Joe Trippi: "The key to this election will be young people...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

...disaffected young people, young people who have never voted before— and I’ll be damned if I am going to come up with some cutesy name for them "like Sons and Daughters of Nascar Dad and Soccer Moms." Just shoot me!"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5497370/

"Enough of NASCAR dads, soccer moms: Howard Stern, blogs and voter virgins hold the key"

What is remarkable about this election cycle is how for the first time in decades the younger generation of Americans is the most active and energized. How they communicate with each other, how they register, turn out and vote may well decide everything in November.

When it comes to reaching these and other non-party aligned disaffected voters… well, let's just say the power center in this election isn’t where most pundits think it is. It's shifting to some unlikely places: Howard Stern, Votervirgin.com and like minded websites. (http://votervirgin.com/), bloggers like Instapundit, DailyKos, Atrios and Wonkette.

The keys to this election may well be in the hands of Howard Stern’s loyal fans, virgin voters and the blogger brigades. Think I’m kidding? Check back with me after election day and we’ll see who’s laughing then.

[LittleApple81]

1. My son is 18 and he is pumped. And he has a small but very active

group of kids the same age. He is going to study in a state where his vote for Kerry will count. I told him to make sure to ask for an absentee ballot here... he said: NO, I WANT TO VOTE THERE BECAUSE MY VOTE WILL COUNT. So the young people ARE energized and ready to vote.

They were part of the campaign to bring F9/11 to our town... and the group managed to get action.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. Your son is right, his vote WILL count

He deserves credit for recognizing that, and YOU deserve credit for raising him with a set of values that allows him to recognize it.

Trippi is right. Bush is going to get blindsided by "people who do not vote."

[rfkrocks]

3. The GOP is staring doom in its face

the largest birth year since the baby boom is arriving-called the boom echo-the year 1987 was its peak-those kids and the years born just before 1987 are going to be more liberal than previous years-why-shortage of opportunity-growing debt and the fact that Bush did not preserve social security for their parents so they will carry the load-If we Dems are able to convince this generation of the inherent evil that the GOP plans for them i.e.,totally screwing them with debt etc, they will send the GOP back to the scrap heap

[TexasSissy]

4. We'll see. Trippi thought this, too, when it came to Dean's nomination.

But when push came to shove, the young people did not turn out to vote. The weather was horrible, and finals were upon them.

Older people are just more determined voters. But I hope he's right. Everyone should vote, or they deserve what they get the next four years.

[Rowdyboy]

5. I so hope he's right...I was in the first group of 18 year-olds allowed

to vote in 1972 and then, and in every election since, young voters have had low turnout. I really hope that can be reversed this time around. Maybe the specter of continuing war, a draft, a right-wing supreme court, and no jobs will motivate them to get involved.