Politicians Who Rock (The Vote)

By Dana Edelstein of the CBS News Political Unit

The former president pioneered the way for pop culture to become a standard method of drawing American youth's attention to political issues. Wednesday night, he became the first recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Rock the Vote, an organization hyping voter registration among young people.

This year's Rock the Vote awards dinner took place at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., where guests and honorees included Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.; musical group the Black Eyed Peas; and Mr. Clinton, who made an appearance via a prerecorded video.

Health care and Social Security were among the issues addressed by the night's speakers. A constant theme, surprisingly, was that organizations like the AARP and politicians more than twice the age of the event's target audience had a lot in common with Rock the Vote.

Tom Nelson, chief operating officer of the AARP, asserted that Social Security funds are not just for the group's current members but for its future ones, too.

Jehmu Greene, president of Rock the Vote, attempted to show that young people have their own place in politics. She said her organization was the younger generation's equivalent of the AARP for retired people, the NRA for gun owners and the Chamber of Congress for businesspeople.

McCain, who received the Rock the Nation Award, also tried to seem a little more hip. He joked about becoming the fifth member of the Black Eyed Peas, calling himself "Funk Master McCain." The senator also teased that he would not disclose what kind of "shorts" he was wearing, a reference to Mr. Clinton's response to a boxers-or-briefs query at a 1994 Rock the Vote event.

But McCain became more serious, touting the need for bipartisan support for Social Security reform. He warned his young audience that there could be nothing left for them when they retire.Former Congressman Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, the event's co-charis, portrayed a comic bipartisan camaraderie, underscoring their shared goal of registering young voters.

"There are far more things that unite us than divide us," said Kemp.

Unlike his elders, the 43-year-old Obama, who also received a Rock the Nation Award, didn't need a comedy routine. He got a standing ovation both before and after his speech.

"I don't know anybody who achieves significance unless they hitch their wagon onto something larger than themselves," said the senator.

Not everyone felt so inspired by the occasion. A group of protesters supporting Social Security privatization was asked to move down the street by policemen before the red carpet portion of the event began. The majority of the protesters were around the same age as Rock the Vote's target audience.

The protesters were not happy about Rock the Vote's anti-privatization stance, which the organization advertised through an abundance of stylish "I Love Social Security" posters outside and inside the museum.

According to Ben Wetmore, a protester dressed as Bill Clinton in a suit and a mask, the group hoped to offer a different viewpoint on Social Security than what he said was Rock the Vote's advocacy for preserving a failed system.

But if Rock the Vote's true objective was to motivate America's youth to become more politically active, the protesters were just another example of pop culture influencing the younger generation to do just that.

By Dana Edelstein