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Ryan Madison has been so energized by the candidacy of Barack Obama he plans to run for public office.
RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer
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Obama inspires young voters
By JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- Until Barack Obama's campaign called, Ryan Madison had never participated in a caucus. In fact, only a few months ago, he had no idea what a caucus was.
"I'd never even heard of caucusing," he said. "I would've been one of those people who would've sat home until election night."
By the evening of Jan. 3, Madison's transformation was complete. Known to attend City council meetings, Madison always possessed a public service streak. But when the 26-year-old surveyed the energetic scene at his caucus site on Waterloo's east side, he resolved to take the next step: He would run for public office.
"The number of people getting out for change made me think, 'Hey, we need the same kind of change here in Waterloo,'" Madison said. "I can definitely guarantee I'll be running in 2009, I just haven't decided which seat I want to run for."
Much has been made of Obama's appeal to youth. Of Iowans less than 30 years old, Obama captured 57 percent of the vote on caucus night. Youth turnout more than doubled in New Hampshire, and most recently in Florida, it tripled.
But the impact of his candidacy runs deeper than inspiring youths to go to the polls. More and more young people aren't just voting for Obama, they're staying involved in politics after primary night.
"Even more than the excitement, they're actually motivated to move and to do things," said Quentin Hart, a newly elected member of the Waterloo City Council. "Obama seems to have the effect that he's just like everybody else. He embodies change, he embodies activism."
Skeptics need to look no further than caucus night at the 3rd Precinct in Waterloo's 4th Ward. Five Democrat delegates came out of the precinct at Waterloo East High School and four of them were youths.
Precinct chair Gloria Kirkland-Holmes recalls young people playing an active role, leading the cheers for candidates or serving as a precinct secretary.
"I have never seen this happen before," she said. "I think the voices of the young people are going to take politics to a level that it's never been. Whatever happens with the outcome of the election, Obama has showed them the importance of getting involved, looking at the issues and that their voice really counts."
Her son, Corey Holmes, 17, was one of the four young delegates from her precinct. He hadn't volunteered much for the Obama campaign and on caucus night he was expecting to register, stand up and vote, and go home.
Then a strange thing happened --- something that most had never seen before. A young person was nominated to be a delegate, and that person nominated one of her peers. When it was all over, many of the youths had nominated each other.
"We wanted to make a statement that the youth are for Obama and we're the future," Holmes said.
The assertiveness caught some adults by surprise. Holmes remembered some people looking shocked. Veteran caucus-goers had simply never experienced anything like it.
"You could see the reaction on some people's faces," he said. "You could tell people were witnessing a change in politics, and they were seeing something they probably had never seen before."
Holmes said as an African-American, seeing Obama make a run for the White House excites him. In fact, it was one of the reasons he went out to caucus. But Obama, who has been called the first post-racial presidential candidate, is running a campaign that appeals to people of diverse backgrounds.
Not surprisingly, Holmes made a point to say many of his white friends supported Obama "not because of his skin color, but because of his ideas and views."
Such enthusiasm seems to cut across not only races, but generations. Kirkland-Holmes said she hadn't observed so much energy for a political figure from such a wide cross-section of the population since the 1960s when John Kennedy ran for president.
"We had some campaign buttons and, especially the elderly, were asking, 'Can I please get one of those buttons?' That's how it was in the 60s.
"I saw something that I had not seen over the last 30 years --- it was just unbelievable."
Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.
"I'd never even heard of caucusing," he said. "I would've been one of those people who would've sat home until election night."
By the evening of Jan. 3, Madison's transformation was complete. Known to attend City council meetings, Madison always possessed a public service streak. But when the 26-year-old surveyed the energetic scene at his caucus site on Waterloo's east side, he resolved to take the next step: He would run for public office.
"The number of people getting out for change made me think, 'Hey, we need the same kind of change here in Waterloo,'" Madison said. "I can definitely guarantee I'll be running in 2009, I just haven't decided which seat I want to run for."
Much has been made of Obama's appeal to youth. Of Iowans less than 30 years old, Obama captured 57 percent of the vote on caucus night. Youth turnout more than doubled in New Hampshire, and most recently in Florida, it tripled.
But the impact of his candidacy runs deeper than inspiring youths to go to the polls. More and more young people aren't just voting for Obama, they're staying involved in politics after primary night.
"Even more than the excitement, they're actually motivated to move and to do things," said Quentin Hart, a newly elected member of the Waterloo City Council. "Obama seems to have the effect that he's just like everybody else. He embodies change, he embodies activism."
Skeptics need to look no further than caucus night at the 3rd Precinct in Waterloo's 4th Ward. Five Democrat delegates came out of the precinct at Waterloo East High School and four of them were youths.
Precinct chair Gloria Kirkland-Holmes recalls young people playing an active role, leading the cheers for candidates or serving as a precinct secretary.
"I have never seen this happen before," she said. "I think the voices of the young people are going to take politics to a level that it's never been. Whatever happens with the outcome of the election, Obama has showed them the importance of getting involved, looking at the issues and that their voice really counts."
Her son, Corey Holmes, 17, was one of the four young delegates from her precinct. He hadn't volunteered much for the Obama campaign and on caucus night he was expecting to register, stand up and vote, and go home.
Then a strange thing happened --- something that most had never seen before. A young person was nominated to be a delegate, and that person nominated one of her peers. When it was all over, many of the youths had nominated each other.
"We wanted to make a statement that the youth are for Obama and we're the future," Holmes said.
The assertiveness caught some adults by surprise. Holmes remembered some people looking shocked. Veteran caucus-goers had simply never experienced anything like it.
"You could see the reaction on some people's faces," he said. "You could tell people were witnessing a change in politics, and they were seeing something they probably had never seen before."
Holmes said as an African-American, seeing Obama make a run for the White House excites him. In fact, it was one of the reasons he went out to caucus. But Obama, who has been called the first post-racial presidential candidate, is running a campaign that appeals to people of diverse backgrounds.
Not surprisingly, Holmes made a point to say many of his white friends supported Obama "not because of his skin color, but because of his ideas and views."
Such enthusiasm seems to cut across not only races, but generations. Kirkland-Holmes said she hadn't observed so much energy for a political figure from such a wide cross-section of the population since the 1960s when John Kennedy ran for president.
"We had some campaign buttons and, especially the elderly, were asking, 'Can I please get one of those buttons?' That's how it was in the 60s.
"I saw something that I had not seen over the last 30 years --- it was just unbelievable."
Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.
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