Lots of interesting mail on this, and I hope I have time to react to some of it. But I thought this one on Obama’s efforts (I’m tempted to say effortless ability, but I imagine a lot of thought went into it) to relate to young voters (and non-voters who he turned into new voters):
Hi Andy, I work in the field of academia, while I do agree that the preponderance of left leaning professors on college campuses is influencing a generation to vote Democrat I don’t think that wholly accounts for the overwhelming popularity of Obama among the youth. Especially 18 year old first time voters who have not been in college long enough to be influenced by liberal professors.
No, one must take into consideration that these students could relate to Obama. He is young, fresh, and speaks their language. McCain is none of these. As an example the students I interact with ate it up when Obama campaigned in jeans. Also, Obama was a master at obtaining cell phone numbers. From his rallies with celebrities to his V.P. announcement stunt. This allowed Obama to reach out directly to the cell phone generation. For the first time in their life a candidate was literally talking to them, paying attention to them, sending them messages on their phone. Not their parents phone but their phone.