Canoers float voting message
16 young people use expedition to urge youth to go to the polls
by MARY NEVANS-PEDERSON

Doug Vilsack (left) and Aaron Kiesey, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, make their way into Dubuque along with other paddlers taking part Saturday in the Paddle for the Presidency near the Hawthorne Street Boat Ramp. A group of college graduates is canoeing the length of the Mississippi River this summer in a non-partisan effort to encourage young people to vote. Vilsack is Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's son.
TH Photo by Dave Kettering
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Some young people hoping to encourage their peers to vote found a meager audience in Dubuque's Hawthorne Street boat ramp Saturday but hope to find a larger one at a music festival today.

Paddle for the Presidency hit Dubuque this weekend on its way down the length of the Mississippi. The effort is a grassroots voter-registration project started by college chums looking for a way to make their annual outdoor adventures mean something.

The 16 young people, all recent graduates of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, travel with 10 canoes, two support vehicles and whoever wants to join in the flotilla for a day or two. The summerlong excursion includes planned stops along the way for public rallies and informal campfire debates. Dubuque is the third major rally stop. The group will stop in Moline, Ill., Friday and Burlington, Iowa, July 20.

"The Mississippi is a symbol of power and expresses the heart of the U.S. It also passes through seven swing voter states," explained Katie Engelman, 21, of Evanston, Ill, one of the paddlers. Many young people are deeply concerned about issues that will affect their future, but they traditionally don't go to the polls, she said.

At the rallies, organizers provide entertainment to attract young folks, then ask them to take 10 voter-registration packets with them and encourage their friends to register. The "Get Your Friends to Vote" campaign is strictly non-partisan, they said, even though the young man who came up with the idea is the son of a famous Democrat.

Doug Vilsack, 23, is the son of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who was on the short list of possible Democratic vice-presidential candidates until last week. The younger Vilsack talked his outsdoorsy friends into making this summer's expedition meaningful.

"We've done lots of trips together, but we decided to rally young people to get excited about the political process this time. A lot of people have heard about our mission," said Vilsack, who had just finished using a watermelon to play rugby with his friends.

Stephanie Jaeger, 21, a senior at Clarke College, came to support the effort.

"A lot of college students are registered, but they don't vote. They don't see the necessity," said Jaeger, who will vote in her first presidential election this fall.

Chris Ross, of Holy Cross, was one of several political candidates who showed up at the rally. She is running for Dubuque County Auditor on the Republican ticket. She said people are often turned off to voting by "information overload" and candidate mud-slinging.

"But as we saw in the last election, every vote is important," she said.

Paddle for the Presidency will have a booth today at the Mud Lake Bluegrass Sundays event.

Copyright 2004 Telegraph Herald