Canoeists paddle for young votes

Group including governor's son registers voters on river journey.

By CRAIG T. NEISES
cneises@thehawkeye.com

When his dad's name started being bandied about in June as a serious contender for the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee, Doug Vilsack was far from the hub–bub.

Instead of tuning in nightly to the news, or reading the morning papers to keep up with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's prospects for joining the Democratic ticket with John Kerry, the younger Vilsack was busy paddling a canoe down the Mississippi River in Minnesota at the start of a summer–long trek downstream aimed at getting young Americans to vote.

On Tuesday, Doug Vilsack and a crew of between 10 and 20 college students and recent graduates arrived in Burlington, where they held a voter registration rally aimed at potential voters age 18 to 25 at Riverside Park.

"We're really getting a lot of support from people along the way," Vilsack said. "It resonates with young people who hear about what we're doing."

Paddle for the Presidency started at Lake Itasca, Minn., on June 1, and expects to reach New Orleans in August. Along the way, the paddlers are conducting rallies in cities on both sides of the river. Complete with entertainment from home–grown bands (Burlington group Sigma played in the park gazebo for the Burlington rally), the intent is to attract young people to the riverfront and to help them understand the importance of voting.

In 2000's closest–ever presidential election, only two states were decided by fewer votes than Iowa, which went to then–Vice President Al Gore by fewer than 4,200 votes.

Wisconsin, another 2004 swing state that the paddlers made stops in on their tour, went to Gore by fewer than 6,000.

Florida went to Bush with a 300–vote margin, and New Mexico landed in the Gore column with 365 more votes for him than for Bush.

Those close votes are central, Vilsack said, to the task the canoeists have this summer: convincing young adults that their votes matter.

State Senator Tom Courtney, D–Burlington, and local Republican Party activist Linda Long, Burlington, usually of opposite thinking on political matters, agreed in this case.

"I don't care what party you like," Courtney told rally–goers. "It doesn't happen if you stay at home."

"The youth need to be involved," Long said. "This election is very important to the future of the country."

Although Vilsack and others were pleased with the turnout for the Burlington event, big turnouts are never expected.

"You're not going to get apathetic youth out to fight youth apathy," said Kerri Kuhn of Peoria, Ill., who was among the group of friends at Colorado College that included Vilsack who spawned the idea for registering voters along the Mississippi.

That is why in addition to registering individual voters on–site, Paddle for the Presidency participants handed out packets to attendees that included enough materials for local supporters to go out and register 10 of their friends to vote. Kuhn said friends are pivotal in encouraging interest in politics and sparking "genuine dialogue" about issues that add up to the motivation to cast a ballot on Election Day.

Jason Scott, bass player and vocalist in Sigma, said he was pleased to have the band play for the rally.

"It's for a good cause," he said.

Scott, 18, and fellow band mates Ryan Runyon, 19, and Jake Degen, 18, all of Burlington, all are registered to vote, and plan to go to the polls in November for their first presidential election.

Prospective first–time presidential voters Angie Schnedler, 18, and Jade Walker, 19 and Katie Eagen, 19, all of West Burlington, took packets so they could enlist their friends to vote. Schnedler said she thought the riverside rallies were a good way to attract the interest of young adults.

A group from the College Republicans chapter at the University of Iowa was expected to come to the event to add their support for the voter registration drive. If they were concerned about an activity in which the son of Iowa's Democratic governor was so heavily involved pushing that party's agenda, however, they needn't have been.

Vilsack said the paddlers are working hard to keep a non–partisan tone to the rallies — despite spirited campfire debates among the paddlers themselves, who come from both right– and left–leaning perspectives.

In Iowa, he admitted, that has been somewhat harder, given his family name.

Kuhn, who went so far as to decline naming her preference in this fall's election, said that in order to be successful, the effort has to be non–partisan, noting it is important to allow young voters to form their own political beliefs without being prodded in one particular direction.