0:00:01.000,0:00:02.360
Why bother?

0:00:04.600,0:00:05.800
The game is rigged.

0:00:06.240,0:00:07.440
My vote won't count.

0:00:08.720,0:00:09.960
The choices are terrible.

0:00:10.840,0:00:12.080
Voting is for suckers.

0:00:13.280,0:00:15.416
Perhaps you've thought[br]some of these things.

0:00:15.440,0:00:16.869
Perhaps you've even said them.

0:00:17.520,0:00:20.960
And if so, you wouldn't be alone,[br]and you wouldn't be entirely wrong.

0:00:21.880,0:00:26.056
The game of public policy today[br]is rigged in many ways.

0:00:26.080,0:00:30.056
How else would more than half[br]of federal tax breaks

0:00:30.080,0:00:32.560
flow up to the wealthiest[br]five percent of Americans?

0:00:33.360,0:00:35.600
And our choices indeed are often terrible.

0:00:36.360,0:00:38.536
For many people[br]across the political spectrum,

0:00:38.560,0:00:41.720
Exhibit A is the 2016[br]presidential election.

0:00:42.760,0:00:45.296
But in any year, you can look[br]up and down the ballot

0:00:45.320,0:00:48.000
and find plenty to be uninspired about.

0:00:49.560,0:00:52.976
But in spite of all this,[br]I still believe voting matters.

0:00:53.000,0:00:54.896
And crazy as it may sound,

0:00:54.920,0:00:57.160
I believe we can revive the joy of voting.

0:00:57.960,0:01:01.320
Today, I want to talk[br]about how we can do that, and why.

0:01:02.680,0:01:06.256
There used to be a time[br]in American history when voting was fun,

0:01:06.280,0:01:09.480
when it was much more than just[br]a grim duty to show up at the polls.

0:01:10.080,0:01:12.496
That time is called[br]"most of American history."

0:01:12.520,0:01:13.936
(Laughter)

0:01:13.960,0:01:16.936
From the Revolution[br]to the Civil Rights Era,

0:01:16.960,0:01:18.536
the United States had a vibrant,

0:01:18.560,0:01:22.800
robustly participatory[br]and raucous culture of voting.

0:01:23.480,0:01:27.616
It was street theater, open-air debates,[br]fasting and feasting and toasting,

0:01:27.640,0:01:29.696
parades and bonfires.

0:01:29.720,0:01:33.256
During the 19th century,[br]immigrants and urban political machines

0:01:33.280,0:01:35.040
helped fuel this culture of voting.

0:01:35.600,0:01:39.920
That culture grew with each[br]successive wave of new voters.

0:01:41.040,0:01:43.976
During Reconstruction,[br]when new African-American voters,

0:01:44.000,0:01:45.720
new African-American citizens,

0:01:46.560,0:01:48.576
began to exercise their power,

0:01:48.600,0:01:50.816
they celebrated in jubilee parades

0:01:50.840,0:01:54.200
that connected emancipation[br]with their newfound right to vote.

0:01:54.920,0:01:56.840
A few decades later, the suffragettes

0:01:57.680,0:02:00.776
brought a spirit[br]of theatricality to their fight,

0:02:00.800,0:02:03.920
marching together in white dresses[br]as they claimed the franchise.

0:02:04.680,0:02:06.216
And the Civil Rights Movement,

0:02:06.240,0:02:09.015
which sought to redeem[br]the promise of equal citizenship

0:02:09.039,0:02:11.039
that had been betrayed by Jim Crow,

0:02:11.800,0:02:13.277
put voting right at the center.

0:02:14.160,0:02:16.736
From Freedom Summer to the march in Selma,

0:02:16.760,0:02:19.976
that generation of activists[br]knew that voting matters,

0:02:20.000,0:02:23.096
and they knew that spectacle[br]and the performance of power

0:02:23.120,0:02:25.080
is key to actually claiming power.

0:02:26.560,0:02:30.080
But it's been over a half century[br]since Selma and the Voting Rights Act,

0:02:30.880,0:02:32.856
and in the decades since,

0:02:32.880,0:02:35.176
this face-to-face culture of voting

0:02:35.200,0:02:37.176
has just about disappeared.

