Two Prospects for ‘08: the Millennials, the Senate GOP

One is daunting, and another is promising:

In this assessment from an AEI Fellow posted Wednesday on thehill.com, the GOP faces some gynormous obstacles in the US Senate next year:

Democrats may have six real chances to pick up seats to the Republicans’ one. That imbalance points to Democratic gains of two to four seats.

And this is coming from Fortier, as the byline points out is a Fellow with one of the most conservative thinktanks in the Beltway.

Meanwhile, a July article on wiretap ponders who and what the under-35 age range — a voting bloc, in formation — oversimplifies who did the new voter registration in recent federal election seasons. While the Hip Hop Action Summit Network, Rock the Vote, PunkVoter, musicforamerica were vital there were many grassroots and local voter registration, voter education and get-out-the-vote campaigns. Local efforts were done with far fewer dollars yet much more local knowledge, context and networks.

But the biggest questions to ponder are: Who will shepherd the Millennials into politics and political engagement? And how will the 18-31 year olds participate (particularly in ways that are different from their parents, elders and older siblings)?

As Michael Connery states:

Four years later, many of the organizations that helped drive that cultural shift are closing up shop or scaling back just as the Millennial generation is beginning to come into its own. In 2008, 50 million Millennials (those aged 18 to 31) will be eligible to vote. Some studies show Millennials are already rivaling Baby Boomers in size.

Why the Youth Vote Matters

or why we — those of us up to 29 — mattered in the 2006 mid-term elections is decipherable from this pretty image from the MFA folks: