SF Mayor Ed Lee drives away the youth vote.

     After the wave wave of power gained by the GOP in the Mid-Term elections, and the election of Barack Obama the emphasis placed on voting, from both sides is at an all time high. The outreach to gain the inner-city youth vote to match the enthusiasm of the republican base is more than important it's a difference maker. But how do you get young people to engage when overwhelmingly the impression is, no matter who's in office the general conditions where they live doesn't change. The average young adult doesn't vote for deficit reduction or medicare, they expect tangible change in their everyday lives. Realistic or not.
      But democracy is slow, and immediate positive changes are few and far between. The logical school of thought is, I more than my vote is more consequential to the direction of my everyday life. We get some comfort when a person is in office that looks like we do, or seems to support our values but that isn't always what it seems. Case in point San Francisco mayor Ed Lee.
     Lee, a Civil Lawyer. The first Chinese American Mayor of San Francisco and a Democrat. And though government is always larger than one man. One could reasonably expect our most basic fundamental rights not be infringed upon. Especially by someone who litigates civil issues. So when Ed Lee proclaimed his admiration of New York's stop and frisk program, to the point where implementation was an option. The justification of non participation begins to rear its ugly head. The implied logic that states regardless of the person or party, the important will still stand on the backs of those deemed less significant.
     How could it be viewed any other way. A person makes his career fighting for civility seeks to implement one of the most unproven cruelly  un-just laws in recent history. Off the wall for some, and par for the course for those seeking an argument to justify forgoing their right to participate. Way to rally the base Mayor Ed Lee, only you did it in the wrong direction.