young people

those young voters who are all energized?

Not so much so far--in Florida, at least.

"... younger voters have shifted heavily toward the Democratic Party during the past four years.

But as yet -- in either Central Florida or the state as a whole -- a surge of younger voters hasn't materialized.

Though a bit more than 10 percent of all voters are younger than 25, fewer than 6 percent of early voters fit that category. Similarly, voters 25 to 34 years old are 14.4 percent of the electorate -- but just 9.5 percent of those who voted early. ..." -- Orlando Sentinal analyses the early voting figures in all of Florida -- Battle for Florida: Blacks turn out in droves, but few young people have voted

Tomorrow Belongs to Me

Good news from UCLA. Yes, I'm taking a break from cleaning, but I'll keep this short so I don't get sucked into sitting in this chair while dust still swirls. Here's the money quote:

As more freshmen report that they discussed politics frequently as high school seniors — 33.8 percent in 2006, up from 25.5 percent in 2004 — 43.1 percent identified themselves as "middle-of-the-road," the lowest mark since first measured by the research program in 1970. Additionally, the percentage of students identifying as "liberal" (28.4 percent) is at its highest level since 1975 (30.7 percent), and those identifying as "conservative" (23.9 percent) is at its highest level in the history of the Freshman Survey, now in its 40th year.