Labor & Employment Law

Will Bieber Fever Fire Up Young Voters?

By Mike Hall

Sure, most Justin Bieber fans are too young to vote, but as savvy and texted-in as they are, they can move a message faster and further than any group. Rumor has it Twitter has its own ?Bieber fever? server to handle the traffic for the teen mega-idol.

The folks at Campus Progress hope a new video will leverage that fever to move young people old enough to vote to the polls and get the under-18 Bieberites to tell their older friends, family members and Facebookers to vote. It also hopes to encourage them to learn about the issues.

The group, the college arm of the Campaign for America?s Future (CAF), submitted the video to the Vote Again 2010 get-out-the-vote video contest. Campus Progress’ Sara Haile-Mariam told Politico:

Most of his fans are 12 years old?we acknowledge that….The hope is to create something that goes viral and gets young people to be aware of the election.

The ?Do It for Bieber? video tells viewers:

This isn’t your standard election year video of celebrities asking you to vote. It’s us, asking you to vote for celebrities who can’t, celebrities like Justin Bieber. Bieber’s too young to vote?yet whomever we elect in the 2010 midterm elections will impact his future and ours.?Members of Congress may have the power to vote for or against legislation, but we have the power to vote for or against every one of them.

So tell your parents, your grandparents, your Facebook friends, your friends from karate class, you?re My Space friends, your sister, your brother, your step brother, your Jonas Brother, to vote again in 2010….If they won’t do it for you, ask them to do it for Bieber.

Young voters made a big difference in 2008. Check out www.voteagain2010.com for more information on how you can vote again in 2010. It?s not too late to register or re-register if you?ve moved since the last election.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on September 15, 2010 (boomark / email).