Why a Presidential Youth Debate?

Why? Because we like you. And then there's this: There are 24 million young Americans in this country. That is a lot of us. Even so, it makes sense that the campaign ads and what goes on in Washington are so targeted to older voters. They vote. In fact, in the 2000 election 36% of people our age voted and 70% of older voters turned out on Election Day. So we here at The New Voters Project - the largest grassroots youth voter mobilization campaign in history - decided to do something about it. Our plan has a few somethings, actually:

1. Voter Registration and GOTV Drive to Get Their Attention: As of the launch of the New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate we've newly registered over 220,000 Americans in 6 states, and are about to launch an enormous grassroots campaign to mobilize young voters in record numbers. (If you're not registered yet, click here and let us get you into the mix.) But along the way of registering and talking to so many young people we heard overwhelmingly that you wanted to know more about where the candidates stood on the issues and what their policy positions are. Well, because of the power of what we are doing the candidates have agreed (in-writing) to answer your questions directly, and that is what the New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate is all about.

2. Getting the Candidate Answers to Youth Concerns: President Bush and Senator Kerry answering the 12 questions that young Americans choose as most important to them. Giving youth the answers they need to vote for the future they want. We've also included one question from America's Future Voters (13-17 year olds) because studies have shown that if you get them involved early enough that they vote in their first eligible election, then they're far more likely to become lifelong voters. We've already gotten President Bush and Senator Kerry to answer a set of questions in our Youth VIP, an initiative led by WWE's Smackdown Your Vote (download the PDF by clicking here: Voter Issues Paper [3.5 MB]). We started the conversation with the candidates, got them to start paying attention to us, but now we're going to the next level by having you ask the questions directly and by making sure that they're questions that have never been asked before. (That's why we need you to submit the questions and then vote on them).

3. Giving You the Voter Education You Need to Decide: In the Declare Yourself Youth Vote 2004 survey, young people said they needed more information. Bam! We are committed to finding more non-partisan resources where you can learn about the issues and the candidates and feel good about going to the polls to make an educated decision. Through our web site and through our printed materials we are going to connect you with some of the best resources available. The team over at Strong Bat Productions who have helped to produce the New Voters Project Presidential Youth Debate have come up with a free clickable e-book "Bush & Kerry, in 30 Clicks or Less: All the Nonpartisan Resources You Need to Make Your Own Informed Choice." We will keep distributing the Youth VIP and the answers from our debate and we will open our site to the best non-partisan information we can find or you can send us.