It'd be a total cliche to say that the 2008 campaign changed everything. Certainly there was change, and it happened on a wide level. It will take us a couple years, perhaps longer, to digest the meaning of this election and the two year campaign that preceded it. But there are a few things trickling in already that signify its importance. One of these is the text messaging army the Obama campaign built. NDN describes just how big this technological revolution was/is.

A million people signed up for Obama's text-messaging program. On the night Obama accepted the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field in Denver, more than 30,000 phones among the crowd of 75,000 were used to text in to join the program. On Election Day, every voter who'd signed up for alerts in battleground states got at least three text messages. Supporters on average received five to 20 text messages per month, depending on where they lived -- the program was divided by states, regions, zip codes and colleges -- and what kind of messages they had opted to receive.

NDN goes on to remind us of their prophetic white paper, "Mobile Media in 21st Century Politics," from 2006.

Imagine this very realistic scenario: In the heat of the 2008 election, 1 million activists – all of them connected in a collaborative web both on their PC's and their mobiles – conspire in a collective act of mobile democracy.

...let's say a candidate has emerged that "gets" the power of the Internet and its mobile cousin. All their traditional media and Internet action combines with a call to mobile action. No speech ends without a call for those listening to join the campaign on their mobile phones – then and there. And this candidate has inspired a small portion of his base - 1 million people - to each devote ten minutes of their time to mobile action for the Presidential campaign.

I think that then-Senator Obama must have been doing some reading.

The words "collaborative" and "collective" in that white paper excerpt above really stand out to me. Obama saw the importance of running a campaign in a way that underscored his unity rhetoric. Obama saw Web 2.0 and mobile technology and immediately recognized it as the opportunity to redefine our politics. While we've grown up in an uber-fragmented society thanks to our Boomer parents, the overwhelming number of Millennials carrying cell phones is a tremendous opportunity for rebuilding community. Obama talked about working together just like any other politician; but for once, someone was able to show people how to do it, not just with words, but by the campaign's actions.

Yes, the number one million is certainly impressive and important. But what's more critical is that we're seeing the opportunity for Millennial values to be channeled into the political dialogue thanks to this technological development. 2008 contained several cataclysmic events. One of those is certainly the emergence of text messaging as a campaign tool.

Bumped. Education costs were a huge priority of young voters in this election. This is one issue where people will be looking to see some early action from an Obama administration. --Mike

Cross posted on College Dems of NY blog:

As a senior at Binghamton University, the SUNY tuition hike has been a hot topic issue. In addition to being President of the College Democrats of NY, I also have a seat on student government at BU.
At this past Monday's student government meeting, students expressed outrage at Governor Patterson's tuition hike. But its not for the reason you might think.

While students aren't happy about the tuition hike, we understand that a deficit must be made up and therefore tuition needs to be raised as a result of cutting SUNY funding.

What students will not stand for, and what Governor Patterson has done to outrage students, is in addition to cutting college education spending to SUNY, he is mandating an increase in tuition which will NOT be going back to the SUNY school, but rather will be used to fund other parts of the NYS Budget that does not encompass college education. This is a blantant tax Patterson is imposing on SUNY students.

So currently, BU students are faced with a $300 proposed tuition increase for next semester, of which only $30 which actually go back to Binghamton U. That is what has caused outrage. If students are to be charged an additional $300, it should directly back to our own school to cover the cut in spending that BU gets from the state, rather than to fund Wall Street's mess or new roads being built.

Each of the past couple of years, SUNY funding has been decreased by several million dollars. I can't even remember the last time that the NYS government increased SUNY funding.

Students are standing up across the state at SUNY schools and saying Enough is Enough! We cannot keep harming our nation's youth in education. I sincerely hope that the Governor changes his proposal to one that makes sense for students.

cross posted on CDNY blog: http://www.collegedemsny.com/...

If you're a NY College Republican, you must be feeling pretty down right about now. You just got your ass handed to you by your counterparts, the College Democrats of NY, and you just lost the NY State Senate for the first time in 40 years, lost 3 Congressional seats in NY, and were pretty much non-existent the entire Election season.

After a bit of searching through the NY College Republican website, we thought that perhaps the NY College Republicans may have a pulse after all. And then reality hit us like a mack truck.

