TV producer Norman Lear enticing youth to polls

By Kimberly Nordyke

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Legendary television writer-producer Norman Lear -- whose credits range from "All in the Family" to "Sunday Dinner" -- has found a second calling.

His nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign "Declare Yourself" seeks to get every eligible American between 18 and 29 years old registered to vote. The organization -- which uses strategic media partnerships, celebrity spokespeople, retail outreach, sports, digital technology and social media -- played a key role in getting 1 million new voters registered in 2004, and aimed to have 2 million more registered by the presidential election on Tuesday. It boasts such advisory board members as model Tyra Banks, producer J.J. Abrams and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson.

Lear, 86, recently discussed his interest in the cause and how hard it is to reach that elusive youth audience.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH

"DECLARE YOURSELF"?

Norman Lear: This all started when we (Lear and his wife, Lyn) purchased an original copy of the Declaration of Independence in 2000. We had a huge traveling exhibition, touring state houses, museums, the Summer Olympics in Salt Lake City. As we toured, we saw more and more evidence that young people really were interested in such documents and the birth of their country and the birth of this democracy, so gradually we started to concentrate on the youth vote.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WITH ALL THE MEDIA VYING FOR

YOUTH'S ATTENTION THESE DAYS, HOW DO YOU BREAK THROUGH THE

CLUTTER AND REACH THEM?

Lear: (We do it) with the amount of sports figures and celebrities involved and the amount of time we spend on the Internet and the amount of messages we send out, which are largely comedic attention-grabbers. Young people don't want to be lectured; they want to be entertained and engaged, and comedy gets them. They are procrastinators, but do they want to vote? Are they engaged? Do they feel like they matter? That is a big yes.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHY IS THIS CAUSE SO IMPORTANT TO

YOU?

Lear: Because America is important to me. It's very hard talking about this sometimes because it all sounds so sentimental or treacly. I have a very practical view of what people call patriotism. I call it the love of the First Amendment, the Bill of Rights, liberty and guarantees that are so precious in this culture. In every election, we're fighting for them.

I have 13-year-old twin daughters and grandchildren who are young. It's already very clear that they're not growing up in this country with the degree of freedom, civil liberties, economic possibility and so forth that I did. I think they're far more restricted in terms of living the American dream. (My family does) better than most, obviously, but they go to school with kids whose parents are not doing as well by way of the American dream. Both parties are talking about what middle-class families are going through right now.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW HAS THE TV LANDSCAPE CHANGED