We just wanted to give people out there in the universe a little knowledge about who we are and why we’re doing the work that we do. Here’s a quick description…

Who we are…We are young people from the Twin Cities who are pissed off at politics as usual and want to have a say in the policies that govern our lives. There are a whole lot of us, and if politicians want our votes they need to get serious about the issues we face every day.

What we want… At the end of the day, what we want is simple—a fair chance to get an education, a job and a place to live in a safe and sustainable world regardless of sex, race, class, identity or ability. We pay taxes, we vote and we want to live in a country that respects young people and invests in us to succeed. We're not asking for handouts. We're demanding fairness and smarter priorities.

Here’s what our plan is for 2008 & a little beyond

Twin Cities League of Pissed Off Voters

Strategic Plan Thumbnail 2008

The goal of the Twin Cities League of Pissed Off Voters 501(c)(4)  is to build a powerful youth force in our cities. Short-term, we are throwing our energy into the 2008 Election. Long-term, we intend to be at the forefront of progressive youth policy development in Minnesota.

We believe that ultimately youth-positive policy is community-positive policy, with its priorities of safe neighborhoods, quality education, economic opportunity and the decriminalization of young people and people of color.

Our Folks

“The League” targets a vibrant, large and often ignored constituency—the young, urban, multi-racial and pissed off. We frame our efforts in terms of access to the political process.

We have identified 5 target neighborhoods, with high density of youth (17 to 30) and low voter turnout, and representing a wide cross-section of the Twin Cities’ youth population. We plan to identify and build a list of 2,000 young people who are infrequent progressives or nonvoters in the following Twin Cities neighborhoods:

·         Eastside, St. Paul (predominantly Black)

·         Frogtown, St. Paul (predominantly Black and Hmong)

·         Northside, Minneapolis (predominantly Black)

·         Phillips, Minneapolis (predominantly White and Latino)

·         Uptown, Minneapolis (predominantly White)

The League has one part-time staff person through December 2008, with an additional 7-9 unpaid staff referred to as the Coordinating Committee, which oversees each major program area and undertaking.

2008 Electoral Objectives

Our objective vis-à-vis elections is to not only increase the number of young people who turn out to vote in the presidential race, but also to increase the number of informed, empowered and progressive young people who vote down ballot. Our 2008 voter engagement plan includes:

·         Voter ID and Registration

o        The Twin Cities League is committed to adding 300 new & re-registrants  to the Voter File, as well as augmenting current youth voter file data with cell phone numbers, email, instant messaging, and issue ID’s.

·         Voter Education and Election Protection

o        One of the biggest barriers to young people participation in elections is lack of information. We seek to address this in several ways:

·         Distribution of 10,000 hard copies of a Pissed Off Voters Endorsement Slate, including all local offices in Minneapolis and St Paul

·         Distribution of a Voter Bill of Rights and information on how/where to vote and ID requirements

·         Election Judge recruitment

·         Regular “Political Education Nights” in which we discuss current issues, hold film screenings and further engage our membership.

·         Voter Turnout

o        Our GOTV efforts will focus on turning out over 80% of our list of registered, identified young people, and include:

·         Cell phone banks

·         A “Trick or Vote” party and canvass on Halloween

·         An Early Voting Parade to government centers in both cities

·         A “Party at the Polls”

Post-Election Policy Work

During the first 100 days of the new administration we will step back and take stock of our base-building work and the issues identified by young people here in the Twin Cities. During the first legislative session of the new year we will focus on putting our weight behind 1-2 policy campaigns led by ally organizations. Our goal for the following biennial legislative session is to develop our own policy campaign (likely around Green Jobs).