You Can’t Be Serious(90)

While we’re waiting: a special message for those of you at home who have recently turned eighteen. Good news. I can now legally… register you to vote.

I’ve worked on a lot of fun movies, but my favorite job was having a boss who gave the order to take out bin Laden—and who’s cool with all of us getting gay-married. Thank you, Invisible-Man-in-the-Chair, for that, and for giving my friends access to affordable health insurance and doubling funding for the Pell Grant.

I started volunteering for Barack Obama in 2007. But nothing compares to what I saw behind the scenes at the White House, when I had the honor to serve for two years as President Obama’s Liaison to Young Americans. I saw how hard he fights for us.

One of the most special days was a Saturday in 2010. The Senate repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, so anyone can serve the country they love, regardless of whom they love. But that same day, the DREAM Act was blocked. That bill would give immigrant children—who’ve never pledged allegiance to any flag but ours—the chance to earn their citizenship. Simple. Important.

I was in a small office on the second floor of the West Wing with eight other staffers. We’d worked our hearts out and cared deeply about what this would mean for other young people. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room—tears of joy for the history that was made, but also tears of sadness because some American dreams would still be deferred.

Five minutes later, President Obama walked in, sleeves rolled up. He said to us, “This is not over. We’re gonna keep fighting. I’m gonna keep fighting. I need young people to keep fighting.” That’s why we’re here!

A few months later, President Obama fought to keep taxes from going up on middle-class families. Our Republican friends said, “Sure you can do that.” But one of the things they were willing to trade is a little item called the college tax credit, which today is saving students up to $10,000 over four years of school.

Now, President Obama paid off his own student loans not too long ago. He remembers what it is like. He said making it easier to go to college and get technical training is exactly how we grow our economy, create jobs, and out-compete the world. So, he stood firm. And that tuition tax credit is still here. But, if we don’t register, if we don’t vote, it won’t be.

I volunteered in Iowa in 2007 because, like you, I had friends serving in Iraq, friends who were looking for jobs, others who couldn’t go to the doctor because they couldn’t afford it. I felt that had to change. So, I knocked on doors. I registered voters.

And I’m volunteering again now because my friend Matt got a job at a Detroit car company that still exists, and Lauren can get the prescription she needs. I’m volunteering because Josiah is back from Iraq, Chris is finishing college on the GI Bill, and three weeks ago, my buddy Kevin’s boyfriend was able to watch him graduate from Marine Corps training. That’s change! And we can’t turn back now.

So, before I close—and as I wonder which Twitter hashtags you’ll start using when I’m done talking—hashtag SexyFace—I ask all you young people to join me. You don’t even have to put pants on! Go to commit.barackobama.com and register right there. And the oldies out there, you can do it too.

Let’s keep fighting for a president who’s never stopped fighting for us! Go online. Find your local campaign office. Call your friends. Call some strangers. Volunteer. That’s how we’re going to win this thing.

I really enjoyed listening to Rahm’s speech. But he’s a mayor now, so he can’t use four-letter words.

But I’m no mayor. So, I’ve got one for you:

VOTE.



Within seconds, #SexyFace was trending on Twitter. I had a hunch that it might go viral—that’s why I put it in there. To my amusement, the trending continued throughout the night as people started co-opting it to tweet their favorite hot pics of Zac Efron and Justin Bieber, two legitimately sexy-faced artists in their own right. I enjoyed scrolling through and seeing a nice balance of politics and smiling faces, but maaan, did it piss off some die-hard politicos who were cranky that anyone would use the hashtag for something other than tweets about voter turnout. (Of course, this amused me even more.)



How dare you, Jared Oban? America never needs an excuse to tweet Zac Efron pics! My phone started blowing up with texts from Obama White House buddies, campaign folks, and other friends from across the country: They liked the speech! The Los Angeles Times even called it a “generational takedown of the Republicans” because it stood in such stark, energetic contrast to the old-timey nonsense they had put up on a pedestal during the RNC. Woohoo, mission accomplished! When I jumped off my couch and yelled at my television a week prior, I realized one goal of my speech was to swing back at regressive rhetoric by uplifting younger, more diverse voices.



I was glad that a speech defending the progress America had made under Obama was well received, because it was about more than just that campaign, or that election, or even about the age-old fight of Democrats vs. Republicans. Politics is personal—on a selfish level, it was about me, and my desire to get married one day. And it was about my friends—and yours—who were finally getting access to better jobs and health care, and serving openly in the military regardless of their sexuality. It was about people we may never get to meet, and doing things to make their lives better, not just cockblocking stuff other people had done or wanted.