Penn discusses the youth vote, campaigning and Obama
Aside from starring as Kumar Patel in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" (2004) and "Harold an Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" (2008) and appearing as Lawrence Kutner in "House M.D.," actor Kal Penn is a national co-chair for Obama for America and the former White House associate director for the Office of Public Engagement.
D: What originally got you involved in Obama’s 2008 campaign?
D: What do you think was so successful about the campaign’s methods in 2008 in terms of engaging young voters?
KP: The president has always talked about our greatest strengths, he’s not a fan of the ridiculous mud-slinging you tend to see between candidates, and most young people relate more to someone telling them what they can do to help, rather than someone telling them why they shouldn’t vote for someone else. The interesting thing I learned in 2008 was that, in the under-35 crowd, the top five issues (including jobs, the economy, poverty and climate change) were the same among Democrats and Evangelical voters. It’s irrelevant whether someone’s a democrat or republican. I’m an independent, but I think it’s about seeing the bigger picture – and what President Obama stands for really resonates with me.
D: What do you think are the issues that are most important to college students in the upcoming election?
KP: The job market is number one. It’s really incredible to see the president saving the economy from the brink of a second Great Depression. We’ve had something like 24 months of positive job growth, which needs to continue and be better. Young people are looking for that job growth to continue. This is an innovative generation — there are so many folks starting their own businesses — tech, manufacturing, design, ideas-based firms. The president has been trying to reduce barriers for capital, and thinking about what the White House can do to incentivize banks to lend. He’s set up things like youth entrepreneurship forums, which are the kinds of things the mainstream media doesn’t really report on. Student aid is another important issue. With the president’s American Opportunity tax credit, anyone who wants to go to college will get a break. Republicans have all pledged to roll back student aid, but this president has really fought for young people. Things like the Dream act, which provides a pathway to citizenship for young people who have known nothing but America as home, are also important issues to young voters.
D: How do you think this election will be different than that in 2008 in terms of the college vote?
KP: I’m hoping there will be more support. The stakes are higher now that we’ve accomplished so much. For example, the Republicans all agree that they want to reinstate Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. I really hope that young people realize what the president is fighting for.
D: What new strategies, if any, will the Obama campaign use to engage the youth vote?
KP: One of our big organizational tools [in 2008] was Facebook – now there’s Twitter. The president’s on Twitter and he has millions of followers. The dissemination of information is so quick, second to second, which can unfortunately create a culture of impatience, but the plus side is that we’re having candid conversations in real time.