Update: According to CNN, Crystal's endorsement ties the race for Superdelegates among Clinton and Obama. It would be great if the other YDA or CDA super delegates could be the ones to tip the balance in Obama's favor.

Hint, hint . . . .
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Crystal Strait, the woman representative of YDA at the DNC - aka one of YDA's three superdelegates - has endorsed Sen. Obama. This press release just hit my inbox:

CALIFORNIA SUPERDELEGATE PLEDGES TO BARACK OBAMA

Young Democrats of America DNC Member Cites Obama's Ability to Bring Young People into the Process

CHICAGO, IL - Today, Young Democrats of America Board Member and Former California Young Democrats President Crystal Strait pledged to vote for Barack Obama for president. Strait is a superdelegate and Democratic National Committee Member from California. Strait is the 276th superdelegate to endorse Obama. Obama is 155 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination.

Strait said, "While representing the Young Democrats of America at the DNC, my number one priority is to ensure that young people are fully represented at the polls and in the Party. Barack Obama has shown a real commitment to young voters in his campaign and in response young people have overwhelmingly voted and caucused for Obama in these primary contests. We know that if a young person votes three times in a row for a Party, they become a Party voter for life. We know that because of high youth turnout in 2004 and 2006, 2008 is the third and critical election for young voters. And that's why I know I want to pledge my delegate vote to Barack Obama."

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The Young and College Democrats have 5 combined super delegate votes. So far the count stands at 1 and 1. Francisco Domenech, Crystal Strait's male counterpart at the DNC, declared his support for Sen. Clinton months ago.

Still to endorse: David Hardt, the President of YDA and both delegates from the College Democrats: Lauren Wolfe, the President of CDA, and Awais Khaleel, CDA's VP. Wolfe and Khaleel have posted a YouTube video asking young people how they should cast their ballots.

Been traveling a lot this week and my browser has a gagillion open tabs of stuff I meant to blog. Here they are. I'll try to have a recap of the Demos Better Deal Conference posted later.

• Paul Rosenberg has a detailed post documenting all the ways in which McCain has failed to support the troops. - Open Left
• The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) agrees with Webb - McCain is full of it in his opposition to the GI Bill. And they have the stats to prove it. - Think Progress
• Micah Sifry has an interesting post on "Voter File 2.0" and Catalist's plans for the future. - Tech President
• The blogosphere is starting to wonder why YDA and CDA Super delegates have yet to endorse Senator Obama. - Americablog
• Rock the Vote has calculated that Young Voter turnout this year increased by 2.2 million over turnout in the 2000 and 2004 primaries. - Rock the Vote
• More reportage on Obama's success in raising small dollar donations, particularly from young people. - The Politico
• Congress is fast-tracking a student loan bill, though whether that is a good or bad thing for students in the long-term is still unclear to me. - The Politico
• The Millennial Makeover authors argue that Clinton and Obama supporters arguing over the strength of their coalitions just don't get it; demography is destiny for the Democratic Party. - Huffington Post
• Where is the next generation of philanthropists? - Tactical Philanthropy
• More kvetching about the lack of protest music. Will they never stop whining about this? - Huffington Post
• Clay Shirky discusses our "cognitive surplus" and what it means for human information production and organizing. - Open Left
• Andrew Kohut explores the widening generation gap in how voters cast their ballots. - New York Times

Anyone who has read a poll knows that the economy is the #1 concern for young people today, but what does that mean in terms of the policies they would support? The Center for American Progress just issued a new report that sheds light on this not-often-explored intersection of demographics and policy. The report - The Progressive Generation: How Young Adults Think About the Economy - does much to dispell myths (like the one that says young people are gung-ho about Social Security Privatization), and clarifies the position of Millennials on a number of issues. The report provides some rays of hope to the labor movement, and has a lot to say not just about the economy, but really what Millennials think about the role of government in America.

This should be mandatory reading for campaigns, the Party, and anyone seeking to understand the political beliefs of the youngest generation. Here are the major findings:

• Millennials are more likely to support universal health coverage than any age group in the 30 previous years the question has been asked, with 57 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds saying that health insurance should come from a government insurance plan.
• Eighty-seven percent of Millennials think the government should spend more money on health care even if a tax increase is required to pay for it, the highest level of support in the question’s 20-year history.
• An overwhelming 95 percent of Millennials think education spending should be increased even if a tax increase is required to pay for it, the highest level ever recorded on this question in the 20 years it has been asked.
• Sixty-one percent of Millennials think the government should provide more services, the most support of any age group in any of the previous 20 years the question was asked.
• When asked in the General Social Survey whether they were in favor or against the idea that cutting government was a good way to help the economy, Millennials had the lowest support of cutting government spending in the history of the question.
• Millennials are very supportive of labor unions, giving them an average ranking of 60 on a 0-to-100 scale (with 0 indicating a more negative view of labor unions and 100 being a more positive view), the second-highest level of support of any age group in the over 40-year history of the question.