0:02:37.200,0:02:39.136
It's been killed by television

0:02:39.160,0:02:40.696
and then the internet.

0:02:40.720,0:02:43.016
The couch has replaced the commons.

0:02:43.040,0:02:46.016
Screens have made[br]citizens into spectators.

0:02:46.040,0:02:49.336
And while it's nice to share[br]political memes on social media,

0:02:49.360,0:02:51.520
that's a rather quiet kind of citizenship.

0:02:52.560,0:02:56.200
It's what the sociologist Sherry Turkle[br]calls "being alone together."

0:02:57.360,0:02:58.816
What we need today

0:02:58.840,0:03:02.696
is an electoral culture[br]that is about being together together,

0:03:02.720,0:03:03.936
in person,

0:03:03.960,0:03:06.176
in loud and passionate ways,

0:03:06.200,0:03:10.456
so that instead of being[br]"eat your vegetables" or "do you duty,"

0:03:10.480,0:03:13.456
voting can feel more like "join the club"

0:03:13.480,0:03:15.160
or, better yet, "join the party."

0:03:16.160,0:03:19.696
Imagine if we had,[br]across the country right now,

0:03:19.720,0:03:22.656
in local places but nationwide,

0:03:22.680,0:03:26.336
a concerted effort[br]to revive a face-to-face set of ways

0:03:26.360,0:03:27.880
to engage and electioneer:

0:03:28.600,0:03:32.456
outdoor shows in which candidates[br]and their causes are mocked

0:03:32.480,0:03:35.176
and praised in broad satirical style;

0:03:35.200,0:03:37.120
soapbox speeches by citizens;

0:03:37.840,0:03:40.160
public debates held inside pubs;

0:03:41.920,0:03:46.656
streets filled with political art[br]and handmade posters and murals;

0:03:46.680,0:03:51.720
battle of the band concerts in which[br]competing performers rep their candidates.

0:03:52.360,0:03:56.416
Now, all of this may sound[br]a little bit 18th century to you,

0:03:56.440,0:03:59.776
but in fact, it doesn't have to be[br]any more 18th century

0:03:59.800,0:04:03.016
than, say, Broadway's "Hamilton,"

0:04:03.040,0:04:05.040
which is to say vibrantly contemporary.

0:04:05.640,0:04:07.640
And the fact is that all around the world,

0:04:07.664,0:04:11.256
today, millions of people[br]are voting like this.

0:04:11.280,0:04:15.536
In India, elections are colorful,[br]communal affairs.

0:04:15.560,0:04:20.320
In Brazil, election day[br]is a festive, carnival-type atmosphere.

0:04:20.959,0:04:23.456
In Taiwan and Hong Kong,[br]there is a spectacle,

0:04:23.480,0:04:25.736
eye-popping, eye-grabbing spectacle

0:04:25.760,0:04:28.040
to the street theater of elections.

0:04:28.720,0:04:32.456
You might ask, well,[br]here in America, who has time for this?

0:04:32.480,0:04:33.736
And I would tell you

0:04:33.760,0:04:36.840
that the average American[br]watches five hours of television a day.

0:04:38.240,0:04:40.536
You might ask, who has the motivation?

0:04:40.560,0:04:41.776
And I'll tell you,

0:04:41.800,0:04:45.936
any citizen who wants to be seen and heard

0:04:45.960,0:04:48.256
not as a prop, not as a talking point,

0:04:48.280,0:04:50.600
but as a participant, as a creator.

0:04:51.720,0:04:54.080
Well, how do we make this happen?

0:04:54.800,0:04:56.320
Simply by making it happen.

0:04:56.920,0:04:58.776
That's why a group of colleagues and I

0:04:58.800,0:05:01.880
launched a new project[br]called "The Joy of Voting."

0:05:02.880,0:05:05.336
In four cities across the United States --

0:05:05.360,0:05:07.016
Philadelphia, Miami,

0:05:07.040,0:05:09.496
Akron, Ohio, and Wichita, Kansas --

0:05:09.520,0:05:12.456
we've gathered together[br]artists and activists,

0:05:12.480,0:05:16.216
educators, political folks,[br]neighbors, everyday citizens

0:05:16.240,0:05:17.976
to come together and create projects

0:05:18.000,0:05:21.560
that can foster this culture[br]of voting in a local way.

