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Youngest superdelegate at convention addresses youth vote

Denver — Imagine running against an established state legislator and a popular president of a firefighter’s union for a chance to represent your state in the Democratic National Committee (DNC) when you are just 17 years old. Well, this is the story of Jason Rae. At the tender age of 21, Rae is the youngest super delegate at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The Wisconsin college student has been an advocate for the youth in the Democratic Party and even co-chairs the Youth Council. The Youth Council is comprised of DNC members under the age of 30 and brings attention to issues that affect young adults the most.

On Monday, the opening day of the convention, Rae addressed a group of 250 high school students with the Junior State of America about the importance of youth involvement in the political process. “Youth turnout doubled, tripled, and quadrupled in various states during the 2008 primaries” explained Rae.

Rae gained national attention during the primaries when both the Obama campaign and the Clinton campaign both tried to gain his support. Chelsea Clinton even flew in to have a special lunch with Jason in between his classes at Marquette University to try and gain his support for her mother.

Ultimately, he pledged his support to Senator Obama earlier this year. Rae expects the youth vote to have a large impact on the 2008 election, citing the strong turnout during the primary season.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |

Comments

By Kevin-Lisa

August 26, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

Well well, I have learned something from your very first posting…… Keep it up and you may drop that “youngest superdelegate” by a year or two….

God Bless kevin and Lisa

By Kimberly Allen

August 27, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this

I too have learned something. I agree that the youth of this country will end up making a huge difference in this election.

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