Just wanted to drop a quick post about some of the exciting things that have been happening recently within HeadCount.
It started Saturday when we got word from Pearl Jam that they agreed to be an offical HeadCount band. Normally this means that the band puts our "Register to Vote" button up on their website, provides us with access to their shows in order to set up a table and register voters, and provide any additional support they want. Pearl Jam took the extra step. They decided to bring a HeadCount volunteer on tour with them for their entire spring tour! This means a HeadCount volunteer will ride on their tour bus from city to city and meet up with local HeadCount volunteers at each show. Its going to be a pretty incredible experience and you can apply now at www.HeadCount.org.

On Sunday HeadCount broke its previous single day registration record by registering over 500 people. The majority of these registrations came from the Green Apple Festivals in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Boulder, and Chicago. Over 250 coming in from Chicago alone. The Green Apple Festival was an overall huge success and we were extremely grateful to be a part of it.

Then early this week, at a most convenient time with all these great things happening, the latest Rolling Stone magazine came out with "The Best of Rock 2008" cover. Turn to page 18 and you will see a half page article dedicated to the HeadCount benefit recently held in Washington D.C. where Bob Weir signed autographs and performed a short solo acoustic set. Special thanks to our new publicists Dave and Colin at Giant Noise for getting us the spot in Rolling Stone.

Look out for more HeadCount in the news when we issue our press release announcing our new bands and future plans.

With the PA primary coming to a frustrating end, I am wondering what the end will be, but, more importantly, who is REALLY going to decide this election: popular vote, or the super delegates??

It pains me to think that we may have another upset, but the sad truth is that congress can highjack our election. This smacks of a greater problem which needs to be addressed; many voters are going to feel disenfranchised if popular vote doesn't win out (again). The last 8 years have been a trying time, and whether or not you support Hillary or Obama, (or McCain?), I think that there is a general consenus of what needs to happen in the county--some kind of change! It is hard for me to imagine that the super delegates would choose someone who doesn't hold popular vote, but the thought scares me nonetheless.

Then there is the issue of the race itself. I think that the PA primary has left me more frustrated than anything else, but the worry set in yesterday as well. The Democratic Convention isn't until August! If we let this whole democratic nominee election go until then, then we only leave 4 weeks until the first debate with McCain, which is a bad idea. We will also lose valuable campaign time, ie- the entire summer! I look at the candidates, and I see an increasingly bitter woman who is dragging out the race in an effort to salvage her own ego. I am a little disgusted with the behavior of someone who has presented herself with such poise in the past. In fact, I began this whole run as a Hillary Clinton supporter....but her behavior became so erractic-- nay, desperate-- that I began to wonder. And it took me only a few weeks to jump the fence after hearing the fervor and passion that Barack Obama spoke with. It's not that I am without compassion. I mean, Hillary thought that this would be her year. She has been waiting for her golden moment in the sun, and now it is seemingly snatched from under her--by a younger, swifter, more able opponent, and she never saw it coming! Oh, and let's not forget, she is using a take-off from the Obama campaign stating yesterday in a "victory" speech "Yes, we will!" Tasteless, at best...

I certainly don't have the answers...only opinions, but I really feel that all of this is dividing the party and making for a horrible start. If Hillary really cared perhaps she would (at the very least) stop the attacks on Obama so that, either way, the party will back the winning candidate....

 I really think it is time for her to throw in the towel.

Greetings everyone! I’m John Z., the Washington, D.C. Team Leader for HeadCount. Thanks for checking out our blog!

Like many of our volunteers, unfortunately I have a day job that doesn’t entail going to concerts. Luckily, however, I work at small polling firm that does public opinion research. While most of our work is on behalf of our corporate clients, I do spend at least a day each week looking at polling data for the upcoming election. I figured I’d use this space to share some interesting findings from the world of polling that relate to you, the Young Voters who are Our Future (sorry for the cheesy turn of phrase, it was too tempting).