0:05:22.240,0:05:25.296
In Miami, that means[br]all-night parties with hot DJs

0:05:25.320,0:05:28.654
where the only way to get in[br]is to show that you're registered to vote.

0:05:29.160,0:05:32.176
In Akron, it means political plays

0:05:32.200,0:05:34.736
being performed[br]in the bed of a flatbed truck

0:05:34.760,0:05:36.880
that moves from neighborhood[br]to neighborhood.

0:05:37.960,0:05:39.176
In Philadelphia,

0:05:39.200,0:05:43.136
it's a voting-themed scavenger hunt[br]all throughout colonial old town.

0:05:43.160,0:05:48.176
And in Wichita, it's making[br]mixtapes and live graffiti art

0:05:48.200,0:05:50.000
in the North End to get out the vote.

0:05:50.760,0:05:52.256
There are 20 of these projects,

0:05:52.280,0:05:55.136
and they are remarkable[br]in their beauty and their diversity,

0:05:55.160,0:05:56.736
and they are changing people.

0:05:56.760,0:05:58.816
Let me tell you about a couple of them.

0:05:58.840,0:06:00.816
In Miami, we've commissioned and artist,

0:06:00.840,0:06:02.856
a young artist named Atomico,

0:06:02.880,0:06:07.120
to create some vivid and vibrant images[br]for a new series of "I voted" stickers.

0:06:07.880,0:06:10.400
But the thing is, Atomico had never voted.

0:06:11.080,0:06:12.776
He wasn't even registered.

0:06:12.800,0:06:17.296
So as he got to work on creating[br]this artwork for these stickers,

0:06:17.320,0:06:21.456
he also began to get over[br]his sense of intimidation about politics.

0:06:21.480,0:06:23.096
He got himself registered,

0:06:23.120,0:06:26.416
and then he got educated[br]about the upcoming primary election,

0:06:26.440,0:06:29.736
and on election day he was out there[br]not just passing out stickers,

0:06:29.760,0:06:32.336
but chatting up voters[br]and encouraging people to vote,

0:06:32.360,0:06:34.640
and talking about[br]the election with passersby.

0:06:35.720,0:06:39.496
In Akron, a theater company[br]called the Wandering Aesthetics

0:06:39.520,0:06:42.296
has been putting on[br]these pickup truck plays.

0:06:42.320,0:06:45.096
And to do so, they put out[br]an open call to the public

0:06:45.120,0:06:48.616
asking for speeches,[br]monologues, dialogues, poems,

0:06:48.640,0:06:50.976
snippets of anything[br]that could be read aloud

0:06:51.000,0:06:52.560
and woven into a performance.

0:06:53.280,0:06:55.040
They got dozens of submissions.

0:06:55.720,0:06:57.616
One of them was a poem

0:06:57.640,0:07:00.776
written by nine students in an ESL class,

0:07:00.800,0:07:02.936
all of them Hispanic migrant workers

0:07:02.960,0:07:05.320
from nearby Hartville, Ohio.

0:07:05.880,0:07:08.000
I want to read to you from this poem.

0:07:09.200,0:07:10.760
It's called "The Joy of Voting."

0:07:12.600,0:07:15.016
"I would like to vote for the first time

0:07:15.040,0:07:17.080
because things are changing for Hispanics.

0:07:18.000,0:07:20.136
I used to be afraid of ghosts.

0:07:20.160,0:07:21.400
Now I am afraid of people.

0:07:22.480,0:07:24.280
There's more violence and racism.

0:07:24.960,0:07:26.400
Voting can change this.

0:07:27.840,0:07:29.320
The border wall is nothing.

0:07:29.800,0:07:31.000
It's just a wall.

0:07:32.040,0:07:34.640
The wall of shame is something.

0:07:35.800,0:07:37.696
It's very important to vote

0:07:37.720,0:07:40.080
so we can break down this wall of shame.

0:07:41.320,0:07:42.880
I have passion in my heart.

0:07:43.480,0:07:45.520
Voting gives me a voice and power.

0:07:46.400,0:07:48.720
I can stand up and do something."

0:07:50.960,0:07:53.896
"The Joy of Voting" project[br]isn't just about joy.

