Brad Wilmouth
Democrat Host at CBS Excited Young Democrats Working to Elect Democrats
December 8th, 2020 6:30 AM
CBS This Morning is co-hosted by Gayle King, a Democrat donor and friend of the Obamas. So it's not shocking that the program is excited about young Democrats.
On Monday, This Morning marveled over a group of young liberals in Georgia who are working to register voters, obviously to help elect Democrats in the two January Senate runoffs.
At 8:49 a.m. Eastern, co-host Tony Dokoupil set up the report:
We are less than a month away from two pivotal runoff elections in Georgia that will decide which political party controls the U.S. Senate. Now, one group of high school influencers in the state is determined to make a difference in those elections. They are beating the pros at registering and motivating young voters.
Opening with a shot of one teen activist's bedroom which has a campaign sign for Democrat Jon Ossoff prominently displayed on his wall, correspondent Mark Strassmann began narrating the pre-recorded piece recalling the formation of the group Students for Tomorrow:
Underneath this suburban Atlanta back porch, you'll find a Gen Z wave of registration. ... Back in September, Edward Aguilar and three high school friends launched Students for Tomorrow. ... They register young, first time voters, mostly college freshmen across the country.
Seventeen-year-old Georgia resident Edward Aguilar was seen in several clips recalling his successes in getting teens and college students to register to vote.
A bit later, University of Georgia professor Troy Hood was seen admitting that the voters being registered would mostly be liberals: "Younger voters coming into the electorate right now just tend to be more ideologically liberal as compared to other age demographics."
Wrapping up the segment of over three minutes, co-host King, who has donated exclusively to Democrats and vacationed with the Obamas, lauded the efforts of the liberal political activists: "Mark, I'm so impressed. Number one, they certainly are engaging in strategery, and they're so smart. When I was 18, I didn't even think about voting in high school. I didn't really start until I got out of college."
It's not hard to guess who she started voting for.
It's difficult to imagine that the show would ever spend a story focusing on and praising an effort to register mostly conservative voters.
This episode of CBS This Morning was sponsored in part by Deer Park. Their contact information is linked.
A complete transcript of the segment follows. Click "expand" to read more.
TONY DOKOUPIL: We are less than a month away from two pivotal runoff elections in Georgia that will decide which political party controls the U.S. Senate. Now, one group of high school influencers in the state is determined to make a difference in those elections. They are beating the pros at registering and motivating young voters. Mark Strassmann joins us now again from the Atlanta suburb, Marietta. Mark, good morning to you? How are they doing it?
MARK STRASSMANN: Good morning. I think for starters, teenagers just know how to talk to other teenagers. And this group, they've reached out, they've worked hard, and discovered something that a lot of their peers now want to have a voice in what's happening in this country. And with Georgia's runoff elections coming up, this group now has a new challenge. Underneath this suburban Atlanta back porch, you'll find a Gen Z wave of registration.
EDWARD AGUILAR, GEORGIA TEEN: And what's exciting to me, and what's really surprising to me, is that so many people are getting behind that.
STRASSMANN: Back in September, Edward Aguilar and three high school friends launched Students for Tomorrow. ... They register young, first time voters, mostly college freshmen across the country.
AGUILAR: We've built our own text-banking software, vote-banking software, donor-tracking, volunteer-tracking, voter-tracking.
STRASSMANN: And they connected with three dozen grassroots organizations.
AGUILAR: And it just blew up with tons of people posting.
STRASSMANN: How many new voters did you register?
AGUILAR; We estimate it to be about 65,000.
STRASSMANN: That number seems huge to me. Does it seem huge to you?
AGUILAR; It's surreal.
STRASSMANN: For election day, Students for Tomorrow estimates they registered 18,000 young voters just in Georgia. Joe Biden won this state by about 12,000 votes. Keep in mind --
TREY HOOD, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PROFESSOR: Younger voters coming into the electorate right now just tend to be more ideologically liberal as compared to other age demographics.
STRASSMANN: Part of the group's pitch, good old-fashioned peer pressure.
VALERIE PONOMAREV, GEORGIA TEEN: You know, how can you be okay with this? Why wouldn't you want to use your voice to get out there and vote?
STRASSMANN: Georgia's getting ready to vote again January 5th in two U.S. Senate runoffs. Since the November election, roughly 23,000 Georgians -- mostly high school seniors -- turned 18 and will be eligible to vote. Students for Tomorrow wants to register these new voters like Michael Gusto.
MICHAEL GUSTO, GEORGIA TEEN: I got to have some sort of input -- I got to know what's going on.
STRASSMANN: Valerie Ponomarav turned 18 last week.
PONOMAREV: Our voice will be heard.
STRASSMANN: Excited?
PONOMAREV: I'm thrilled!
STRASSMANN: But Edward Aguilar can't vote -- he's still 17, but he's still using his voice.
AGUILAR: I can still have my own civic duty. I can still go out there and get other people to vote, I can still get people interested in politics and get them to mobilize. And just because we can't vote, that doesn't mean we can't get other people to do it.
STRASSMANN: And today is the deadline to register new voters for the runoff elections next month. But, Anthony, think about the impact this group has already had in a state that really has proved every vote does count.
ANTHONY MASON: Yeah, when you win election by 12,000 votes, 65,000 looks like a ton, yeah.
GAYLE KING: Mark, I'm so impressed. Number one, they certainly are engaging in strategery, and they're so smart. When I was 18, I didn't even think about voting in high school. I didn't really start until I got out of college. Did you all vote when you were 18?
DOKOUPIL: No, I didn't. No.
MASON: I'll scare you -- I worked on my first political campaign when I was eight.
DOKOUPIL: What?
KING: Anthony Mason, of course. Well be right back.
Mark Strassmann
Tony Dokoupil
Liberals & Democrats