Former Obama speechwriter and Pod Save America host Jon Lovett discussed the upcoming presidential election and rallied students to get the vote out.

At a Friday event hosted by NU College Democrats, Lovett told over 30 students the upcoming election is “the final test” of this country’s political institutions and that Democratic voters need to turn out.

“Our job is to overwhelm them with democracy,” Lovett said.

Unity and enthusiasm among Democrats is crucial heading into the “homestretch” before Election Day, Lovett said. He added that he felt hopeful because of the amount of people he sees volunteering and voting.

Lovett is also the co-founder of Crooked Media, a political media organization that serves to entertain and inform. The group launched the site Vote Save America to serve as a resource for people who want to take action. He said Vote Save America works to remove the “friction,” or stress for those first getting involved with politics.

Adam Downing, Weinberg senior and NU College Democrats director of programming, said participating in politics is a civic duty.

“You don’t get to just tap out,” Downing said. “You don’t just get to say, ‘Ooh, I’m angry, that is not the way I wanted it to be,’ and then grumble about it. Rather, I think you have the responsibility as a citizen of the United States to do what you can to make it better.”

The speaker event was followed by a phonebank, co-hosted by College Democrats and NU4Biden.

Ayesha Prashanth, McCormick junior and NU College Democrats president, said phone-banking is important to her because she cares deeply about the results of the upcoming presidential election.

“I remember the feeling of (election) night in 2016,” Prashanth said. “I was just thinking, ‘How did this happen? How does it go wrong like this? How do we make sure this doesn’t happen again?’”

Prashanth said she channels her emotions from the 2016 election night into her volunteer work for the 2020 election, adding it is important for her to do everything she can.

Prashanth said phone-banking can be scary, but it is also a great opportunity to talk to others. The last time she phone-banked, she said she had a “great” experience with a wrong number.

“A woman picked up and she was like, ‘No, this isn’t Richard, but I’m trying to register my husband to vote. Could you help me with that?’” Prashanth said. “And I was like, ‘Yes, like, why not?’ I just went onto the website and helped walk her through.”

Lovett said the most important thing volunteers can do right now is to “chase down the votes” with phone-banking or text-banking.

“They’re so close,” Lovett said. “Their ballot is in their house, or was mailed to their house, or they can go to an early vote site or they can go to a polling location. We just got to get them to go. Get them to go!”

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