0:07:53.920,0:07:55.456
It's about this passion.

0:07:55.480,0:07:57.816
It's about feeling and belief,

0:07:57.840,0:08:00.040
and it isn't just our organization's work.

0:08:00.560,0:08:02.496
All across this country right now,

0:08:02.520,0:08:05.896
immigrants, young people, veterans,[br]people of all different backgrounds

0:08:05.920,0:08:09.416
are coming together to create[br]this kind of passionate, joyful activity

0:08:09.440,0:08:10.856
around elections,

0:08:10.880,0:08:13.816
in red and blue states,[br]in urban and rural communities,

0:08:13.840,0:08:15.936
people of every political background.

0:08:15.960,0:08:18.656
What they have in common is simply this:

0:08:18.680,0:08:21.200
their work is rooted in place.

0:08:22.320,0:08:25.080
Because remember,[br]all citizenship is local.

0:08:25.720,0:08:29.256
When politics becomes[br]just a presidential election,

0:08:29.280,0:08:32.880
we yell and we scream at our screens,[br]and then we collapse, exhausted.

0:08:33.679,0:08:37.296
But when politics is about us

0:08:37.320,0:08:40.096
and our neighbors[br]and other people in our community

0:08:40.120,0:08:44.480
coming together to create experiences[br]of collective voice and imagination,

0:08:45.440,0:08:47.880
then we begin to remember[br]that this stuff matters.

0:08:48.560,0:08:52.000
We begin to remember[br]that this is the stuff of self-government.

0:08:53.240,0:08:55.080
Which brings me back to where I began.

0:08:55.880,0:08:57.080
Why bother?

0:08:57.640,0:08:59.545
There's one way to answer this question.

0:09:00.440,0:09:04.640
Voting matters because it is[br]a self-fulfilling act of belief.

0:09:05.440,0:09:09.840
It feeds the spirit of mutual interest[br]that makes any society thrive.

0:09:10.960,0:09:13.616
When we vote, even if it is in anger,

0:09:13.640,0:09:16.600
we are part of a collective,[br]creative leap of faith.

0:09:17.840,0:09:21.360
Voting helps us generate[br]the very power that we wish we had.

0:09:22.240,0:09:25.056
It's no accident[br]that democracy and theater

0:09:25.080,0:09:27.480
emerged around the same time[br]in ancient Athens.

0:09:28.200,0:09:32.440
Both of them yank the individual[br]out of the enclosure of her private self.

0:09:33.440,0:09:37.080
Both of them create great[br]public experiences of shared ritual.

0:09:38.200,0:09:40.736
Both of them bring the imagination to life

0:09:40.760,0:09:44.056
in ways that remind us[br]that all of our bonds in the end

0:09:44.080,0:09:46.920
are imagined, and can be reimagined.

0:09:50.760,0:09:51.960
This moment right now,

0:09:52.800,0:09:56.216
when we think about[br]the meaning of imagination,

0:09:56.240,0:09:59.440
is so fundamentally important,

0:10:00.480,0:10:03.656
and our ability to take that spirit

0:10:03.680,0:10:05.256
and to take that sense

0:10:05.280,0:10:07.336
that there is something greater out there,

0:10:07.360,0:10:11.136
is not just a matter[br]of technical expertise.

0:10:11.160,0:10:14.216
It's not just a matter of making the time[br]or having the know-how.

0:10:14.240,0:10:15.520
It is a matter of spirit.

0:10:16.720,0:10:19.656
But let me give you an answer[br]to this question, "Why bother?"

0:10:19.680,0:10:23.120
that is maybe a little less spiritual[br]and a bit more pointed.

0:10:24.440,0:10:26.216
Why bother voting?

0:10:26.240,0:10:29.136
Because there is[br]no such thing as not voting.

0:10:29.160,0:10:30.976
Not voting is voting,

0:10:31.000,0:10:33.896
for everything that you[br]may detest and oppose.

0:10:33.920,0:10:35.656
Not voting can be dressed up

0:10:35.680,0:10:38.696
as an act of principled,[br]passive resistance,

0:10:38.720,0:10:40.656
but in fact not voting

0:10:40.680,0:10:42.896
is actively handing power over

0:10:42.920,0:10:45.256
to those whose interests[br]are counter to your own,

0:10:45.280,0:10:48.816
and those who would be very glad[br]to take advantage of your absence.

