kansas democrats

This week after the Kansas GOP primary I got a tip off about a piece in a local Kansas paper about the caucus and the comparable turnout. Understandably, there was immense turnout for the Democratic caucus and not so much for the GOP despite the fact that the GOP caucus was infinitely more convenient - being on a Saturday morning which wasn't plagued with a blizzard.

That said, while more people turned out at the Democratic Caucus - more young people also did. I can tell you there are no official numbers, no exit polls, indeed not much other than observable fact that more young people were present at the democratic caucuses.

The last line of the article is a gem:

"Everybody sees a fresh face," he said. "All these college people are really pumped up who probably aren't going to show up in November. It's one of those things that it's really interesting to watch."

The "he said" refers to the executive director of the Kansas GOP. All I could say when I read this was "You hope."

A local Kansas blog picked it up and (God bless them) discovered the youth vote themselves on this day. They mentioned that last week's KS Democratic caucus had

"more young voters participated in the 2008 Democratic caucuses than any other caucus in Kansas history.

I have no data to back this up and I don't know if its true but if it is - boy isn't that cool.

I watched all week to see how the comments from progressives and anti's would unfold, knowing full well that there is truly no youth outreach outside of the local university/college democrats in the state and hoping there would be evidence of an interest on the popular state blog. If there was enough enthusiasm perhaps Kansas is primed for some young voter action. Maybe the progressives there are interested in doing something about encouraging the youth vote.

Read the comments - they are priceless. One from what seems to be a Libertarian, one with more clarifying data about how young people turnout, and one from the KYD president who clearly has been swimming up stream like the many that have come before her.

The best part of this is the quote not included in the article is the Kansas Dem ED saying that he thinks the KS GOP is daring young people to get involved. If young people come out the way they did for the caucus there are quite a few races in Kansas that could swing to our favor. As a result, some of us are in cahoots about a potential state based youth organization for the Sunflower State. Seems they might just be ready.

The NBC Nightly News and the Today Show are about to do a piece on the new trend in western states turning blue. They were tipped off by a great piece in the Denver Post about organizations like Forward Montana and New Era Colorado.

"The descendants of the rebels themselves - today's Western youth - are leading the charge for a more Democratic West. If the trends continue, the Republican Party may find itself in a world of hurt."

So NBC is asking what is going on and is the movement in the west a trend or a blip. We talk a lot on here about numbers we see move in various communities. Mike just talked to us about Evangelical Youth dropping their previous support of the President like cold Prada such that its caused a drop overall in Republicanism by 15% nationwide. So many different people and groups and communities are leaving the GOP but it doesn't always equal big win. That said - a win is a win and by all accounts trending red to more blue means a beautiful indigo wonderland of progressivism.

ED of Forward Montana and renown blogger Matt Singer says its due in large part to

"young progressive voters reacting hugely against one party rule"

And how else do you bring the youth to the choices but by utilizing alternative forms of outreach. Such as hosting CANDIDATES GONE WILD!!! Advertised by asking FMT members:

Are you "sick of boring candidate forums? Wish that you could learn about the candidates, have a beer, watch some comedy, and mingle with hundreds of other community members all in one jam-packed evening? You're Gonna LOVE Candidates Gone WILD!"

And from what it seems - they did:

"By making policy process and voting more understandable, we think we can create an atmosphere where caring about issues is cool.”

My question for people in my neck of the woods is how this kind of outreach and this astounding progress out west will effect Heartland trends.