I thought I’d draw your attention to a story from today’s New York Times that portrays today’s primary contest between Obama and Clinton as a generational struggle. Exit polling data from the previous Democratic primaries does support the seemingly-obvious notion that young voters break for the young candidate. Why do you think that is? My opinion is that it’s mostly due to the simple appeal of a young candidate who just seems like someone intelligent who you’d want to get to know, but I also think Obama’s deft use of the Internet to both spread his campaign message virally and raise record amounts of money to pour back into those efforts has allowed him to energize young voters.

If all politics is generational, then these are exciting times to be a young voter. This awesome, in-depth report from Rock the Vote and CIRCLE shows that a historic number of young people voted in the 2006 midterms. The 9% surge over 2002 shows that young people are increasingly engaged and participating in the political process. There’s also a bunch of other encouraging data about the youth and minority voter turnout. In a time when elections are decided by a few hundred thousand votes, getting out and voting matters more than ever.

All sorts of socio-cultural theories have been floated as to why Generation X has the lowest turnout of any cohort of voters when in the 18-29 year old range, but they’re no more than (sometimes educated) guesses. Why do you think people under 29 are voting in record numbers? If you chose not to vote in previous elections but have voted in this primary or are volunteering with HeadCount, why did you choose to get involved?

If you ever have any questions about polling data or methodology or about something you read or see in the news, feel free to email me at JohnZ@headcount.org and I will gladly answer them on this blog. I’ll be back later with some more polling-related stuff.

One little disclaimer: anything written here is solely my own opinion and is not that of either HeadCount or the Lombardo Consulting Group.

Earlier this year, I started reading Chuck Klosterman. He generally writes essays or articles about post-modern pop culture (for a better sense of what this means, read Sex, Drugs And Cocoa Puffs). Typically Klosterman pens essays that are laugh out loud funny and that do not explicitly address politics. The closest that Klosterman comes to politics might be his argument that you could figure out your position on an issue based upon which team you prefer in the old school Lakers-Celtics rivalry, or his description of his experience watching live a taping of the McLaughlin Group.

By way of the Hidden Track blog, I recently discovered that Klosterman regularly contributes to Esquire and an archive of his writings for that publication could be found at Esquire.com. Earlier this week, while taking a much needed mental break at work, I read an essy that Klosterman wrote in 2006, entitled "Invention's New Mother," available at http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0306KLOSTERMAN_124_2. The general premise is that everything necessary has already been invented, therefore making modern invention an exercise in creating things that people never thought that they wanted or needed until they started using the item. By way of example, Klosterman provides a discussion of his experience with text messaging, something with which we could all identify.

So what does any of this have to do with voting or the 2008 election? Klosterman addressed invention, but he got me thinking about re-invention. Perhaps everything necessary has been invented. But it is quite clear that much of what has been created has yet to be perfected. One such creation is the system of democracy employed in the United States. And the system for voter registration and the methods employed that affect whether a registered voter is permitted to actually vote on election day. This year, voters in the remaining primary states should use the opportunity to determine what imperfections could be corrected before November.

Without attempting to list even a fraction of the deficiencies, I'll tell you what I've learned from personal experiences just this year. I was in South Carolina for the Democratic Primary, and in New York on Super Tuesday, in both instances manning voter protection hotlines. On each day, the overarching lesson was that registered voters are not always on the voter registration list at their polling place. Life-long voters get purged from the voter registration list without being told in advance and first time voters not infrequently don't make it onto the voter registration list even though they have received a card in the mail telling them that they had successfully registered to vote. According to the Brennan Center for Justice and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in places like Brooklyn, New York, life-long voters arrived at the polling place at which they have always voted, only to learn that their name was purged from the registration list. If you take a few minutes to peruse the Brennan Center's website (brennancenter.org), you will notice that since the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA") was enacted in 2002, numerous would-be voters get removed from voter registration lists in various states for various reasons, including simple human error.

