It's Urgent that Youth Get Out And Vote

By all indications the youngest generation of voters is surging to Obama. My fear - as happened in 2004 - is that many will not in fact go to the polls and vote. If anyone has a stake in this presidential election it's the youngest generation which will have to live with the damage done by a McCain/Palin regime far longer than us older folks. One would think that given the fiasco the Chimperator's regime has been, the younger voters would realize that getting out and actually voting is crucial to saving the country from further disaster. I encourage everyone to remind their children and progressive younger friends that they MUST get out and vote to avert the disaster of a McCain/Palin regime. Here are some highlights from Reuters story that looks at this issue:

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Young Americans could turn out in record numbers in the November presidential election and all signs are that Democrat Barack Obama stands to benefit. Coming of age during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton, Americans born between 1979 and 1990 -- labeled the "millennial generation" -- may shed a collective reputation as apathetic slackers when it comes to casting a ballot.

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More than half the 44 million eligible U.S. voters aged 18 to 29 are expected to vote on November 4, analysts say, a turnout rate that still lags their elders but would narrow a shrinking gap. If young voter turnout exceeds 50 percent, it would be only the third time since the voting age was lowered to 18 in 1972. "They're registering in record numbers. They sense the capacity they have to effect change in this country," said former Iowa Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack.

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A USA Today/MTV/Gallup poll published this week said that 61 percent of voters under age 30 favored Obama compared to 32 percent backing Republican John McCain -- which the poll said was the most lopsided ratio of any age group. In contrast to older voters, young people interviewed by Reuters were open to the idea of electing the nation's first black president.

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Voter registrations are up, but turnout remains a question that analysts say appears to be shifting. "The young are a demographic that people think are unreliable or are not going to come out to vote," said Erica Williams of the Center for American Progress, a think tank. "The Iowa caucuses showed that, incredibly, that's not going to be the case. Young voters are not just engaged because of all the hoopla and excitement. They've stayed consistently engaged since that first primary," she said.

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Young voters also have their own perspective on issues important to the electorate as a whole, Williams said. They worry about how the current economic crisis will affect their school and job prospects, and are aware that the burden of fighting U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan falls on soldiers drawn from their age group. "I think the country is at a pretty serious turning point," said Peter Kersten, 26, who plans to vote for Obama.