The NY College Republicans are boasting about the following:

It is the hope of the New York College Republicans that the hard work and enterprise of every conservative across the great state of New York will help reinstitute an era of conservative values.

ok so let's see:
lose NY State Senate: check
lose key Congressional seats: check
get trounced in youth support in NY: check

With just a month before the elections, the NYCRs will be devoting their time to Sandy Treadwell this weekend, Multiple State Senators in New York City this weekend, and Dale Sweetland

ok so just to recap:
Sandy Treadwell (R) gets ass kicked by Democrat Kristen Gillibrand: check
Dale Sweetland (R) gets ass kicked by Dan Maffe: check
Republicans lose state senate for 1st time in 40 years: check

So again, what have the NY College Republicans done?

The Senate runoff in Georgia will be working hard to keep the enthusiasm going from the November election and get the same excited democratic Obama supporters to come back a month later and vote again.

This, understandably, includes young voters. The Georgia Young Dems are one of the groups rewarded with a GoGrant a few years ago and have since bulked up in time for the 2008 election. Little did everyone know that the job wouldn't be over on November 4th.

The GA-YD's are looking for vote pledges, and they are working to empower the state's young voters to come out once more on December 2nd.

According to the blog

"Once again, it is going to be the Youth Vote that makes the difference in which candidate will win. Natiowide, on November 4th, Young Voters came out in record numbers to support Democrats, we need to do it one more time. YOU have the power to change this election for Democrats. Here's what we, as Young Democrats, can do over the next 2 weeks.

1. Pledge to Vote
2. Hold a phone bank party!
3. Volunteer for a campaign

Find details to do all of these great things on the GA YD blog. Further the Georgia Democratic Party sent a call out for operatives who are in post election mode to come to Georgia and work for a few weeks to help get out the vote for Martin's race.

Much luck to our friends in Georgia - get our fellow young voters to the polls!

One thing about the Inauguration to be aware of is the many balls that are happening in Washington. Inauguration is a lot like the acceptance speech at the Oscars only they don't play you off the stage. Inaugural Balls are like the post Oscar Parties, only people wear a hell of a lot more black clothing and people are drunkenly talking about numbers, charts, graphs, and policies, rather than movies, publicists, and who's dressed the worst.

Now you have to know your balls quite well. There are a lot of balls in DC..... more than you'd think. And everyone dresses up special for their balls. Even some caucuses have balls! Thus far there are 9 official and 31 unofficial balls. Everything from Native American balls, to the official Commander and Chief Ball hosted by military personal ... you could I suppose call that the Brass Ball.. There are Hawaiian balls, in the past a Texas/Wyoming Ball presumably because that was where the Pres and VP were from. I've been told that Texas has very large balls or at least they like to think they do.

CNN did a recent special about the Balls and the extravagances that you see at these balls. Everyone wants to have a big expensive flashy ball - I mean who doesn't want to see some flashy balls right? Especially in Washington which often times is filled with so much darkness and seriousness. But, at a time when the economy is in peral and our Commander in Chief will face some pretty steep challenges on Day 1, do we want him out the night before taking in so many balls? I mean... you really have to pace yourself...

In the past balls have been paid for by flashy lobbyists and companies hoping to wine and dine key members in the Washington community. But if you've given you r two cents on Change.gov then you have also been asked to be a contributor to the transition and inauguration to prove that small donors can fund this thing just like we funded the campaign. That said... of the millions upon millions of donors to the Obama campaign only a select 4 million are expected to come to DC and lets face it... there just aren't enough balls for all of us to attend.

Similarly, most balls require tickets which are often times pricey, so the kinds of people who are able to attend either have to have the hook up or they have to have money. This means, largely that young people are once again... shut out of the influence, the celebration, and the flashy crab cakes.

But the Babyboomer Professionals get the Celebration of Change Ball... where they will all get to groove to some easy listening and sip on champagne while undoubtably talking about how big and awesome their ball is. No word on whether it will be a disco ball.

The cheapest balls I can find are certainly the unofficial balls like the Garden State Ball(New Jersey is the Garden State) which is only $125 with black tie optional... its unclear whether you get wacked at the end of the night or if the wine is from a box...

