You can support women in film here in Manhattan — specifically, uptown at Barnard College. The second annual Athena Film Festival kicked off Wednesday with four days full of films by, for and about women.

The Athena Film Festival is a joint partnership between Barnard College, the Athena Center for Leadership Studies and Women & Hollywood. On Friday, February 10th, members the MYD Women’s Issues Committee will be attending a screening of Ann Richards’ Texas, a documentary work-in-progress, followed by a talk-back with the directors.

MYD is partnering with Athena Film Festival, along with many other great organizations, so members can receive discounted tickets to Ann Richards’ Texas. Email women@gomyd.com for more information.

If you can’t make the screening, there are many other great films to check out. The Festival boasts a diverse range of films that exemplify its mission—to illuminate the stories of courageous women who have made a difference across the globe – with a lineup of over 30 features, documentaries and shorts set to screen. Here’s the schedule.

Interested in women’s issues? Join the MYD Women’s Issues Committee! Our next meeting is February 13th (coincidentally “Galentines Day,” if you watch Parks & Rec) at 7 p.m. at Starbucks (Park Avenue at 29th Street). Email women@gomyd.com.

Thanks to Women’s Issues Committee member Amy Chen for contributing to this post!

Events of last week left little doubt about the political clout of the Internet. Thanks to an online firestorm, Planned Parenthood not only emerged from a three-day flap with funding intact, but also 10,000 Facebook fans stronger and about $3 million richer. “Online Backlash Boosts Planned Parenthood” and “Social Media Flexes Muscle” were headlines we saw over and over again.

There’s no question that social media organizing has come of age. Twitter and Facebook are beating the drum of every modern civic protest, catapulting peripheral issues into the nationalconversation through #hashtags and ‘likes.’ But who is the driving force behind social media — and by extension, contemporary political movements?

Young people. And in 2012, it makes us a “must win” constituency.

There’s a reason that a threat to Planned Parenthood can spark online furor the way, say, an attack on the AARP might not — reproductive health issues fire up the “Internet crowd.” According to the organization’s 2009 Annual Report, roughly 81% of Planned Parenthood patients are between the ages of 18 and 39, with more than half of those under 24.

Social media activism largely mirrors this demographic.

It’s true that online networks are hugely popular in every age group, with Baby Boomers and seniors flocking to Facebook and Twitter in record numbers every day. But when it comes to political activity, online participants remain disproportionately young.

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom (and statistics) on civic engagement. Offline, young adults are still the group least likely to take political action. But when it comes to online activity, it’s seniors — traditionally seen as the most reliable vote bloc — who are the least politically active.

The Internet not only narrows the participation gap between young and old, it lends a powerful platform to a typically quiet constituency — we’ve grabbed the bullhorn and, all of a sudden, our agenda is beginning to resonate.

Take the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) uproar of earlier this month. Both anti-piracy bills were moving full speed ahead through Congress until millions spontaneously protested online, halting both bills dead in their tracks.

It was a victory chalked up to the “power of the web,” with Google and Wikipedia out-muscling Hollywood lobbyists. But if a site goes down in the forest, and no one is around to see it… The fact is, the Internet “won” because Internet users — read: young adults — got angry and took action.

SOPA and PIPA fell to the sword of the Net before ever cracking mainstream consciousness. According to the weekly news interest snapshot by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, only 7% of the general public followed the online piracy legislation issue. Yet it was the top story followed by young people ages 18-29 the week of January 16th, with nearly a quarter of them tracking the issue.

Yes, it was a win for the Internet. But beyond that, it was a true testament to the power of the Internet constituency.

And Millenials’ newfound political heft isn’t merely playing out across the web. Through online engagement, young people are — perhaps unwittingly — beginning to influence the discussion in mediums typically dominated by older demographics, as well.

CNN’s social media-infused election coverage is a great example of this. Producers aren’t padding political segments with viewer emails or “man on the street” interviews anymore. Instead they’re gauging voter reaction by tracking tweets and aggregating online conversations — thus, skewing the sample pool younger and melding fresh sentiments into the core narrative.

Campaigns have caught on to this — recognizing that social media outlets provide an immediate and continual feedback loop that spurns traditional media stories, they’re harnessing Twitter and Facebook to engage voters, monitor reactions and anticipate press topics. So how long before candidates begin pandering to Internet users the way they do other early influencers, like the Iowa Caucus-goers?

Only time will tell.

