Rock the Vote Is Stuck in a Hard Place - Los Angeles Times

Rock the Vote Is Stuck in a Hard Place - Los Angeles Times: "Rock the Vote Is Stuck in a Hard Place
By Charles Duhigg, Times Staff Writer

For more than a decade, the youth-and-civics group Rock the Vote has been the coolest kid on the political playground.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1990 with the goal of politically empowering the MTV generation, Rock the Vote quickly became a cause celebre among Democratic and entertainment power brokers. At rock concerts, on college campuses and with ads featuring a near-naked Madonna, the group helped register millions of young voters.

ADVERTISEMENT
But as it moves into its 16th year, Rock the Vote itself is being rocked by crisis.

Saddled with about $700,000 in debt, the group has cut its staff from more than 20 people in 2004 to just two today. Its president, who left last summer amid disagreement about the organization's direction, has yet to be replaced. And last month, Rock the Vote was sued for the second time in just eight months."