Open Thread for Night Owls & Early Birds

post from Daily Kos on 08 May 2008 02:39:56 AM. © Daily Kos

The upsurge in the youth vote this primary season year has been nothing short of phenomenal. This sharp rise in turnout has been widely chalked up to two factors: the war in Iraq and the presence of Barack Obama in the field of candidates.

In Iowa, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, the youth vote tripled over 2004. In Tennessee, it quadrupled. In Louisiana and Massachusetts, it doubled. Other states also saw large increases. It appears not just possible but likely that this year will break the record for the youth vote, a record set in 1972, the first year that 18-year-olds could vote in a presidential contest. That year, 52% of eligible 18-to-24-year-olds showed up at the polls (compared with 68% of those 25 and older).

After '72, until 2004, the youth vote plunged downward except for the uptick in 1992 - which was in great part accounted for by the youthful casualness of a candidate named Bill Clinton, who was a year younger when he took the oath of office than Barack Obama will be when and if he does.

The primary turnout is a heartening prospect for Democrats and those who lean Democratic because young voters have picked Democrats over Republicans by close to a 2:1 margin overall in the primaries. And that fits into a whole range of other good news for Democrats that has been partly obscured by the acerbic nature of the Obama-Clinton battle since Super Tuesday. Among them the facts that fewer people self-identify as Republicans since 2004, and that both Obama and Clinton have (personal loans notwithstanding) raised more cash, recruited more volunteers and generated more turnout than anybody could have imagined even a year ago. This is now backed up by Senator Obama's 50-state voter registration drive.

What all this seems to presage, the youth vote certainly, but all the other positive factors as well, is the very real possibility of what Paul Rosenberg at Open Left has been harping on for some time: realignment. A shift in partisan power as striking as that of 1932, as DHinMI has written about here, here, and here.

In short, not only would the Democrats win the White House, but they might even better their 2006 net gain in the House of Representatives with 30-40 more seats, add three or four seats to their Senate majority, and continue the gains they made in state legislatures two years ago. That wouldn't be a mere blowout. It would put the Democrats in position to shape the political landscape for the next decade or two.

Whether they would actually do so should they turn all the good news into success at the polls in November, or whether the change they would usher in could legitimately be labeled "progressive" remains, of course, to be seen. But first things first.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/285862677/67237

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Didn't vote for Bush in 2000 Arianna Huffington
says McCain didn't either

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 08 May 2008 02:32:37 AM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

You might just have something in common with John McCain: both of you may not have voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 election.

So if you own an extra bumper sticker from 2000 that says, "Don't blame me. I didn't vote for Bush," maybe you should give it to McCain. At least, Arianna Huffington has been reporting from first-hand knowledge that McCain and his wife, Cindy, didn't vote for Bush in 2000.

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Technorati Tags: Be-Elected Chad Rubel 2008 race Hillary Clinton Barack Obama 2000 race John McCain George W. Bush Arianna Huffington

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http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/election08/171

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The Stars Hollow Gazette

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 08 May 2008 02:04:59 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

I found it quite amusing to watch the reverse MSNBC meltdown last night. It was New Hampshire all over again.What these Beltway Butt Kissing Access Whore Media MORANS don't get is that people don't buy their bullshit anymore. Eight years (at[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/285873548/showDiary.do

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Bloggingheads Video on Tuesday's Primaries

post from TalkLeft on 08 May 2008 01:43:00 AM. © TalkLeft

Law Professor and blogger Ann Althouse and I have another Bloggingheads TV diavlog on Tuesday's primaries. The topics (you can click on any one or watch it all, but warning, it's 54 minutes total):

Did the mayor of Gary, IN try to sabotage Hillary’s victory? (08:34)
Jeralyn makes the case for Clinton to stay in (09:39)
Ann fears Obama is too liberal, Jeralyn that he’s not liberal enough (05:59)
Will voters think Obama is angry because he’s black? (08:35)
What’s the real difference between Obama and Hillary? (04:46)
Looking ahead to a McCain Supreme Court (05:19)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/285837072/90966

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Must Ha-Ha of the Day

post from American Street on 08 May 2008 01:41:00 AM. © American Street

Oliver Willis has got the snarkasmica.

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http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2008/05/07/must-ha-ha-of-the-day/

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US Papers Thu: MEK Loses 'Terrorist' Tag in UK

post from IraqSlogger.com on 08 May 2008 01:38:37 AM. © IraqSlogger.com

A Kuwaiti detainee released from Gitmo was one of several suicide bombers in Mosul last month, both The New York Times and the Washington Post report.

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http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/5794

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Videotape Shows Police Beating Suspects in
Philadelphia

post from TalkLeft on 08 May 2008 01:08:00 AM. © TalkLeft

Capturing brutal police misconduct on tape isn't always enough to convince a jury to convict the officers of a crime. It isn't surprising that juries often give cops a pass when they abuse arrestees, despite seemingly obvious visual evidence of their guilt. Sometimes the district attorney doesn't prosecute with vigor; sometimes the jury returns a verdict of "he had it coming." Juries bring democracy into the courtroom by reflecting the sense of the community, even when that sense is offensive to those who don't share the community's biases. That's how democracy works -- or doesn't, depending on your point of view.

In Philadelphia:

Fifteen Philadelphia police officers will be taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked and beaten by city police.

Philadelphia officers have been "on edge" since one of their own was killed two days ago, according to Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. A bit of the video is shown in this newscast. More information here.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/285850609/84624

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Late Late Nite FDL: Tip The Canoe

Barbara Higbie - Tip the Canoe[...]

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http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/07/late-late-nite-fdl-tip-the-canoe/

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Till Next Week

I'm going to be stepping aside from my normal duties at TPM for the rest of the week for some family time. I'll be leaving you in the able hands of the rest of the TPM staff. Next week or the week following we'll have some announcements about new[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/285809115/193870.php

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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are Louisiana 1976, vcmvo2, shayera, hhex65, dopper0189, YatPundit, jlms qkw and grog.

davej, continuing his coverage of the strike at Kaiser Permanente and their subcontractor Inter-Con Security Inc, explains Why They (And You) Need A Union. (dopper0189)

MA Voter gives Kossacks a personal view of "then" and "now" in Economic Realities. (shayera)

Stranded Wind had a near brush with disaster, that caused deep self-reflection on the need for national healthcare in Walkabout #17: One Fall, Two Sprains. (dopper0189)

In CounterProductive CounterPunch Story on Iran, Jeff Huber notes that unsourced alarmist stories about Iran are not solely a tool of the right. (hhex65)

JoesGarage focuses our attention on the true enemy during the next 6 months in Let's Meet John McCain's Economic Advisors. (jlms qkw)

greenchiledem's series, The Daily Flipper - Vol.1 No.8 - May 7, 2008, continues to chronicle McCain's flip-flops for those of us having a hard time keeping track. The traditional media might find this resource helpful. (dopper0189)