[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NHH7s7Hh_n4[/youtube]

So…do you notice the way Obama interacts with young voters? Do you hear the words “revolution” being mentioned.

This video shows exactly why young voters are so attracted to Obama.

Great article in the Washington Post today:

The Boomers Had Their Day. Make Way for the Millennials

 Almost 25% of Americans are getting their info on this exciting Presidential election online — On the Internet. Two key points here: 1) It is an exciting election because god knows who is going to be the Republican and Democratic parties nominee and 2) the percentage of people going online for info is probably higher for Gen Y than the rest of the population (well, we all know it is higher, right). So this is really forcing the candidates to think about “CHANGE” — and change how they have campaigned and communicated with voters. They can not longer do it the old way. I doubt many Gen Yers are waking up early Sunday am to watch Meet The Press. And why should they. Why should I for that matter. I can just watch it later on when I do my evening stroll across the Internet. Each candidate has to think about the following to reach Gen Y:

1. What Internet websites should I use to share my views
2. How do I engage in real discussions with real YOUNG people online
3. Should I use video, audio or text
4. Should I do it real time or not
5. How do I change the way I speak for an online audience
6. How do I condense my message(s) into digestible sound bites
7. How do I monitor what my candidates are doing
8. How do I know who is linking to their websites and who is linking to mine
9. What are the real questions people are asking.. it is not enough to say they are concerned about the economy
10. How do I use social networking platforms like Facebook and Myspace..
11. ..etc.

 And I have just gotten started here. I am sure you can provide some more questions for the candidates. More questions and advice on how to leverage the Web.
 

Great article on Millennials voting:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20080116/ts_csm/ayouthvote

Millennial Leaders

I just heard on CNN that exit polls in Michigan showed that for the Democratic vote tonight, 48% of the young voters voted “uncommitted” (as urged by Obama and Edwards) and 37% of young voters voted for Clinton.  The word is that Clinton has not been connecting with young voters, and the recent study by Peanut Labs is pointing to the fact that  Gen Y’s affection for Obama is most largely connected to his likability factor.  So…this vote is telling me that young voters are still not leaning in Clinton’s direction, and they came out to vote to say so.

And this from Michigan Elections News

“That Democratic non-contest …

Barack Obama and John Edwards withdrew from the ballot amid a dispute over seating Michigan’s Democratic delegates. “Uncommitted” was an option on the ballot against Hillary Rodham Clinton and several lower-tier candidates. Younger voters, college graduates, blacks and voters in bigger cities were more likely than other groups to vote uncommitted.

And if Democrats had a full ballot to choose from, nearly three-quarters of those who voted uncommitted told exit pollsters they would have voted for Obama and many of the rest said Edwards. Of course those results are only among those who were motivated to go to the Democratic primary and vote uncommitted.

Note:Preliminary results from exit poll by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and television networks. Partial samples in 40 precincts around Michigan of 873 voters in the Republican primary and 588 in the Democratic contest. Sampling error plus or minus 5 percentage points in each primary.”

As we have been predicting, Generation Y voters (under the age of 30) turned out in droves in Iowa on Thursday Jan. 3 at the Iowa Caucus.  According to the nonpartisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, the voters under age 30 who cast their ballot in Iowa tripled, and many political analysts are saying that this young vote is why Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee won on Thursday.

Obama and Huckabee have both made a very solid effort to reach out to Gen Y.  Huckabee took 37 percent of the younger votes and Obama…a staggering 57%.  As you may know, Obama announced his candidacy on You Tube before making his announcement on live television.  He knows that younger voters use You Tube more often than television, so of course, to capture their attention early and on the first major move using their form of technology was a check mate in my opinion.

I want to talk for just a few minutes about Barack Obama.  I want to state upfront that I am a Moderate, and I am extremely impressed with Obama’s campaign.  From my perspective, his campaign will be one that we  will definitely read about  in history books, and I want to shed light on why I think Obama is appealing to Generation Y and why I think he won in Iowa (of course, only  two candidates in American history who won in Iowa actually won the election…George Herbert Walker Bush  and Jimmy Carter). 

1.  He is embracing technology as a way to reach this growing demographic of voters.

2.  Obama is a younger “outsider” who is promising to bring about radical change.

3.  Obama represents the diversity “melting pot” of our society.  Gen Y is very attracted to diversity, and people who embrace tolerance, and Obama is a walking example of it.

4.  Last summer, Obama chose to skip an AARP event (for which he took some heat) in order to attend a hip-hop event starring Usher (he knows where to go and how to connect with Gen Y).

5.  Obama has a strong presence on college campuses (he has built campaign centers on college campuses to build a grassroots connection).

6.  Obama has a strong presence on Facebook (there are more than 500 groups on Facebook supporting Obama) and over 200,000 friends on MySpace.  He is also present on Flickr, Black Planet, You Tube and Linked In.

7.  Obama actually knocked on the doors of voters under 30, introduced himself, and asked for them to get out and vote (this is quite rare in these days).  His grassroots approach is really amazing.

8.  His website is great…getting younger voters involved: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php.  I signed up for the mailing list just to watch this in action, and the e-mails are really exciting and informative.  You can also visit his online social networking sites on the right sidebar.

So, if you have not learned yet how to reach adults ages 18-30, just watch Obama’s campaign for the next 10 months.  While he is just not going for Gen Y voters, he is doing everything he can to reach them AND get the 72 million of them out to vote.  I heard on CNN last night that Hillary Clinton is changing her approach, going for the younger female voter. I then read this morning in the Associated Press quoting a political professor at Iowa State University, Diane Bystrom, that “the lesson (in Iowa) may be generational. ‘Young women don’t have the same take on Clinton that I do.  They look at Clinton as their grandmother”.

Time will tell what will happen indeed.  My hunch is that if Obama wins the Democratic election, he will do everything he can to get college students voting by absentee and of course to make sure they get out and vote on election day.  He will also be using his online social networks to keep his name in front of people daily (I know he is in front of my eyes daily…and as I said, I am a Moderate…and this man is giving me lots of reasons to consider him as our next President).