For the more graphically inclined, here's what that looks like in graphs:

Right to Health Care

Health Care Spending


Services


Jobs


Government Waste/Spending


Unions

That last provides a nice ray of hope to the labor movement, which many Millennials have little or no direct experience with.

In addition to these areas on which Millennials seem to be the uber-progressives within the electorate, the report also singles out two areas in which Millennials views - while far from conservative - are not as progressive as those of older generations. These are Social Security and their views of the business community.

With regards to the business community, the report notes that Millennials views "defy easy characterization and suggest a more pragmatic progressivism than populist orientation." Millennials are OK with increased regulation, but they are also comfortable with increase profits for business, suggesting a middle of the road view. Anecdotally, it seems to ratify the phrase I hear a lot among my peers: they want to do well by doing "good."

Social Security is often thought of as the conservative Trojan Horse within the Millennial generation. CAP's report notes that there is some truth to this: 74% of Millennials support privatization compared to 41% of adults over age 60. That tends to be the most reported fact - and one overplayed at times by conservatives - but it masks the full story. Studies show that the further away from retirement a person is in their life, the more likely they are to support privatization. And Millennials are more likely than almost any group to support increased spending on Social Security:

Taking both of these factors into consideration, the report concludes that support for savings accounts are likely a "lifecycle" issue that can be messaged around and will decline as Millennials age into the population.

The real significance of CAP's research is that all the data is compiled from long-term studies and surveys. That allows them to speak not only to the concerns of Millennials, but to compare those concerns to those of Generation X and the late Baby Boomers when they were of a comparable age. In doing so, they help dispel the myth that voters become more conservative as they age (what the study calls "lifecycle factors"), and paints a picture of a generation that is far more progressive than its predecessors ever were. The CAP report argues that this is evidence of a long-term, generational shift towards a more progressive set of political beliefs.

Several pieces of data suggest that a lifecycle explanation is not sufficient. The decades of survey data show that young people are not always more economically progressive than older people. In addition, Millennials are more progressive than previous generations—especially Generation X, for which there is the most comparable data at the same age. A period explanation is not likely to be sufficient because even though all Americans have been trending more progressive in recent years, Millennials are far more progressive than older people today and, on several questions, have become more progressive at faster rates than the rest of the population.

As a result, it is likely that, in addition to period and lifecycle factors, there are generational forces at play in shaping the progressive views of Millennials. This suggests that not only are Millennials quite progressive now, but they are likely to be so in the future.

Its the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Voter excitement, always up before a presidential election, is pushing registration through the roof so far this year - with more than 3.5 million people rushing to join in the historic balloting, according to an Associated Press survey that offers the first national snapshot.

Figures are up for blacks, women and young people. Rural and city. South and North.

Overall, the AP found that nearly one in 65 adult Americans signed up to vote in just the first three months of the year. And in the 21 states that were able to provide comparable data, new registrations have soared about 64 percent from the same three months in the 2004 campaign."

That is only in 21 states we're comparing... can you imagine what its like for all 50 states?

Our good buddies at the DNC sent out a memo detailing the information as well as quoting pertinent stats

• "Turnout for voters 18-29 has increased dramatically-tripling or quadrupling in many states-this election season. So far, more than 5 million young voters have participated, with an overwhelming number going for Democrats-building on gains made among this key demographic in 2004 and 2006. [civicyouth.org]
• This trend can be seen in state after state. In Massachusetts, for instance, youth turnout doubled, with young people voting for Democrats over Republicans nearly 3- to-1. 168,863 young people voted for Democrats while only 62,159 voted for Republicans, nearly tripling the numbers from 2004 [55,367] and 2000 [45,722]. [civicyouth.org]
• Recent polls confirm these results. According to a Pew study released last month, 58 percent of voters under 30 now identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, while only 33 percent associate with Republicans. The gap is even greater for young female voters-63 percent to 28 percent. [Pew Study, released 4/28/08]"

And we still have several more months left to register more. This is a great motivator for all those orgs out there - and its a great fundraising tool for those working on young voter registration, GOTV, and doing youth specific organizing.

In the past the youth movement has had a lot of drop off to get funders to invest in the youth movement - ideally this will rejuvenate those past donors and encourage bringing about new ones.

Happy fundraising!

Students for Barack Obama is stepping up their lobbying campaign for super delegates representing young voters to support Sen. Obama's candidacy:

STUDENTS FOR BARACK OBAMA CALL ON SUPERDELEGATES WHO REPRESENT THE YOUTH VOTE TO COMMIT TO SUPPORTING BARACK OBAMA

Obama has overwhelmingly won the youth vote in the primary contests

WASHINGTON, DC -- After Barack Obama's big victory in North Carolina and close finish in Indiana left no doubt that he is on the path to securing the Democratic nomination, Students for Barack Obama today called on the superdelegates who represent young voters to certify the youth vote by publically committing to support Obama at the convention.

