How should we redirect our political creativity?

They told me that as an artist I should stay out of politics. Some of my peers taunted that it was ​“moronic” for me to express my opinions — that I shouldn’t mix art with politics. This fall, Ministry joined forces with Music for America and Punkvot​er​.com to register voters throughout our U.S. Evil Doer Tour. So did a lot of other artists, musicians and youth vote organizations to target voters ages 18-29. Guess what? It worked. Young voters showed up en masse: 4.6 million more 18 to 29 year olds voted this year than in 2000. The youth vote is now an invigorated force to be reckoned with.

But our work has just begun. America is still at war. American kids are still dying for oil, Bush’s friends are still getting richer off the backs of American young people. College tuition keeps rising (tuition rose again 10 percent last year alone and 30 percent since Bush first took office). And the fight for healthcare, prescription drugs and a real energy plan to get us out of wars in the Middle East are all still in front of us.

So we’ll continue to disseminate information and rally our troops here in the homeland. We’ll be in state-by-state battles fighting for justice, ensuring the Senate does not confirm judges who want to overturn Roe v. Wade. Most importantly, we’ll be preparing for the Senate and House races in 2006.

All of us did our part this year. If I can register several thousand voters at my concerts alone and Punkvot​er​.com and Music For America can register tens of thousands of voters, the message is clear: Americans want change and it is not going to stop.