'RAVE ACT' MAY BRING YOUNG VOTERS OUT

There is a dangerous force lurking in the forgotten corners of our
nation's political shadows.

It occasionally shows its head. More often, it's content to hangout on
AOL Instant Messenger or plan its duct-tape garb for the prom. But
it's still there, and I think it's ready to re-emerge.

In 1992, a relatively unknown governor from Arkansas swept to two
terms in the White House and taught the nation more than it needed to
know about independent counsels. A significant part in Bill Clinton's
rise to power was young voters.

Clinton was deemed the cool president. He told the nation he preferred
boxers to briefs and donned sunglasses to jam on the sax. More
importantly, he wasn't a stale white guy in a suit talking about tax
cuts. He offered a broader vision - universal health care, gays in the
military - and took the kids with him.

The stories are remarkable. At college campuses across the country,
students waited in lines for hours to vote, while kids not old enough
to vote volunteered on campaigns and were genuinely excited about government.

Personally, I remember Russ Feingold in a TV ad using his hand as a
map of Wisconsin to show where his campaign was going. It was the
first time I realized a politician could be likable.

I bring this up because I think we're on the edge of a similar
movement - though I doubt this time it will unseat a Bush, or even
have a profound impact on the national scene.

All of this guessing comes from an e-mail I got this week from Pete
Karas, the Green Party alderman recently elected to the Racine City
Council. It talked about Congress passing the so-called "Rave Act,"
though its actual name is the "Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act."

Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democract from Delaware, pushed the legislation
as a way to look tough on crime without offending any true criminals.
He started the bill last year as the "Rave Act" with the hope of
cracking down on parties that - I'm not making this up - overcharged
for water and sold glowsticks. Yes, Racine's Fourth of July parade was
in trouble.

Word got out to the rave scene, which responded with its best Beastie
Boy impression and fought for its right to party. It worked. The
grassroots movement, run almost entirely through the Internet,
defeated the legislation.

But a few things have happened since then. Republicans grabbed control
of both houses in Congress - and Biden got sneakier. Instead of
offering the "Rave Act" as it's own bill, he attached it to the Amber
Alert bill. In order to defeat the legislation, ravers would have had
to take down legislation that makes it easier to save kidnapped
children. They would have had a better chance of getting "Uday Hussein
Day" passed.

The bill breezed through the House, passed the Senate 98-0 and will be
signed into law by President Bush.

What's scary is the breadth of the law. Touted as a bill to fight
raves - which truly can be dangerous - it actually opens up any club
owner, concert provider and Major League Baseball owner to massive
fines and lengthy prison sentences.

The bill allows federal prosecutors to press charges against anyone
who holds an event where there is drug use on the premise. If taken
literally, this could include any public event where someone is using
drugs - be it an industrial rave in an abandoned warehouse or a Jimmy
Buffett concert.

It's a stunning loss for the rave crowd less than a year after it had
thwarted similar legislation. I suspect it's also a lasting memory for
a group that has already shown it's capable of remarkable political
activism.

Well-versed in Internet tools, such as instant messaging and blogs,
young voters connect and share thoughts faster than any generation in
history.

Paired with the realization that they're part of a system that is
ignoring, and worse, cheating them, I think they're ready to explode.

But who can they trust? The Rave Act was proposed by a Democrat and
passed with bi-partisan support.

This is where Karas comes in. In a statement released nationally by
the Green Party, he offered a vision of what I think is a likely reality.

Read for yourself: "The Rave Act shows how important it is for young
people - especially college and high school students - to become
politically aware and involved, and to register to vote," Karas said.
"But it also shows how the established parties, Democrats as well as
Republicans, are often hostile to them, and equally hostile to artists
and small-business owners.

"The Rave Act places them at the mercy of Attorney General John
Ashcroft and overzealous prosecutors. We urge campus groups -
including Campus Greens - and other youth organizations to speak out
and demand repeal of the Rave Act, before innocent people get locked
up, concert halls and clubs go dark, and artists get driven out of
businesses."

With statements like that, young voters may be fighting for a lot more
than parties when the 2004 elections roll around. It may be the first
time we realize a third party is possible.