The worst part about voters being purged from the rolls is how poll workers handle such situations. If your name is not on the list, it does not necessarily mean that you cannot vote. But the volunteers at polling locations on election day are very often ignorant or misinformed of their state's rules. If you are not on the list, but are registered, some states allow you to vote using a paper ballot that has a presumption of validity. Other states allow you to vote using a provisional ballot or affidavit ballot that has a presumption of invalidity. Despite what the pollworker may tell you or the presumption associated with the type of ballot, neither case means that the paper ballot automatically does not count. It also does not mean that casting that ballot is a waste of time. Even if the vote does not get counted, there are steps to take that will help non-partisan organizations determine whether there is a greater problem in your county or polling place that bears addressing.

If this happens to you, there are a few things that you should do to help improve the system in your county or state:

(1) You should demand to vote, regardless of what the pollworker tells you.
(2) You should re-register to vote, so that you know that you will not experience the same problem in November.
(3) You should report the problem to a non-partisan organization, such as the National Campaign for Fair Elections, an initiative of the Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights (1-866-OUR VOTE). The great thing about this organization, and others like it, is that they are available to assist you if you call while you are at your polling place and the poll worker is attempting to turn you away.

The National Campaign for Fair Elections recruits volunteer attorneys and law students and trains them to participate in a voter protection hotline for many of the primaries, as well as for the general election in November. The organization's press release regarding its plan for the Pennsylvania primary is available here: http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/2005website/publications/press/press041108.html. My understanding is that the organization has already started recruiting volunteers for similar voter protection programs for the primaries in Indiana and North Carolina taking place in early May.

Whether you are registered as a member of the Democratic or Republic Party, or unaffiliated in a state that allows unaffiliateds to vote in a party primary -- and even if you think that your vote in the primary will not impact your party's choice of nominee for the general election -- you need to take your county for a test run because not all counties or polling places are created equal. By voting and testing the process in April or May, you could make it easier for yourself and others to vote in November.

Numerous aspects of our voting system are far from perfect, but you could help improve some of the problems by helping to identify them early.

Perhaps this doesn't seem related to HeadCount, but for me, it is. You see, I joined HeadCount for a couple of reasons, a) because I needed to feel that I was making a contribution, and b) because I felt like registering voters in the youth population would lead to better decision making in the polls...afterall, it is essentially our country; although you would never know it by the way things look today.

 In my day-life, I work as an office manager at a therapy center. We have been taking insurance here for as long as the practice has been alive. We have also had insurance problems since we've been billing insurance companies. The scariest times here are when things are going well--because you know they are about to take a downturn!

From this side of the fence, I can tell you that my personal company has not been paid for over 6 months from Medicare....so now, faced with this situation, what is a business to do? First, there is an issue of patient care, in that we now have to turn around and hand people bills; which is the last thing I want to do. Secondly, there is an issue of where these people are going to go--some of them have been patients here for upwards of 8 years. Then there is the future--ahh the future.... If any of you help take care of your grandparents, you probably already know that with Medicare there comes lots of downfalls--and I mean LOTS. One of them is that you often get a secondary insurance carrier; that is, Medicare will only pay half your bill, and so you need another insurance carrier to supplement you so you aren't stuck holding your ass when its time to pay your medical bills. What most people don't know is that if the primary insurance doesn't pay the claim (or bill) the secondary insurance refuses to pay as well.

 So when the business think-tank-team of me and my boss sat down and were forced to make a decision regarding the future of Medicare with our company, we decided that we could no longer face the unanswered questions (along with hundreds of unreturned messages that I have left in desperation trying to be paid) and just stop excepting Medicare. What does this all mean???  

Well here's the Kicker:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield thinks that they should completely cut us out of our contract because we can no longer accept Medicare...since you know, they have a total of 3 patients here who are the primary/secondary deal with Medicare...(let's just not mention the other 100 patients that we have where things go smoothly with Blue Cross!)

They have us by the balls....and this is how it happens...

All of these programs are outdated, underfunded, and do not work properly! The time for something new has come, and we have got to find a way to fix this broken, beaten system. The whole thing is a  sharade! There is a crisis in the health care industry that is suffering patients and providers alike, but the saddest part of it is that the one's who will be hit hardest in the future are us! This is why it is so very critical that we begin using our voices to unite this country and find a better way! Registering voters is the only way I can find an answer for myself, but even so, I grow increasingly weary of the country that professes itself "the best" in the world, yet cannot even take care of its people......

