Students walking past Westwood Plaza Monday afternoon came face
to face with a political maelstrom.
In front of a cheering crowd, left-leaning speakers lashed out
against conservative positions on a host of issues, ranging from
the Racial Privacy Initiative to the potential war in Iraq. But
this was no Democratic rally. Rather, it was part of the allegedly
nonpartisan Rock the Vote campaign.
If you haven’t been watching MTV lately, Rock the Vote is
a nonprofit organization that attempts to lure indifferent and
ill-informed Americans to the polls by linking voting with cool
celebrities. A typical RTV ad will state, “P. Diddy rocks the
vote because he cares about health care “¦ Iggy Pop rocks the
vote because he cares about social security “¦ why will you
rock the vote?”
Since its creation in 1992, the primary goal of the RTV
organization has been to “empower people to change the world
through voting” ““ at least on paper. But in practice,
RTV has been a highly successful recruitment tool for the
Democratic Party. Despite laws which disallow tax-exempt
organizations like RTV from being overtly political, it has openly
displayed its leftist political bias.
Look no further than the Rock the Vote Web site,
rockthevote.org: a liberal propaganda machine firing on all
cylinders. Individuals traveling to the site are whacked with
hundreds of links to left-wing organizations, including NOW,
Fight4Choice, ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club. There
is even a link which details Sting and Dave Matthews’ efforts
to “save the environment.”
In contrast, links to conservative organizations are virtually
non-existent, except for one link to the Republican National
Committee (which is of course buried beneath the Democratic, Green
and Reform parties).
The RTV Web site also issues “action alerts,” which
state the allegedly impartial organization’s position on
several heated political issues. Without fail, they are uniformly
liberal.
Rock the Vote on the environment: “Sign a petition to save
the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve “¦ to learn more, read a
message from West Wing star Martin Sheen (aka President
Bartlett).”
Rock the Vote on campaign finance reform: “The campaign
finance system is corrupted. “¦ Pass comprehensive language
for meaningful campaign finance reform.”
Rock the Vote on financial aid: “Help make financial aid
available to those who need it. This year more than 43,000 young
people will be denied financial aid due to 1998 government
provision (which prevents convicted drug users who refuse to
undergo 12 hours of rehab from receiving tax-payer-funded
aid).”
Rock the Vote on the minimum wage: “Call for an increase
in the minimum wage. Legislation has been introduced in both the
House and Senate that, if passed, will increase the minimum wage by
$1.50 between now and January 1, 2003.”
Rock the Vote on the Electoral College: “The Electoral
College should be reformed to provide a more accurate presidential
election that reflects the will of all the people.”
The RTV platform goes on and on.
But rather than acknowledge the organization’s obvious
political slant, Rock the Vote founder Ricki Seidman (an ex-Clinton
staffer) and current executive director Jehmu Greene have clung to
tax-exempt status by repeatedly denying the existence of bias.
They can’t keep up the act much longer. Especially when
rallies like the one held at UCLA seem to place more emphasis on
propaganda than registration. How concerned can Rock the Vote be
about voter registration when they hire rapper and voting advocate
KRS-One, a man who admits he still rocks the couch rather than the
polls every Nov. 5?
With its blatantly overt political agenda exposed, Rock the Vote
should come clean and drop its tax-exempt status and nonpartisan
label. At least then when it preys upon impressionable young Bono
fans, it can do so honestly.