MTV's
Rock the Vote campaign is actually a
Democratic vote grab.
Rock the Vote was established as a
non-profit organization, to be exempt from taxes it cannot take a
partisan stance on
political issues.
RTV's
neutrality came under heavy fire during the last
election for its heavily
leftist bias.
During one of RTV's many rallies, Dick Gephardt (D-Missouri) was introduced as "the next Speaker of the House." Reportedly, Gephardt visibly blanched at that reference and quickly reminded the crowd that this is a "nonpartisan, bipartisan" event. RTV did not bother booking conservative legislators.
Ricki Seidman, RTV's executive director, worked for the ultra-liberal People for the American Way and Edward Kennedy. She also worked in Clinton's "war room" in 1992 before joining RTV in 1994.
MTV decided to throw a huge Hollywood party to celebrate Clinton's victory in 1992 and did the same in 1996, but after George W. Bush's victory last year MTV cancelled all their plans for another big bash (apparently, they assumed Gore was going to win). When Mike Bayham, a GOP worker, called the MTV PR department, he was told that the reason that MTV threw two incredibly lavish parties for Clinton was "because he was a Democrat."
Rock the Vote utterly fails to live up to its promise of "informing young people on political issues". Most of RTV's rallies simply demand that the American political system pay more attention to the 18-24 age group, and yet, RTV never bothers to give relevant information regarding the issues. That is, simply put, "boring". RTV did manage to increase voter registration in the young age groups, unfortunately, the voting herds simply did not have a clue. Perhaps that is the effect that RTV desires. If these young Americans were hitting the polls without a shred of knowledge except the stuff fed to them by MTV and Jay Leno, most of them will end up voting for the Democratic (or Green Party) candidate.
RTV is actually quite effective as a Democratic recruitment tool. For useful, unbiased political information, RTV is about as useful as a Rage Against the Machine concert.