Grassroots Already a Tinderbox with a Year to Go

This weekend marks one February 29th-enhanced year until the 2008 elections, and the DFL, its candidates, and left-leaning groups are working hard to ignite the grassroots to match an already impressive fundraising lead over the Republicans.

In association with the Democratic National Committee, the DFL is organizing a series of “One Year Out” house parties. The Young Progressive Majority organization has gone a step further, hosting an event Sunday night entitled “One Year Out, One Bush Out” in St. Paul.

The event has been pushed with several messages to social networks on Facebook, especially by State Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul.  I spoke to Lesch before the event Sunday, and he outlined YPM’s larger goals: motivating young voters over the next year to improve turnout in the 18-35 age group by 7 percent, and introducing young voters to candidates and activists to engage them on a personal level with leaders in and around the political process. Of these voters, Lesch said, “Many young voters would otherwise not be very engaged in the process, and events like these will make a difference in November.”

Messages on Facebook indicated that the YPM event would be attended by several young DFL state representatives, including Lesch, Steve Simon, Larry Hosch, Kate Knuth and several others.

Every election cycle, observers and pundits lament the lengthening of the process, crying foul at candidates and parties starting ever earlier, raising more and more money, and contributing to voter fatigue. Empirically, it’s difficult to argue. But is there a difference between airing dozens more ads every two years and seeking to more effectively engage vital segments of the voting population, perhaps propagandizing a bit but also providing resources for those voters to make educated decisions about the leaders they choose?

That might be more difficult to quantify than simply dollars raised or TV ads produced.