MORGANTOWN – Two local Democrats, Barbara Evans Fleischauer and Adrianne Dering, are launching a tour of college campuses around Pennsylvania this week hoping to play a role in swinging the swing state blue for the November election.
The pair are undertaking the three-week journey as part of the Feminist Majority’s Vote For Equality (V4E) campaign that seeks to turn out the youth vote. Historically, young voters tend to vote more progressive.
“We’re not a persuasive campaign,” Dering said. “We are a turnout campaign. Our job is to find people who already agree with us and make sure we give them every piece of information that they need so they can go to the polls and vote.”
Fleischauer, a former longtime member of the House of Delegates representing Monongalia County, is coordinator for the Pennsylvania V4E effort. Her thought, she said, was, “I live 2 miles from a battleground state, and maybe I can do this because I know a lot about campaigning.”
Their itinerary includes Allegheny College, Slippery Rock University, Pitt, Bucknell University, Lycoming College, Penn State, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Muhlenberg College, Temple University, Widener University, the College of Westchester and Gettysburg College.
Their role, she said, is support and guidance for the young people – men and women, but mostly women, who will be running the program and sitting at tables presenting information. They’ll also be doing some speaking about abortion law and women’s rights.
“For us, it’s very rewarding to be able to help,” she said.
Gen Z voters outnumber the Baby Boomers, Dering said, but don’t turn out in the same proportion. And the young female voters are those most affected by the abortion law debates across all the states.
The teams at the tables won’t be registering voters, Fleischauer said. They’ll be encouraging people ot vote and giving them whatever information they might need to get to the polls and offering a form to pledge to go vote.
She noted that young women lean toward Democrat Kamala Harris while young men lean toward Donald Trump. “We will not be trying to convince anyone who is in favor of Donald Trump. … A lot of people think their vote won’t make a difference and we’re trying to convince them that it would.”
Dering came up with the idea of what they’re calling Puppies for Progress, She’s a longtime dog breeder and has invited breeders, exhibitors and trainers across Pennsylvania to join them at the tables with their dogs. She said she’s seen that when she’s done tabling at WVU, bringing dogs with her draws more visitors to her booth.
Dering said she’s a member of the Morgantown NOW – National Organization for Women – chapter and has become more active since the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade and sent abortion law back to the states.
She’s a mother of three and believes West Virginia’s abortion law is too restrictive and the state lacks opportunities for young people. “I don’t see them coming home to West Virginia when they are done with college.”
Harris has advocated for congressional action to codify Roe v Wade at the federal level.
If they’re successful on their Pennsylvania tour, she said, she’d like to begin a V4E campaign in West Virginia. This state has 113,445 residents ages 20-24 and up to 30,000 at age 18-19. The national youth voter turnout in 2020 was 50%, but only 14% in West Virginia.
“We have a lot of apathetic young voters here who don’t feel like their vote counts,” she said.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
