WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton told a full house of young progressives Wednesday that they need to fight against conservative efforts to keep them from voting, also urging them to get the knowledge they need to fight for the issues they care about.
Calling it “one of the most pervasive political movements” today, Clinton told the approximately 1,200 young people at the Campus Progress National Conference that Republican governors and legislators are trying to keep young Americans and minorities from voting in the 2012 election.
Quashing same-day voter registration and reversing voting rights for ex-prisoners in good standing were two examples Clinton cited as part of a national trend to tighten voting restrictions in individual states.
Clinton’s criticism came days after President Barack Obama released a proclamation honoring the 40th anniversary of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
“The constitutional right to vote, the need to empower, the need to widen the circle of opportunity sounds good,” Clinton said. “But if you lose your right to vote it doesn’t amount to much.”
Maryam Al-Zoubi, 23 and an intern with the Campaign for America’s Future, called Clinton’s speech empowering.
“Whether you like or dislike what’s going on in the government, it’s really important that you spend a lot of your time and attention trying to change the reality on the ground within whatever constraints public policy proposes,” Clinton said.
Touching on other controversial issues from immigration, to health care and recent legislation allowing same-sex marriage in New York, Clinton continued to bring his speech full circle with the idea that knowledge is critical for citizens to understand how their government has the potential to affect them.
“In our country, you have to both serve and be a good citizen,” Clinton said. “In fact, I think being a good citizen requires service, but it also requires knowledge.
“… You cannot turn truth into power unless you have it in the first place, beginning with basic facts.”
The young audience cheered at Clinton’s support for Obama’s vision for the country, which he called modern, sustainable and one that offers shared responsibilities.
“He has a vision of community that makes the most of America’s greatest asset, our diversity,” Clinton said.
Elsa Voytas, a 20-year-old from Kutztown, Pa., who is an intern with the Truman National Security Project, said seeing the man who was president for most of her childhood was “surreal.”
“The speech focused a little bit less on contemporary hot-button issues than I thought it would, but I think it really had a good message to learn the facts and know what you’re advocating and pushing for, and to make that the first step in trying to enact change,” Voytas said.
Clinton isn’t the only political voice calling to young people in the nation’s capital this summer. Former Utah Governor and 2012 presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman—who Clinton called “quite an impressive man” and “practical” in an interview last week—will address young conservatives at the College Republican National Committee’s two-day convention at the end of the month.