Newsweek: Youth Enthusiasm Could Outstrip Obama's Presidency

At Newsweek, Anna Quindlen writes about the youth vote and produces a succinct explanation of shifts we are seeing this year and their long-term implications:

The bottom line is that the net effect of young people's enthusiasm about Obama is likely to outstrip his candidacy. There's data suggesting that once people vote they will vote again, making it a civic habit, and that party affiliation tends to remain unchanged from a relatively early age. The young Democrats voting today will be the middle-aged Democrats voting tomorrow. As Norman Ornstein wrote more than 20 years ago, the party that secures the youth vote secures the power for the next generation.

Hell yes. This is what I've been writing about for over two years now, beginning with this piece, one of my first to make the front page of MyDD: The First of Many Thirds.

What Quindlen is referring to is research suggesting that partisanship is a habit (pdf) that forms early in life, usually during the first three major elections in which someone votes. From 2004 - 2008, young voters have increasingly chosen the Democratic Party over the GOP. Tuesday may mark the day when the Democratic Party first began to lock-in permanently the partisan allegiance of America's largest generation.

But the work doesn't stop there. In fact, it never stops. There are always more young people who will need to be brought into the political process. After Obama's success in engaging young voters this cycle, I hope to see Quindlen's words become a mantra for future campaigns, local candidates, and state parties alike.