Propositions 1a (High speed rail)  and 2 (Healthy farms).  Prop 3, a bond for children's hospitals also passed.  Youth were also successful in defeating Prop 4, a proposition that would have placed parents in charge of teen aged females' bodies, a serious violation of youth rights.

Young Americans also worked to defeat Republicans, in general, as a kind of payback for a war that has cost too many young Americans their lives before a first chance to vote.  Another reason the youth worked to defeat Republicans is that the owners/directors of the American Gulag Schools, where teens are tortured and sometimes killed in America, contributed heavily to the Republican Party.   Youth Activists worked with Democrats to get Congressional hearings and legislation regulating Gulag Schools.  As the map went blue, most young people felt relieved while hoping that the new President-Elect will be less pro-war than the current holder of the White House.    The failure of voting aged citizens to elect someone who actually opposes war and supports freedom and rights for all is a sign that the right to vote is held by the wrong segment of society.  Though Barack Obama would not have been the first choice for young Americans, he is seen by most youth activists as better than John McCain.

It's not just the youth who are the target of discrimination.  President-Elect Barack Obama opposes gay marriage. 11 states that adopted propositions, discriminating against gays seemed to agree with Obama.  Perhaps, gay rights activists should consider joining youth activists in fighting discrimination of all kind and in working for equal rights candidates in future Presidential elections.

Youth activist will be watching the recount in the Minnesota Senate Race.  Paul Wellstone's example of how an average person can achieve high office through hard work is often used in schools to inspire students.  Most youth are concerned about reports that, one week following the death of Wellstone, Norm Coleman was joyously posing for pictures on the same kind of plane on which Wellstone died, giving the impression that Coleman was gloating about Wellstone's death.  The vote in the Coleman-Franken race is reminiscent of that certified by Katherine Harris in 2000.

Copyright ©2008 by the Creative Youth News Team.  All rights reserved.

Home