0:10:48.840,0:10:51.160
Not voting is for suckers.

0:10:52.800,0:10:54.496
Imagine where this country would be

0:10:54.520,0:10:57.616
if all the folks who in 2010[br]created the Tea Party

0:10:57.640,0:11:00.576
had decided that,[br]you know, politics is too messy,

0:11:00.600,0:11:01.856
voting is too complicated.

0:11:01.880,0:11:04.680
There is no possibility[br]of our votes adding up to anything.

0:11:05.320,0:11:07.616
They didn't preemptively[br]silence themselves.

0:11:07.640,0:11:09.416
They showed up,

0:11:09.440,0:11:12.800
and in the course of showing up,[br]they changed American politics.

0:11:13.480,0:11:18.256
Imagine if all of the followers[br]of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders

0:11:18.280,0:11:21.976
had decided not to upend[br]the political status quo

0:11:22.000,0:11:25.056
and blow apart the frame[br]of the previously possible

0:11:25.080,0:11:26.696
in American politics.

0:11:26.720,0:11:28.680
They did that by voting.

0:11:31.160,0:11:33.376
We live in a time right now,

0:11:33.400,0:11:35.936
divided, often very dark,

0:11:35.960,0:11:39.576
where across the left and the right,[br]there's a lot of talk of revolution

0:11:39.600,0:11:42.680
and the need for revolution[br]to disrupt everyday democracy.

0:11:43.120,0:11:44.736
Well, here's the thing:

0:11:44.760,0:11:47.760
everyday democracy already[br]gives us a playbook for revolution.

0:11:48.760,0:11:50.816
In the 2012 presidential election,

0:11:50.840,0:11:52.576
young voters, Latino voters,

0:11:52.600,0:11:54.856
Asian-American voters, low-income voters,

0:11:54.880,0:11:57.400
all showed up at less than 50 percent.

0:11:59.200,0:12:03.256
In the 2014 midterm elections,[br]turnout was 36 percent,

0:12:03.280,0:12:04.960
which was a 70-year low.

0:12:05.920,0:12:07.816
And in your average local election,

0:12:07.840,0:12:10.200
turnout hovers[br]somewhere around 20 percent.

0:12:11.320,0:12:14.560
I invite you to imagine 100 percent.

0:12:15.640,0:12:17.360
Picture 100 percent.

0:12:18.080,0:12:20.216
Mobilize 100 percent,

0:12:20.240,0:12:22.480
and overnight, we get revolution.

0:12:23.040,0:12:27.056
Overnight, the policy priorities[br]of this country change dramatically,

0:12:27.080,0:12:30.616
and every level of government[br]becomes radically more responsive

0:12:30.640,0:12:31.920
to all the people.

0:12:33.240,0:12:35.800
What would it take[br]to mobilize 100 percent?

0:12:36.480,0:12:39.016
Well, we do have to push back[br]against efforts afoot

0:12:39.040,0:12:40.776
all across the country right now

0:12:40.800,0:12:42.000
to make voting harder.

0:12:42.480,0:12:43.976
But at the same time,

0:12:44.000,0:12:47.136
we have to actively create[br]a positive culture of voting

0:12:47.160,0:12:48.776
that people want to belong to,

0:12:48.800,0:12:51.336
be part of, and experience together.

0:12:51.360,0:12:52.976
We have to make purpose.

0:12:53.000,0:12:54.320
We have to make joy.

0:12:55.160,0:12:57.816
So yes, let's have that revolution,

0:12:57.840,0:13:00.336
a revolution of spirit, of ideas,

0:13:00.360,0:13:02.376
of policy and participation,

0:13:02.400,0:13:04.536
a revolution against cynicism,

0:13:04.560,0:13:08.000
a revolution against the self-fulfilling[br]sense of powerlessness.

0:13:08.520,0:13:11.856
Let's vote this revolution into existence,

0:13:11.880,0:13:13.216
and while we're at it,

0:13:13.240,0:13:14.776
let's have some fun.

0:13:14.800,0:13:16.016
Thank you very much.

0:13:16.040,0:13:18.320
(Applause)