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Morning News

MTV 'Street Team' Reporters Discuss the Youth Vote

Aired October 30, 2000 - 11:37 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: When Americans go to the polls next Tuesday, some of them will be voting in their first presidential election, and MTV put a so-called "Street Team" in place to cover the presidential race from a youth perspective.

Joining us now from New York, Gideon Yago, the Street Team reporter who's covering the Bush campaign, and Erica Terry, who covers the Gore campaign.

Welcome aboard, guys.

GIDEON YAGO, MTV STREET TEAM REPORTER: Good morning, Kyra.

ERICA TERRY, MTV STREET TEAM REPORTER: Thanks for having us.

PHILLIPS: You bet. Erica, let's begin with you from covering Gore. What do you think high school and college students are talking about, what are the main issues?

TERRY: Having been out there on the road with Gore, I was in Kansas City, Missouri with him and I was really astounded by how many young people there were talking about the vice president's plan for vouchers, how many young people were talking about his plan for Social Security, and many of them actually, unlike the rest of Americans, seemed to be really concerned with foreign policy, seemed to be really -- you know, and whether it was driven by their own self-interest, because they had all just registered for selective services -- but they wanted to know what he was going to do about the crisis in the Middle East and whether or not they were going to war.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned a good point, going to war. I was reading that -- that they did mention that. In addition, you noticed that a lot of the young gals were talking about how they were excited that Gore was not going to come out against RU-486, the abortion pill.

I kind of feel, you know, sex and war, it's like we're back in the '60s. I mean, are these the issues, you know, that they're talking about?

TERRY: Yes, I mean, a lot of young people -- I think that, you know, the abortion issue is one that going into this election I think people thought was going to be much more of, you know, of an issue. And it really, I think, you know, has gotten sort of short shrift. From a lot of the commentary, it's kind of black and white: you know, Bush stands on this side, Gore stands on the other.

But with the RU-486, you know, announcement from the FDA, I think that that has kind of brought it back into the forefront and made a lot of young women, who never, you know, lived during a time when abortion was illegal, be like, "Whoa, you know what? This is a right that maybe we could not have, you know, depending upon who winds up in the White House."

PHILLIPS: And Gideon, by covering Bush, you found -- you were surprised by the number of conservative students, yes?

YAGO: Yes, there's -- he seems to really connect, I think, to a lot of young people out there who would like to see a change in the White House, a change in the tone that's in Washington. And I think also the Social Security plan really hits home with a lot of young people who aren't sure whether or not the system is going to still be working for them when they retire.

PHILLIPS: You also recognized something else, and that is sort of this Christian revival that's going on now. When I was in high school, I remember...

YAGO: Right.

PHILLIPS: ... Young Life, Campus Life, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. You're sort of seeing a resurgence of that now?

YAGO: You are. I mean, you're seeing a lot of kid -- there's sort of a whole Christian kid cultural movement that exists out there that I don't think really is getting picked up on by a lot of the mainstream.

You know, we see it on MTV with a lot of sort of faith-based bands that are out there. I could name a few and plug them. But...

(LAUGHTER)

YAGO: You know, but even on a fundamental level, though, I think, you know, kids my age also are more faith-minded.

PHILLIPS: Hmm, I guess that's not a bad thing.

YAGO: It was something that I did not -- I didn't actually expect to see that, you know, beginning this year and covering this election. I've grown up entirely in New York, but actually crisscrossing the country it was something that I guess we kind of, all of us, you know, dug out and found out

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask either one of you this: Just jump in. Does anyone care about Ralph Nader?

YAGO: Absolutely, absolutely. He's sort of become this campaign sensation, this Pied Piper of the youth vote. You know, really, only -- it really seems to be just a problem for sort of liberal -- liberal Democrats who are on the fence and worried as to whether or not their party has sold out a lot of the values that they care about. But you know, he's got this grassroots road show that he's been taking around to city to city, and he's just packing coliseums with -- with what are majority -- which are majorly young crowds. Most of the people in his crowds that I have seen tend to be under 30.

TERRY: Yes, and I think that the folks who aren't necessarily going to vote for Nader but again who are more of the liberal bent are really concerned that he's going to be a spoiler as far as this campaign goes and Gore being able to get himself elected.

Is it that they want Gore? I don't know. I think it's more that they're afraid of Bush for those people who maybe are on the fence in terms of what Nader really means to this election. So -- they're -- they're watching.

PHILLIPS: Now, Erica, Gore's really been stumping for the African-American vote. What are African-American students saying about him?

TERRY: It's funny. We talked to kids from a marching band at a stop in Shreveport, and they said, you know what, he's no Bill Clinton, but, you know...

I mean, like, so, you know, I think there's definitely an awareness that neither Bush or Gore is really the same sort of charismatic guy that Bill Clinton was. But there's definitely a sense from African-American students that I've spoken to that, you know, the issue of racial profiling, which was really huge during the primaries, and I think one where, you know, Gore was able to make a little bit of inroads is one that again and again and again keeps coming up.

People are really, you know, glad to see that he's spoken out on that. I think that that's a key issue. I think that the question of what he's going to do for public schools and for higher education in terms of, you know, that being an access to the middle class and a route to getting access to the middle class are things that African- American students that I've spoken to have really been tuned into and really been paying attention to, and a reason why I think to some degree Gore maybe has an edge with them.

PHILLIPS: Now, the youth has had a reputation of not to care and not really being involved. But you guys sort of found the opposite.

Gideon, what do you think?

YAGO: I -- I think that that's wrong. I think it's just the whole stereotype that young people are apathetic is dead wrong.

MTV ran a poll with the Kaiser Family Foundation that we released about a month ago, and it said that 70 percent, 70 percent, of people age 18 to 24 feel that their politicians in Washington are completely out-of-touch with the issues that they care about.

And I think we're looking at all these low voter turnouts amongst young people maybe as a sign of protest, because politicians just don't seem to be connecting. The problem here, I don't think, is young voter apathy. Young voters volunteer in record numbers. They seem to be very, very on top of the issues. I think it's that disconnect between the young voter and the government that needs to be the real issue that needs to get addressed.

TERRY: A lot of young people also are really stressed about the fact that, you know, there's so much big money in politics. They feel as though, yes, OK, I go to the polls and I vote, but does my vote really say? What does it really mean, if, you know, a corporation or some PAC has, you know, the president's ear and I can get it?

YAGO: Right. I mean, there's not a lot of voter empowerment amongst people are age. And again, going back to that, you know, your question about Ralph Nader, I think that's where his appeal comes from. I think that's the message that he really strikes with the young voters, is that you can, you know, you can level the playing field on election day. And I think that's a message that we two have been trying to head home.

You know, there's only one day in the year when, you know, the president of the United States and Joe Average in college, you know, are on the same equal billing, and that is in the ballot box. And hopefully, this year, we'll see a turnaround in those numbers.

PHILLIPS: Gideon Yago, Erica Terry, part of the MTV Street Team: very impressive, you guys. Thanks for being with us.

YAGO: Oh, thank you very much.

TERRY: Thanks for having us.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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