At the end of the day, the 18-34 set may never have the political upper hand; we are by no means the wealthiest constituency. We don’t have the firepower of corporate lobbyists. And our ballot box turnout is less than stellar.

But before writing off our issues, lawmakers would do well to remember: We’re at the helm of the world’s most powerful mobilizing apparatus — and we’re not afraid to use it.

Two nights ago the Econ Committee had it’s first meeting of 2012. This is a great year for Econ and in the next 360 days we’re going to delve into some of the greatest questions of our day with experts, politicians and, most importantly, the real people who have to live with the answers. Please join as we tackle these issues and develop the policy stances MYD, the Young Democrats and our allies will be fighting for in 2012.

Also, being economic geniuses that we are, we came up with a way to host a free open bar event.

Intrigued yet? Want in? Get involved! Email econ@gomyd.com (although please pardon if the reply is a bit tardy as the keys to the account haven’t been handed over just yet).

If you would like to make your voice heard on this matter, you can sign up to attend the hearing and offer testimony:

http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/hearings/20120125_manhattan/

Campaigns and Outreach Director – Robin Brown
Communications Director – Kat Kane
Community Service Director – Jordan Reisner
Creative Director – Chris Baily
Development Director – Dan Lewkowicz
Events Director – Veronica Libman
Finance Director – Alex Leopold
New Media Director – Jon Reznick
Political Director – Andrew Goldston

In 2011 the Manhattan Young Democrats set out to meet several goals:

• Get Marriage Equality passed in New York State (check!)
• Create a robust Women’s Issues Committee (check!)
• Run even more young people for Democratic County Committee and re-establish the County Youth Committee (check!)
• Pass a Living Wage bill (still working on it, but closer than ever!)

I think it’s safe to say we had a pretty good 2011.  We built up our membership and we raised some serious cash.  We got nearly 100 young people elected to positions within the Democratic Party, and we once again came home from the national Young Democrats of America convention with the title “Chapter of the Year!”

I am so proud of everything we accomplished last year, but I know that 2012 will be even better.  This is the year all of our hard work pays off.  This is the year we reach out to every person who ever attended a happy hour event, or community service activity or holiday party, and get them engaged.  This is the year we get them plugged into local campaigns, into their local Democratic clubs and their community boards.  This is the year we ORGANIZE.  And not just in midtown and downtown Manhattan, but in Harlem and Inwood and Washington Heights.

This is the year we show everyone that 2008 wasn’t a fluke; that young people still care about their country and still want to work to make it better.  This is the year we prove that young really can get it done.

But don’t worry, we’re still going to have fun!  The truth is, collecting signatures and making phone calls is a hell of a lot easier if you’re doing it with friends and you can go out and grab a beer afterwards.  So join us tonight as we have a few drinks and watch President Obama deliver his State of the Union speech.

Tonight, we celebrate.  Tomorrow, we get to work.

In December, a committee of Board members appointed by the President were asked to come up with a set of proposals for 2012. Download the full set of recommended changes HERE.. The full Constitution and By-laws are also available HERE.

Some of the key issues we were focused on solving for included:

• Evolving the Committee structure – with a larger membership and larger number of Issue-Oriented Committees, the Board had ballooned in the recent years, making it unwieldy. The proposed changes does not designate a number of Committees but rather differentiates between Standing and Ad-hoc Committees. Only Chairs of Standing Committees will have votes on the Board.
• Increasing accountability of Committee Chairs – previously there had been no procedure for removing Chairs in the Constitution.
• Ensuring that if an Officer position is vacated with significant time still remaining in a given year, this decision is brought to the membership rather than being filled by Presidential appointment.
• Ability for the membership to propose resolutions

These amendments will be voted upon during the January General Meeting in conjunction with electing the 2012 Officers. Make sure to pay your 2012 dues beforehand so you can actually vote!

Feel free to email me at president [at] goMYD [dot] com if you have any questions or concerns.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a strong supporter of the legislation, said: “In issuing this injunction, the court has failed to protect pregnant women in an extremely vulnerable time in their lives.”

When the City Council approved the legislation, Council member Jessica Lappin, who sponsored the bill, made the point that it “only regulates centers that are deliberately trying to deceive women into thinking they are in a medical facility when they are not. What those centers are doing is not only dishonest, it is incredibly dangerous.”

The judge who temporarily barred the legislation said it is “offensive to free speech principles.” What’s offensive is that these centers will be allowed to continue lying about what they are at the expense of women looking for information and help for their reproductive health.