“A Call to Action” is now available for your viewing pleasure online at iClips.

http://www.iclips.net/acta.php

The documentary which tells the story of HeadCount’s mission to register voters, as well as the mission of other non-profits involved in the music community, is the perfect way for someone to get a better idea of what we are all about.

One of the great aspects to HeadCount is that it was born out of a community that already existed, outside of the status-quo political realm. The live-music community has provided family for thousands of people and the artists have always represented the heads of those families. “A Call to Action” displays how much the artists really do care about what HeadCount is doing, and how important it is for the music community to have their voice be heard.

HeadCount has also allowed artists to help a cause they believe in, voting, without having to endorse a certain candidate or party. It can be a hard situation for musicians to mix politics into their art. They want to keep their music as pure as possible, and endorsing a candidate on stage can sometimes corrupt a show in the eyes of a band, or its fans. My favorite moment of the documentary is when Trey Anastasio is being interviewed and he says “I’m not the most political person, as a musician I’ve always tried to steer clear of directly speaking politically, because a lot of the times, I think politics divide, and music brings people together…I still vote, I just don’t talk about to who I vote for.” I think this quote basically sums up the vast amount of artist support that HeadCount has. Our musicians believe in political activity, and civic engagement. They believe in the spirit of music and the community, and they believe in their fans. They know that once the fans are active, they will make the right choice on their own, and there is no need for them to say which candidate they should vote for, all they need to do is vote.

On a related note, the documentary is being screened tomorrow night, April 16th, in Asheville, North Carolina a theatre called Cinnebarre. It will also screen at the Bonnaroo Music Festival this summer in Tennessee and at the Fine Arts Theatre in Asheville in September.

The screening at Cinnebare made the cover of the Asheville Citizen Times Arts section and the article can be found online here…

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880411089

Check out the documentary at iClips, read the article, and let me know what you think. This documentary is extremely important to HeadCount and we hope it has a successful effect in getting more people involved. It will also be available in hard-copy form free of charge at concerts and festivals where HeadCount is present this summer.

Every grassroots, volunteer organization must be weary of where and how they choose to allocate their resources. Ambition is one of the keys to success and to growth. But sometimes, when one shoots for the stars, it is too easy to overlook your base. Sometimes though, it all come back to the place where it all started.

Never was that more true than last night. Where, in the Disco Biscuits show at the Nokia Theatre, HeadCount registered more volunteers than at any other Biscuits show this year...before the Biscuits even took the stage. By the end of the show, the stellar team of volunteers had almost doubled that number.

It was a great show (Kamaole Sands> 7-11> Little Betty Boop> The City> Kamaole Sands, anyone?), a great experience for a lot of people who were able to be there, and a great night for HeadCount. Sometimes, when you find yourself in the midst of new, exciting things to come, it sure is refreshing to see where it all began.

Yes, it sounds strange, doesn't it? But I believe it to be true. Those of us HeadCount know that every vote is important in deciding an election, but it is sometimes hard to impress this on the general public (especially youth) because in this vastly growing nation and world, it is easy to feel like one of billions.

For those of you who aren't 'Idol' watchers, this week was an "upset" week. For those of us who have been watching for many seasons, this is usually the week that it happpens--that is, one of those who was formerly in the top goes home as we watch the person who really should get the boot glide through to next week. Everyone in the audience (as well as those three judges we LOVE to hate) are all shocked as they "boo" the decision. But they essentially made the decision either by voting for someone else, or abstaining from the vote. Last night, as I watched the oh-so-cute Australian gentlemen who made me think fondly of the late 80s with his rendition of "Don't you forget about me," it made me think that this guilty pleasure, prime time show may be doing more than meets the eye.

Although on a smaller scale than any presidential election, this contest demostrates the power of the vote. Its base that participates is mostly the youth of the country, who swoon over the cute guys, and want to be the pretty girls. They get their results quickly and feel the pangs of the person who goes home swiftly. It is really a stroke of genius, if you think about it. These people are getting used to voting from the age of 7 or 9, as opposed to 18.