The Change the Nation Celebration Ball plays the song Celebration when you look up the invite. That is a cheap ball at $125 and hosted by a consulting firm in Maryland... So if you want to schlep way up north to see some hawt ball action, its only $125 and $125 for the cab to get there.

The Illinois State Society is hosting a $300 Gala, no word yet on if you must pronounce it gay-la or gall-la if you attend.

The Creative Coalition which works to lobby for arts policies and such is hosting their super pricey Hollywood Liberals Gala where the LA and New York finance committee will be in full ball on ball mode. Last time I saw Susan Sarandon she was quite drunk, so I'm sure the Creative Coalition won't mind if I forgo the $10,000 and sit this one out ...

While I can make jokes about the size of people's balls, or their caucus balls, or the attire for their balls, or whether they like to call their balls gay-las or whatever... the long and the short for balls is that young people, who had a huge part in the success of President Obama's election are being once again.... ignored.

No ball for you... and even if there was a youthy ball, a small youthy ball, with popcorn and boxed wine, Snoop calling Obama the Prizzle... whatever ... we would then have to figure out how the hell to help young people pay the thousands of dollars for hotel rooms or to rent apartments for the weekend.

CNN has one thing right - we want to party with Obama, we want to celebrate the success, but having big balls is not quite as great as passing policies that impact our lives, particularly when you're a demographic or interest group that will have no access and/or no credibility when it comes to admission, official Presidential Balls or not. Our night can just be about free ballin'.

Looks like Waxman came out on top in his fight against John Dingell for chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee. That's good news for anyone looking for strong, progressive policy on energy and climate change.

From what I'm hearing, some youth groups did make a few phone calls on Waxman's behalf (I don't have permission to say which ones). I'm not saying we were decisive, or even all that influential. That's a tough thing to know at this point without sources in Congressional offices. But we did have some skin in the game, which I think is a good thing long term.

Earlier this week, Generation We, in conjunction with Ruy Teixeira, released an updated survey (pdf) of the attitudes and activities of Millennials in the 2008 election (attached, download at bottom). Covering everything from voting rates to views on the role of government, it reads as a good update to an NPI report that we often quote: The Progressive Politics of the Millennial Generation.

What sets it apart from most of the analysis of the youth vote that you've read here and elsewhere is that the report, like the book on which it is based, isn't just a primer on youth participation. It's a generational analysis that is concerned with the political power of Millennials now, as they enter the electorate in significant numbers, as well as 10, 20, and 30 years from now, when Millennials will comprise a plurality of the electorate. You should read it (pdf) and bookmark it. It's a great reference guide if you don't want to sort through 6 different data sets looking for information on Millennials.

During their press briefing to release the report, one of the more interesting topics of discussion focused on cohort replacement - the impact that the Millennials will have as they age into the electorate and older, more conservative demographics age out (Read: die).

The voting inclinations of the Millennials, hugely important in this election, could become even more so over time. If Millennials remain oriented as they are and maintain the generational consistency they have shown so far, the simple process of cohort replacement—more Millennials moving into the electorate and taking the place of older voters—will increase the Democrats’ margin over the GOP by an additional two and a half percentage points in 2012 and then by another two and a half points in 2016. That’s quite a shift.

And that shift will definitely be toward the Democrats and the relatively progressive politics they represent, not just toward Obama. In 2008, the 66-32 margin for Obama among 18-29 year olds was not far off the 63-34 margin for House Democrats among this age group. Even more important, party identification among 18-29 year olds, according to data released by the Pew Research Center right before the election, has been running 29 points pro-Democratic (61-32), an absolutely stunning figure. Party identification is the single strongest predictor of how people vote and tends to stick with individuals once they form an attachment early in their political lives. It appears that the Democrats in particular and progressive politics in general will be reaping the benefits of Millennials’ strong political leanings for many years to come.

This is very encouraging, but I just want to issue a word of caution. As a number of panelists mentioned at the press briefing, this swing towards the Democrats didn't come out of nowhere and the progressive politics of Millennials is not fait accompli. It was greatly assisted by the work of the Obama campaign and independent youth organizations reaching out to young people and including them in the process.

