A nice essay on studentsforedwards.com describing John Edwards' policies on education. My thoughts...
The under-25 crowd is ripe for the picking. Traditional Democrats, they are turned off by the focus on unions, social security, medicare, and senior citizens. The college system we have developed has real problems for students of modest means and they're feeling it. I was shocked by the Gallup 2000 numbers. Bush 46% vs. Gore 43% in the 18-29 year olds. 30-49 is the same 43%. The difference was the Nader vote (8% 18-29, 3% 30-49). Youth didn't trust Al Gore.
This makes for a tremendous market opportunity. Bush can't go young (he's spent way too much money already in office for a good handout). Lieberman/Gephardt can't due to their traditional Dem support base. Kerry and Edwards both have a legitimate chance. And the key is how this could warp the primaries. There needs to be Iowa for Edwards chapters started immediately at Iowa and Iowa State. Give them something to rally around (and raise the cash for the buses/stickers/etc.) and they'll flood the Iowa caucuses. Maybe not a win, but a strong and unexpected second. The apathy of youth work in your favor since there is a tremendous pool of untapped votes, far easier to convince than the "political junkies" who've heard of your opponents for years. Give them something really, really good and they'll flock in droves.
Here's my proposal:
A New Deal for Young Americans
1) All students who graduate from high school or receive a GED will receive a voucher for $5000 or one years' tuition (whichever is greater) at any postsecondary institution.
2) All students in the top 5% of their high school class will receive a voucher for $15000 or two years' tuition.
3) National Merit Scholarships will provide tuition for four years to 2000 high school students. (Currently $2000).
4) Civil service regulations will be changed to bring college graduates in at GS-7 or GS-9 (vs GS-5 and GS-7) and masters/PhD at GS-11. A GS-7 salary ($29K) is just not competitive for a prospect from a top university. I don't know of a single person from my college class (Harvard 1996) who entered the civil service even though there were huge numbers of public-spirited people who were more than qualified. Students will get a year for year tuition reimbursement/student loan repayment (beyond those from 1/2/3). Don't just limit this to homeland security -- the entire government is in desperate need of this breath of fresh air. The quality of junior civil servant we are getting today is pretty scary.
5) Work study for everyone. All full-time college students should get access to work-study to help fund their studies. This is a pretty cheap way to get student support since it radically eases finding a university job.
6) College graduate tax holiday. No withholding of federal taxes (and a $20,000 additional exemption) for six months after college graduation (one per person per lifetime). $10,000 for associates degrees/licensing as journeyman.
7) IRA Catchup. Full-time students can "make-up" missed IRA contributions within five years of graduation.
8) Tuition cap. Cap tuition and mandatory fees at $25,000/year. Universities can charge higher but surrender 1,2,3,5,6,7. This could be a big seller for "keeping college affordable for the middle class". Give extra kickers on the scholarships for schools less than $10,000/year (for example, in-state students at state schools). An example is two years instead of one for any graduate, four years instead of two for top 5%.
This is not cheap. No way, no how. It is probably not economically rational. But this would be incredibly effective at buying the votes of students and their middle class families.
1:44:43 AM 
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