Quick Hits - August 18th: Inside Obama and Pop Politics Galore

What I'm reading today:

• The American Prospect looks at the good and the bad behind Obama's takeover of the DNC.
• A companion piece looks at the 15 most important advisors behind the Obama operation.
• Chris Bowers examines the demographic trends behind Obama's coalition and declares an end to the era of Values Voters and "Bubba Dominance."
• WireTap profiles Tony Peyton, the youngest member of the Pennsylvania House, and how the Center for Progressive Leadership helped shape him into a winning candidate.
• John McCain is trying to steal credit for the new GI Bill, which he actively opposed and obstructed.
• Bondelli explains how you can build your own Sprout Widget.
• The Voto Latino blog pointed me to this GQ profile of Meghan McCain from back in March. It's so vacuous at times that can't decide if it is a terrible profile or sheer genius on the part on the part of the McCain campaign. The girl did go to Columbia. What do you think?
• If, like me, you've been mesmerized by HBO's Generation Kill, you should check out the original Rolling Stone article by Evan Wright.
• Youth are a prime target in the Indiana Governor's race.
• Gawker thinks that MSNBC is trending Democratic and will continue to do so as it rakes in younger viewers.
• The Virginia Pilot notes that 2/3 of the 200,000 newly registered voters in the state are under the age of 35. The paper declares voter registration the new youth movement. I couldn't agree more.