As Al Acker, President of the Young Democrats, noted during the panel, youth groups had far less support this year than in previous years. And Obama's campaign is just that - a campaign. We don't know how or if it will translate into a permanent piece of infrastructure. Out of all the state parties in the country, only one - Ohio - had anything even resembling a strong youth outreach component. The party committees (DSCC, DCCC) are still not sold on the idea of youth outreach as a part of their work vital to the long term health of the party. All this as word comes down that the 50 State Strategy, another vital piece of progressive infrastructure focused on making long term gains for the party, may not survive beyond this election cycle.

As the chart in the sidebar shows, Republicans had the youth vote during the Reagan years and they lost it as they stopped reaching out and talking to young voters. Right now the youngest Millennials are very young. Young enough that Obama's historic election will be a permanent fact of life to them, as natural as computers and cell phones are to those growing up in the last ten years. There's no guarantee that what we did this year will move them to support Democrats or even Progressives without continued investment in outreach - anymore than the youngest of Obama's supporters this year were moved by us "old-hands" pining about the Dean days

Apologies for the light (read: no) posting today. I'm taking care of some personal stuff. Tomorrow I plan to blog about the following stories. I figure you can read them directly now and get a head start:

• Taking on the System and the Prop 8 Protests: Kos talks about his new book and how the Prop 8 demonstrations showed us 1) How demonstrations could be relevant in the 21st C; and 2) How a 26 year old from Seattle used decentralized organizing and put traditional LGBT groups to shame.
• Be + Cause Strategies discusses Obama's win and the importance of infrastructure and organizing.
• Progressive States Network tells us why, even in the wake of a national win, we should continue to strengthen our efforts at the state level.
• Next Gen GOP wants to win back the youth vote. Part I and Part II.
• Amplify Your Voice brings us word of another Millennial elected to office with a little help from Facebook.

Politico is reporting that Rep. Waxman is "looking to youth" to help him in his fight against Rep. Dingell (Congressman, General Motors) for control of the Energy and Commerce Committee. The results of this fight will likely dictate just how progressive energy legislation coming out of the House will be in the next session.

I wish I could say that Waxman is looking for help from young voters and youth climate groups, but that's not what Politico is talking about. No, this is shaping up as a fight with moderates and the old guard who have been in congress for quite some time on one side, and more progressive legislators on the other. To increase his support, Waxman is wooing new legislators recently elected to congress to join his coalition:

This week’s showdown between Reps. John Dingell and Henry A. Waxman could come down to the votes of members too young to remember Dingell’s glory days — votes Waxman has been courting with a series of well-timed campaign contributions.

Dingell outraised Waxman by a sizable margin over the past two years, and he’s been more generous with his money, giving nearly five times what Waxman gave to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Dingell has also given substantially more than Waxman to the Frontline program for Democrats in the most competitive districts.

But Waxman, whose district includes Beverly Hills and other wealthy Los Angeles suburbs, has been extraordinarily deliberate in his campaign giving, spending liberally on the party’s best pickup possibilities just before Election Day — and hence, just before the time when members will vote on whether Waxman replaces Dingell as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In October alone, Waxman cut $2,000 checks to 19 Democratic candidates. Some fell short. Most won. Among the winners: Kathy Dahlkemper in Pennsylvania, Steve Driehaus in Ohio and Larry Kissell in North Carolina, each of whom knocked off an incumbent Republican to add a seat to the Democratic Caucus, and Gerry Connolly, who won the seat Rep. Tom Davis is vacating in Virginia.

Waxman has done this before and could win, but I'm sure he needs all the help he can get. Credo Action is running a petition in support of Waxman, and I can't help but think that a quiet effort on the part of youth climate groups would be beneficial as well.

I say quiet because no one wants to destroy their political capital before the new administration has even started, and I'm sure that many student/youth green groups are worried about coming down on the wrong side of this fight and getting locked out of any access to the legislative process next year.

Yet at the same time, we shouldn't be too afraid to fight for what we want. Young people voted in record numbers this year or Democrats, creating a mandate for real progressive change. High on that agenda was smart energy legislation to prevent climate change, and the creation of a green jobs economy. I'm no expert on how things work on the Hill, but everything I'm reading suggests that the outcome of this fight could radically affect the quality of legislation coming out of the house on this issue in the coming congressional session.

That seems like a big enough deal for youth climate leaders to - if not launch a full-blown campaign - at least be making phone calls to new legislators and use their new power at the ballot box to exert some under-the-radar pressure on behalf of Waxman.