Up By 12% and It's Only May

An article by the Center for American Progress came out yesterday with some new polling on the Millennial Generation.

You can't ignore us any longer; the numbers are out. We're the only age group this election to have a 12% increase in voter turnout. And the general election is still six months away!

And Millennials are voting at increasingly high rates. Though young people are less likely to vote than older people, Millennials are starting to close the gap. “In the primary elections held thus far in 2008,” noted a Pew Research Center paper, “voter turnout has been up sharply, especially among young people.” And the increases in voting for Millennials this year come on top of other recent increases. In 2004, “turnout among young voters increased 12 percent compared to 2000, the biggest increase in any single age group.” As the director of Rock the Vote argues: “2008 is set to become the third major election in a row with an increase in turnout among young voters.”

If we're making a splash this early in the election cycle, there's no way that the candidates won't be able to pay attention to our issues. Change is a comin'.