Alumna Urges Students to Engage in Politics

Mattie Weiss '01 believes politics should be fun. In fact, she thinks putting "the joy back in politics" may be the only way to beat incumbent George W. Bush in November.

Weiss, who addressed approximately 100 students on Tuesday night, is the Midwest regional coordinator for the League of Independent Voters, also known as the League of Pissed-Off Voters.

Weiss also wrote a chapter in How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: the anti-politics, un-boring guide to power,a book that profiles 22 young people across the country who have been elected into office.

The league's primary goal is to get Bush out of office , but "our more long-term goal is to make the Democratic party more progressive and create more room for progressive politics," Weiss said.

Weiss spent most of her lecture detailing the strategies of the League of Pissed-Off Voters. The League will focus on 11 swing states and plans to bring more young people, ethnic minorities and immigrants into electoral politics.

"We don't have a lot of money," Weiss said, "so we have to use what we do have - social networks, talent, commitment."

A lot of people are turned away from politics because "so many activists are people who believe the world is going to come to an end," Weiss said. "They have some reasons to feel that way, but terror and desperation doesn't inspire everyone. We have to make it about things people want to be part of. At a recent book release, we had hip-hop, dancing and drinking."

Weiss also organized a talent show in her hometown of Minneapolis, in which high school students performed skits about why they hated Bush. Her high school classmate, actor Josh Hartnett, judged the acts. The League's Web site, www.indyvoter.org, promotes activities such as asking a cute nonvoter out for a Valentine's Day drink.

The presentation, entitled "Why You and Your Friends Are America's Best Hope to Save Politics in the 21st Century," was at many points more of a rally than a lecture.

"Who knows someone in Iraq? Who knows someone who recently has had a paycheck cut? Who knows a women who might, at some point in her life, need an abortion? Who's pissed off?" Weiss asked until the majority of the audience had their hands in the air.

She gave Swarthmore students guidelines on how to get organized to make a difference in the 2004 election and passed out surveys to collect contact information. After the lecture, Weiss's book was available on sale.

"It was cool to have a Swattie back here who is doing stuff on national level," Aaron Strong '06 said. "She seemed really down to earth. She didn't seem full of herself, either." Strong brought voter regristration forms to Weiss' presentation on behalf of the fledging Swarthmore Voter Registration Coalition.

The coalition plans to work to register voters in Chester and at Swarthmore.

Strong is in charge of the "Every Student Votes" campaign, which hopes to get every eligible Swarthmore student to vote. "Twelve-hundred to 1,300 votes in a swing state is significant," said Strong, who would also like to try to help non-citizens register.

"Everything is focused on people who are citizens. We have over 100 students who are not citizens; they are foreign students. It would be a great exercise to truly have every student vote, to learn about absentee ballots and electoral systems in other countries to make sure they are able to vote in their own country," Strong said.

Emily Wistar '06 said she "liked what she was talking about in terms of the joy of politics. Getting people excited is the important point."

Nate Wessler '04, who booked Weiss, said there was "a very impressive turnout for a rainy Tuesday night. I'm psyched she gave us concrete ways for college students to get involved. It clearly shows it is time to get our noses out of McCabe and into the ballot booth."

Wessler knew Weiss from when she was a senior and he a first-year.

"I worked with her a lot on the living wage campaign. I was very impressed by her energy and her skill as an organizer," he said.

Weiss was a political science major at Swarthmore. "I liked activists but hung out with other people," Weiss said. In addition to working with the living wage campaign and trying to improve racial politics on campus, Mattie was in Grapevine and played soccer.

After graduating, Mattie worked as a labor union organizer for half a year. After that, she worked for a research center based in Oakland, Calif., studying immigration policy and youth activism around the country.

"I think a lot of people at Swarthmore feel guilty about privilege. They shouldn't. Maybe it's not a good thing, but while you have it, you should use it and own it. Get speakers to come to campus, take a semester off to work on the election, or do an independent study with a professor. Also, use your privilege as a young person in America. Everywhere else in the world, people want to be voting in our election."

Weiss' talk was sponsored by the Alumni Office, the Black Cultural Center, the Black Studies program, College Democrats, Conscious Consumers, Earthlust, Enlace, Peace and Conflict Studies, Swarthmore Afro-American Students' Society, Swarthmore Progressive Action Committee, Swarthmore Queer Union and the Women's Resource Center.