Florida and Michigan will decide Democrats’ fate (if they’re allowed to…)!

Is it weird to pledge delegates over a month after the primary has passed? Apparently not if you’re Michigan or Florida. Before their respective primaries in January, the Democratic National Committee revoked the convention seats of both states’ delegates after they violated the DNC’s rules by scheduling primaries too early. But after Hilary Clinton’s remarkable comeback on March 4, it seems unlikely that either candidate will have enough delegates to clinch the nomination before the Democratic convention. With 366 pledged delegates between the two states, these votes could push either candidate into the nomination, and both state governors are fighting to make this happen! So what does this have to do with the youth?

In a compelling article by Robert D. Putnam, he argues that refusing to count the votes of millions of young voters because of mistakes made by inside politicians could make young and first time voters fall back into their old habits of political apathy. He feels that it is simply not fair to punish the excited new voters for things out of their control. What do you think? Should these votes be counted, or should the DNC obey the rules they made? Would the inclusion of these delegates re-disenfranchise young voters? Is re-disenfranchise even a word??

Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC, said of the situation, “The rules were set a year and a half ago. Florida and Michigan voted for them and then decided that they didn't need to abide by the rules. When you're in a contest you do need to abide by the rules.” Dean is sympathetic to the voters, however, and has started discussions with both democratic state parties to resolve the situation. “It's not the voters' fault in Florida and Michigan that they didn't get included,” Dean said, “so we think it's a good thing to have these discussions going on."

If you were in these discussions, what would be an appropriate resolution between the two states and the DNC?

CNN Boston Globe

Record Youth Turnout in Texas and Ohio!

“Young voters were inspired by the pivotal nature of yesterday’s races, particularly on the Democratic side, to participate in a wave that swamped prior youth voting levels and continued the unprecedented 18-29 year-old involvement in this presidential campaign,” said Marc Morgenstern, Executive Director of Declare Yourself. “Young voters stated loud and clear that they are an important factor in determining the next president and must be listened to.”

We have been reporting on the youth vote since the primaries began, and we are running out of ways to say that the youth vote turnout is soaring past turnout numbers in previous elections! But hey, we're happy to have this problem!

Youth turnout increased significantly in Ohio by 10 percentage points since 2000, with under 30s making up 15% of the total vote this year. In 2004 Texas (tied with Tennessee) had the lowest youth turnout in the entire country! On the Democratic side, where the race is tight, the youth vote turnout yesterday increased from 83,923 in 2004 to 449,173! Although turnout for Texan Republicans in 2004 is not available, the total youth turnout increased from 6% in 2000 to 17% this year. Overall we are very proud of the Lone Star State!

Since I can't resist a play on words...McCain is now the Lone Star of the Republican Party! After sweeping Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont, Senator McCain now has enough delegates to become the parties nominee and received But who will his opponent be?

Senators Clinton and Obama are still in the race to be the Democratic candidate. Clinton won Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island last night and Obama won Vermont. The delegate count, according to CNN, now stands at Obama: 1,520 and Clinton: 1,424. The first one to reach 2,025 wins the nomination! Stay tuned for updates or check out the Declare Yourself primary results page to see where the candidates currently stand in the race.