Clarifying My Statements About the Youth Ball
I'm loathe to lend this topic any more real estate on Future Majority, but I feel obligated to address a common misconception that has arisen - on and offline - due to my piece about the inaugural youth ball.
For reference, the offending paragraph is quoted at the beginning of this recent blog post.
It was not my intention to imply that Obama staffers were any less deserving of tickets to the inaugural youth ball than any other youth organizer. To my mind, the tickets should have been distributed in an equal fashion, and limited to the venue's maximum capacity. In my personal experience of the ticketing process, and events I witnessed at the ball itself, this was not the case. That, however, is not the fault of any Obama staffers at the event, many of whom found themselves locked out of the ballroom like myself, or even kept out of the hotel altogether, as many attendees were.
My beef is soley with the PIC for their organizing failures, not with Obama staffers, organizers, or volunteers. If anyone thought otherwise, or read what I wrote as accusatory or diminishing to the work they did this election cycle, you have my apologies. The last thing we need right now is young, engaged Obama supporters and independent youth organizers pointing fingers at each other.
2008 Youth Vote in Context
The following charts and graphs are meant to contextualize the unique role that young voters played in the 2008 election, and their increasingly important role in a winning electoral coalition:
2008 Youth Electoral Map

2004 Youth Electoral Map

Youth Vote Partisan Advantage: 2000 - 2008

Youth Vote Historical Support: 1976 - 2008

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