Perhaps the connection does not translate as I have laid out here, but I like to think that it can. Now in it's 7th season, there are  people who are currently 18 who were 11 when the show first came out. Perhaps having had this television powerhouse as an example of 'democratic' music choice, with Ryan Seacrest saying every week, "If you don't like the results, you should vote" will help the young people to realize the concept is the same in our political arena.

Monday night was probably one of the biggest turning points in the history of HeadCount. We held a private fundraising event at a Washington D.C. home where special guest Bob Weir met with a wide variety of people and performed a short set.

HeadCount was born out of the music scene where it is well known, and well regarded. It has been our goal recently to reach out to a broader audience and gain recognition in different realms within the political and philanthropical world. Monday night’s party did exactly that. The guest list of about 100 people included three Congressman, political commentator Tucker Carlson, FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Union heads, Foundation chairs and several other D.C. V.I.Ps.

Bob spent most of the night meeting and greeting the guests, discussing politics, the importance of young people voting, and everybody’s “best Dead show ever.” It was a great opportunity for the people of D.C. to meet HeadCount staff and volunteers and really get a feel of what the organization is all about. I answered several questions throughout the night related to our field operations, form processing, database techniques and the overall goals we aim to achieve. I got great feedback from everyone I spoke with and it seemed as though everyone there was excited to be involved.

The obvious highlight of the evening was Bob Weirs brief but emotional performance. He lead off with a passionate speech on the importance of democracy, insisting that if we are not careful, democracy as know it will slip from within our reach. He talked about how the decisions being made today are going to effect young people for the rest of their lives. He urged the audience to join HeadCount’s cause in registering voters and help save democracy as we know it.

Then just as Bob was about to start playing, he stopped and said “I’m sorry, I can’t play tonight, I really want to, but I just can’t.” He had been talking to guests for over two hours and sang the national anthem earlier at the Orioles game, his voice was shot. It was a scary moment, this was basically what everybody at the event had paid good money to see, and it could have been disastrous for HeadCount. Since he couldn’t sing as loud and clear as normal, Bob chose to lead a sing-along to the Grateful Dead staple “Ripple.” It was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever witnessed. Just imagine over 100 D.C. elites in suits and formal wear swaying and singing along with Bob Weir to one of the greatest songs ever written. I’m pretty sure I saw tears in at least a few eyes. He finished it off with another sing-along to “Not Fade Away”, getting everyone excited and leaving on a high note.

This climax was a perfect example of the true nature of HeadCount, which is music and musicians bringing people together to discuss important issues and take action. And while people might argue and differ on those issues, at the end of the night they are brought together by one simple entity; music.

I had the opportunity to attend a Santana concert at Merriweather Post Pavillion, 4/6/08. Although I have seen a multitude of concerts, this was my first Santana concert, and I knew I was in for a treat.

As soon as we were in the lot, it became apparent that this was a different kind of crowd. There was no one kind of person at the show. You know what I mean; you go to a Ratdog or Phil Lesh show, and you see dreadlocks and tie dye abounding. But this was immediately different. There were young people, old people, middle aged people. There were latinos, african americans, white people, and indian people. It was pretty evenly dispersed, which was surprising to me because it got me to thinking about how an artist is able to diversify themselves so much that they speak to an audience who is more than black, indian, or white--they are now one people.

Santana began the show with what I would call a "message of peace," which was beautiful. He had a clear aim from the beginning of the show, which was to unite people. I don't know if he quite knows it, but there was a definate sense of unity. As different as everyone was, it was a party! I have never danced so hard in my life! And the smiles--oh the smiles on everyone's faces! Sometimes, at least for me, when I go to shows that deviate slightly from my normal shows, I feel intimidated by the crowd--or at least a little "outside." This was different, and my hat is off to Santana--not just for his beautiful, wonderful music (which was flawless!), but for the power he has as a person AND a musician to bring people together and really reach people of all backgrounds to make them united. If only for  a couple of hours.