Millenials Taking Politics Into Their Own Hands - Stories from the Front Lines, around the tubes

Three stories about Millenials in politics, and one piece of advice in this week's news roundup.

• Chris Bowers at MyDD is promoting a diary by his former student David Slavick, who is running to be the Democratic State Representative for Pennsylvania's rural 109th district.

  The Push for Progress in Central PA: The Front Lines of '08

  Despite the fact that our campaign fund is dwarfed by the $134,685 raised by incumbent Millard in 2004, we have actually raised more money from local donors than he has in his entire career. This fact is a great indicator of our chances in this race, given that many people in Columbia County have undergone great hardship this year and do not have much disposable income, giving greater symbolic weight to their contributions.

  With less than 80 days, our hard in this campaign work is paying off. The grassroots has invigorated our local party and we are ready for the fight in 2008. We are bringing our message of hope, vision, and progress to all parts of the county, despite the recent national emergency level flooding. We have active volunteers in every precinct in Columbia County. Our county party has made great strides in recent months, nearly doubling the ranks of Democratic committee people, and each of the new committee members embrace a progressive vision for America. Our vision for a better Pennsylvania is spreading like a prairie fire.

  David is a 27 year-old alumnus of Pittsburgh Law - which makes him a "cusp" millenial (like those of us that run this site).

• Campus Progress is running a story this week about college students who graduate and run for office in their university towns. The piece mostly focuses on 20-somethings running for legislative and city council positions, but also includes an aside about students and graduates running for municipal positions such as elections judges. Almost two dozen such graduates ran in Philadelphia municipal elections last year, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian (UPenn's student paper).
  

  Nineteen Penn students are now elected Philadelphia officials, according to initial figures from Tuesday's municipal elections.

  As a result, they will be in charge of making sure elections run smoothly in the coming years.

  Of these students, six Democrats and one Republican will serve as judges of elections.

  Equally important - student involvement in the elections, as well as polling locations within walking distance of campus, all improved voter turnout for an off year among Philly students.

After the jump - bad experiences among the college dems, and friendly advice for campaigning in hostile territory

• Scott Stewart of the University of Nebraska at Omaha publishes a tale of his disillusionment with the college democrats that reads earily like reporting of college Republicans learning how to rig campus elections. And they blame John Stewart for causing kids to become cynical about politics . . .
• Finally, another article from Campus Progress supposedly spotlights "ways to retake the South," but really just offers solid, common sense advice for anyone learning how to make friends and influence hostile voters.