Friday, May 21, 2004
The group aims to cross the divide to find consensus.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
HOUSTON -- For Dimitri Millas, soccer outranked politics as a career choice for much of his life. Then he got hurt playing for the Louisiana Outlaws, a semiprofessional team in Lake Charles, La.
"That was a turning point," said his mother, Mina.
Now, at 27, with an accounting degree from Texas A & amp;M University and an MBA from Rice University, this son of Greek immigrants is headed to Yale Law School, dreaming of someday running for public office and helping America.
"I've always been a dreamer," Millas said.
For Jonathan Zaff, founder of 18to35.org, a new nonpartisan organization, Millas is an example of the untapped political potential among young adults in America, many of whom are alienated from the process, according to polls. Zaff aims to tap it.
"Instead of just telling people to vote, our purpose is to actually give them the feeling of relevance in the process," Zaff said of the group. "We do it by engaging them in public policy-making."
'Innovators'
That's where Millas comes in. He is one of nine "innovators" chosen by 18to35.org to help develop policy positions on national issues that are of particular concern to young adults.
"There are neglected issues," said Ramesh Ponnuru, 29, a senior editor at the conservative journal National Review and a member of the 18to35.org advisory board.
For example, young adults without health insurance get a lot less attention than elderly without prescription drugs, Ponnuru says. Other issues of special concern to young adults include the rising cost of education, shortage of job opportunities and low starting pay.
The 18to35.org plan is to bring together a cross section of thinkers to address such issues, Zaff said. In addition to Ponnuru, liberal comedian Janeane Garofalo is on the advisory board.
Seeking solutions
Millas, a Houston resident, describes himself as a Republican willing to talk across the political divide to people of any stripe to find consensus. He helped a Democrat friend explore a race for Congress last summer and became aware of 18to35.org during that effort.
"The solutions we're looking for are pragmatic," he said. "There's not a focus on strict party lines, because if that were the case, there'd be no point in coming up with innovative solutions.
"We have to engage one another, listen to each other and take the good from all points of view because all points of view, no matter how much we disagree with them, have some validity," Millas said.
Barely a year old, 18to35 is connected mainly by e-mail and telephone. The members are still getting acquainted. Millas hasn't met Zaff and says he doesn't know much about him other than his interest in engaging young adults in politics.
Millas has e-mailed in to discuss two position papers, one on living with terrorism and the other on including the word "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
He argues that Americans should not allow fear of terrorists to limit their lives. ("If we wanted to live in a completely safe society, we could go live in a totalitarian state.") As for the pledge, he says God is the ultimate "benevolent lawmaker" and should be in there.
Despite the nation's challenges, and the depth of the political divide over how to respond to them, Millas is optimistic. "We are living in the freest, richest, most powerful country in the world," he said. "Is it perfect? Absolutely not, and we should work to improve it."