During Wednesday’s town hall event in Salida, Colorado, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) spoke about the importance of youth engagement in politics
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00:00All right, so I can ask a question if you want them to keep reading as long.
00:05No, you can do whatever you want.
00:07I want them to think that I'm reading you questions.
00:12I've got it for them.
00:15Some of these, we're not going to know the answers.
00:20I have one Chloe grab right here.
00:25Chloe said, Chloe, I can't believe you're here.
00:29Not because I know Chloe, but because she's young and she's here.
00:34She said, actually, we've met in Bogota Springs.
00:37So, thank you for coming.
00:49What can I do to a 12-year-old?
00:52What can I do to a 12-year-old?
00:54Well, even though you can't vote, we all know that voting is critical, but it is the least that we can do in a democracy, right?
01:13I think that the underlying question that we're all going to have tonight is what do we all do in this moment?
01:19That's why you're here.
01:20And it's such an important time that we're here as a community to remind each other that we're not alone in this fight.
01:26And it is so exciting to see young people engage, because when I think about...
01:33Oh, yeah, let's give her a round of applause.
01:41So, Chloe was way ahead of me.
01:43When I was 18, I didn't even vote.
01:46I'm sorry to admit this.
01:48I was never ready to talk about politics.
01:50I didn't think that my voice mattered.
01:52That was the Corby Bush election.
01:54And then I later on got to personally apologize to Gore while I introduced him on stage.
02:00Not that I made the difference, but that I reflected the apathy of the people who gave up their voice and power in such a critical time.
02:08I thought that their vote didn't matter.
02:11And we need to remind the young people of the United States that this is their future that we're fighting for.
02:18And we can't do it without them.
02:26I think it's showing up and speaking out.
02:29It's talking to people who might disagree.
02:31And I worked for an organization that helps engage young people in state local government.
02:38And young people hate talking about partisan politics.
02:41I think we all do.
02:42But they care about issues.
02:44And so that's really the key on making sure that we can bring young people to the table.
02:49But thank you so much for being here, Chloe.
02:51And I would say, Chloe, A, thank you for coming.
02:54B, we need the adults around you to not give up hope, either.
03:03We are setting an example for our kids.
03:06And if they feel like we think it's hopeless, but this is never to end, or it's the worst thing that we have ever seen,
03:13and therefore we can't fight back, we've got to engage our kids in this battle.
03:19The country's future depends on Chloe's generation.
03:24And it depends on your age and your age and your age and your age and your age.
03:31And I'll just say as a last point, I often see young people a little older than you may be,
03:37but not that much older, who I mentioned earlier, come into my office and they say,
03:42Well, you guys didn't do what you're supposed to do on climate change.
03:46That's true.
03:47You guys didn't do what you're supposed to do on making sure that our education system isn't defined by whether a child is poor or a child is wealthy.
03:59You guys didn't create universal healthcare in America.
04:02You didn't fix our broken immigration system.
04:05If they're really, really sophisticated, believe it or not, sometimes they say,
04:10Hey, maybe it would be good if you paid the bills every now and then because we're going to have to pay back this deficit.
04:17And what I say, and they say, but it's so corrupt, as I said earlier, that there's no reason for us to want to participate.
04:25And I think, Chloe, it's really important for you to read that history we were talking about earlier,
04:31to understand the challenges that people have fought and overcome to get us to the point right now.
04:37And then I would say, go out and get people to vote and register people to vote in your community
04:46because you don't have to wait until you're 18 to do it.
04:50and you can do it right now.
04:51And people might not listen to me, but they surely will listen to you.