Political Wednesdays

Each Wednesday Patricktalks.com will try to bring a political aspect to the site, with in depth interviews, eye opening articles, and etc..To cap this off, I had the chance to interview Katie Millway. Executive Vice President of the Young Democrats of Georgia.. Click Read More for the interview..

Let's expand our knowledge people.






Pat: Hello Katie, could you briefly tell us when you began your start in politics?

Katie: In the 2000 presidential election, I started to watch the news with my parents and realized that I had a lot of opinions. As a democrat, I was very upset with the results of that election. I decided that I needed to get involved. I started several progressive groups at my high school, and eventually got involved with the Young Democrats of Georgia in m last year of high school and first year of college.

Pat: I am assuming YDG is part of a larger network known as College Democrats of America. What is the platform of young democrats? Is it any different than the overall platform of democrats in general?

Katie: The Young Democrats of Georgia is a chapter of the Young Democrats of America, and our college caucus is a part of the College Democrats of America. The system is very complicated! We have a platform, written at every level, i.e. YDA has one and YDG has its own. These are generally written by committee and revised every year.
The Young Dems platforms are generally much more liberal and socially progressive than the Democratic Party’s platform. They are constrained by the politics of Congress, whereas we are free to be more idealogical.
On today’s hot button issues, we fully support health care reform, specifically with a strong public option. We support legalizing gay marriage and ending the current wars. There are lots of specific planks which can be found in the 2008 Platform at: http://www.georgiayds.org/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Member_Resource&section=more_4439

Pat: In the last election, Georgia was 200k votes short of becoming a win for President Obama, probably the closest margin ever in a very long time. What role did YDG have in helping get out the vote this past election?

Katie: YDG received a grant in 2007 to help in our efforts to just that. We set our goal to contact and involve 30 thousand people over the course of 3 years. In 2007, we contacted and involved 5 thousand young people. In 2008, that number increased to 10 thousand. Specifically for the last presidential election, we set up a massive voter registration starting in January for the democratic primary. We registered several thousand young voters between January and October. Additionally, we conducted a pledge to vote drive. We collected information and vote pledges from thousands. In examining the voter file this spring, we found that many of the pledges we collected were fulfilled. That analysis is still continuing.

Pat: Speaking of the last election, it seems interest in politics have increasingly grown amongst young people. I can remember pundits saying “Young people don’t really go to the polls”, but that changed last fall. How can the YDG attract and retain more young people into politics?

Katie: We’re trying to capitalize on the momentum from the last election by starting several new chapters, especially on college campuses. We’re holding a series of gubernatorial forums to keep stuff going here in Georgia. This is a huge focus for us, as it is for any progressive group, and we’re constantly working on new programs for young people.

Pat: Since this is a hot button topic right now, I have to ask your opinion on healthcare? Do you think it’s time for America to offer its citizens healthcare?

Katie: I think we have a moral imperative to provide healthcare to all our citizens, much in the same way we provide food, shelter, and education. I think it’s deplorable that we don’t already have a public option, and opposition to the public option is morally reprehensible.
Additionally, I think the breakdown of the healthcare system is symptomatic of the breakdown of the free market system. We’ve allowed corporate profits to supercede concern for our citizens.

Pat: Which candidates are you currently working with now in the state of Georgia?

Katie: Currently, there are 2 major elections in Georgia: the Atlanta mayoral/city council race in 2009, and the gubernatorial race in 2010. Constitutionally, we are prohibited from working in non-partisan and primary races. So unfortunately, we’re not working for any candidates. Several individuals are working on gubernatorial campaigns on their personal time, which we do encourage.

Pat: One final question, what are the requirements on being a part of YDG?

Katie: YDG is open to any progressive person between the ages of 14 & 40 that lives in the state of Georgia. In order to join YDG, you actually join your local chapter in your county, high school, or college. All members of chartered chapters are automatically members of YDG.