Breaking the Cycle

Was reading this mostly excellent article on Obama's attempt to organize High School students when I came across this money-quote (emphasis mine):

Kader, who's met Obama twice and says his local student field representative visits the school regularly, argues that it's not just Obama's relative youth at 46, symbolism or his stances that she finds appealing.

''I think most younger people are supporting him because of how much attention he's paying to us,'' she said.

Hale-frickin-lulah! This is so right on and in line with everything that research tells us. Young people will participate if they are asked, but the campaigns and parties stopped asking a long time ago, locking us into a vicious cycle of non-participation.

What's amazing is that this may be the first piece of professional journalism I've seen that hits this nail on the head. Good for McClatchy.

Note to the reporter, though - Dean did not lose Iowa because youth failed to turnout, and those numbers on 18-24 year old turnout from the Iowa Democratic Party are wrong. Please refer to this helpful document in future stories. I emailed her complimenting the piece but correcting this information.