"Barack Obama has inspired students and young voters across the country to mobilize in historic numbers behind his candidacy," said Meredith Segal, National Director of Students for Barack Obama. "Barack has won the most contests, the most pledged delegates, and the most votes – his path to the nomination is clear, and his victory is imminent. He is the candidate who has empowered our generation and the one who embodies our ideals. It is time for the leaders of the College Democrats of America and the Young Democrats of America who are superdelegates to certify the will of young voters across the country by uniting behind Barack Obama. David Hardt, Crystal Strait, Awais Khalil, and Lauren Wolfe should publically commit this week to voting for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver."

In contests where demographic data are available, Obama has won an average of 62% of the youth vote compared to Clinton's 34%. He won the youth vote in every contest except for Arkansas and Massachusetts, where he lost by 1%. In this week's contests, Obama won the youth vote in North Carolina by 49% and in Indiana by 22%.

Not listed is Francisco Domenech, the third representative for the Young Democrats of America. According to DemConWatch, Domenech has already declared support or Hillary.

It's an interesting situation, and I've already outlined my take on how super delegates representing young voters should cast their super ballots. As we reported previously, Lauren and Awais, the two representatives from the College Democrats, have put out a YouTube video asking young people for advice on who to support. SFBO makes a compelling case why Obama should be their candidate.

I'm about to hop on a train to attend the Demos Better Deal Conference, where I'm speaking tomorrow. Before I go though, I wanted to alert all of you to a great (and fun!) opportunity to support progressive causes.

If you are in NYC on Saturday, please consider stopping by the Living Liberally fundraiser at DCTV (Downtown Community Television Center). Living Liberally is an amazing group that uses culture (books, comedy, movies) and community settings (bars) to encourage progressive thought and activism. In many areas they are the glue that holds together the progressive movement. I've been going to Drinking Liberally since the beginning and they've been super good to me - even hosting my book launch party and writing some kinds words at Open Left.

Tix are $100 - which I know is a lot - but it's well worth it to support an amazing organization that often runs on a shoe-string budget (or out of pocket at the expense of the organizers).

For more info, click on the Martini glass.

I'm hugely disappointed with Jon Stewart for his interview with John McCain last night. Time and again, he seemed about to ask a tough question, only to crack a joke and let McCain slide.

On the Ledbetter Fair Pay issue, he let McCain seem like a gracious candidate with high integrity for allowing a young women in a townhall to criticize him, yet when presented with the opportunity, Stewart didn't drill down and address the woman's real concern, which is that McCain doesn't support fair pay for women.

Stewart brought up Reverend Wright, but instead of asking about Hagee, he allowed McCain to crack some jokes at Bush's expense and seem like an independent maverick.

Stewart brought up Hamas's "endorsement" of Barack Obama and allowed McCain to infer that it was politically significant (and probably meaningful for our security).

Maybe I'm a fool to expect the Daily Show to tear down McCain's maverick image with their satirical spots and tough questions, but I had hopes. Jon Stewart has always loved McCain and it seems that's not going to change anytime soon. Huge letdown. We're going to need to rebrand McCain on our own.

The Center for Progressive Leadership has put together an impressive tool aggregating information on organizer/leadership/campaign trainings all across the country. So far, the tool comes in two flavors so far: calendar and Google Map. Widgetized and RSS versions are in the works and as soon as they are ready this calendar will become a permanent feature in the Future Majority sidebar.

This is a very cool development. There are dozens of progressive trainings occurring across the country every month, but the information about them is scattered and difficult to find if you aren't connected to the right networks. This opens up the whole field and will be a valuable resource for all organizations to provide to their members.

Here's a few snapshots.

The April event with the New Democratic Network that discussed Millennial Makeover with co-authors Morley Winograd and Michael Hais.

NDN and NPI's videos (of which there is sure to be many) are now being uploaded to YouTube - which makes me all too giddy.

Into by Simon Rosenberg (ED and creator of NDN who I have only met once and made a fool of myself because I was too excited)

Mike Hais served as VP o' Entertainment Research for more than 22 years overall at Frank N. Magid Associates. Particularly interesting vid/lecture about cycles.

Morley Winograd -ED of Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. This is kinda more of what we've heard before and I rolled my eyes in some parts.

Jon Schnur - works with the New Leaders for New Schools' team and community to accomplish its mission- driving high levels of learning and achievement for every child by attracting, preparing, and supporting the next generation of outstanding principals for our nation's urban schools.

Our own Alicia Menendez - from Rock the Vote. Alicia is the Political Outreach Manager and has a long history of Millennial research and experience - not to mention she was the youngest person on the panel by possibly 20+ years and a Millennial herself.

Q&A (featuring our own Mike Connery at 10:00)