Why shouldn’t these centers be required to tell the truth about their services? As the NY Times editorial says, “That makes no sense at all.”

Interested in getting involved? Join MYD’s Women’s Issues Committee!

We are hosting a screening of Miss Representation on August 8th, 7 p.m. at the Hive at 55 (55 Broad Street, 13th floor). Miss Representation highlights the shocking prevalence of sexism in media coverage, including political media coverage. Its impact on our next generation of female leaders could be staggering. The screening is free but seats are going fast so RSVP today!

Anytime there is an election, we are always bombarded with messages about how close a race is, how much the candidate needs donations, and how truly valuable your time would be if you could just stop by and help out a bit. Now, I don’t want to put down helping your favorite candidate during election season, but we get asked by many different causes on a regular basis to donate our time, our money, or to reach out to our contacts and eventually we get tired of hearing the same song and dance. With the Internet and cell phone plans offering unlimited long distance calling on nights and weekends, now we are asked to take part in races on the other side of the state or country by phonebanking. It’s impossible to tell what races really are close, and which are foregone conclusions, especially when you don’t know the people involved before a group asks you to help out.

But every so often there is a race that’s actually that close, where a few hours of your time would make a difference. Kathy Hochul’s race next Tuesday is that race. And I want you to know why.

One thing that doesn’t lie is unbiased numbers. And when we talk about elections, one of the hardest things to come across is actual, unbiased numbers generated by a firm that has no political connections. Siena College has been putting out just this kind of high quality data on New York races for years. It’s my personal Gold Standard for anything that’s happening in New York. And the best part? Their results are boring. They’re detailed. And they don’t come with any commentary.

So when I started to hear the buzz that the upcoming race in NY’s 26th congressional district was unusually close and I was asked to join a number of Hochul phonebanking efforts, Siena College is exactly where I looked to see just how close it really was. Now granted, the latest Siena numbers are about two weeks old, but that’s good enough to work with, and certainly enough to get an idea from. The headline numbers had Hochul down by 5 points, with 9% undecided, in a three way race. That got me to dig a little deeper, since that actually is close.

Since that time, I’ve come to the conclusion that beyond the “Rah! Rah! Help the Democrat!” I usually hear in connection with phonebanks for races outside of my area, this race is actually something that’s winnable, genuinely hanging in the balance, and a race that will have a long term impact in that district.

And why? Largely because of these points:

1) It’s become a serious three way race where three major candidates all are serious contenders to win. This means that unlike many races, a few points either way is actually a big swing. And in a special election, a few points is a very small number of voters.

2) The Siena data is two weeks stale; all of the more recent (and more partisan) polls I’ve seen have the the race in a statistical dead heat.

3) Jack Davis, the candidate running independently, is pulling 20%(!) of the Democratic vote for his “Tea Party” candidacy.

4) Even though the race is quite close, only 58% of Hochul voters actually believe that Hochul will win, and I would postulate this stems from this district historically electing Republicans. This kind of thinking can lead to a serious Democratic apathy at going to the polls; phonebanking that “this is a close election” and other get out the vote efforts are the only way to combat this.

5) This isn’t as Republican a district as we’ve been led to believe! While the tendency of the district is to elect “moderate” republicans, the actual breakdown of the voter registration is as follows:

Anyway, the point of all this is that these phonebanks will have a an impact on this race. And your time will have a stronger impact than I’m used to seeing in phonebanks for “winnable” races. This is a winnable race, but not one that will definitely be won.

Beyond that, the makeup of this district, means that this isn’t just a case where the Democrat will eek out a win due to a third candidate and immediately be dumped in the next election. This is a district where the incumbency advantage should be enough for a moderate Democrat like Kathy Hochul to offset the 8% registration advantage the Republicans have in this district, especially when she has a pool of 25% independent voters to draw from.

Please take the time to attend one of the  phonebanks that are being held in New York City this week. Your time will have a serious impact on this race. One that can turn a district blue, and keep it that way.

Greater NYC for Change is keeping a comprehensive and up to date list of all phone banks happening over the next few days here. Please take a look and get involved.

And if you can’t make it to one of those phonebanks, please consider taking the time to phone from home using www.callny26.com.

*Data used is from the Siena poll of April 29, 2011, available here, with the exception of district-party makeup data which is via the NYS DOE, updated as of Feb 16th, 2011, of active voter registrations in CD 26.