Dear friends,

Nearly five years ago, I came to People For the American Way Foundation with the goal of building a nationwide program to support young progressive leaders — to identify and prepare them for lifetimes of leadership in the movement — as campus activists, community organizers, business leaders, philanthropists, nonprofit directors, campaign directors and elected officials.

The Young People For family is deeply saddened by the recent events at Virginia Tech.  Colleges and universities should be places of learning and of growth, not of violence.  Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the students and faculty in the Virginia Tech community, as well as their families in this extremely difficult time.

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act of 2007, which cuts the interest rates on student loans and passed on the House floor by a vote of 356 to 71, with all Democrats and 124 Republicans voting for the bill:

"Today's bipartisan vote to cut the interest rate in half on federally subsidized student loans over the next five years will help make a college education more affordable and more accessible for our next generation of leaders and innovators.  At a time when college tuition continues to skyrocket, this crucial legislation will help remove some of the barriers to a higher education.

"A college education is the best investment our nation's young people can make in themselves, and the best investment our nation can make in its future.  Democrats will continue to work to ensure that every young person that is determined to earn a higher education is able to do so.  Our young people should be driven by their dreams, not weighed down by debt."

With post-election debrief heavily underway for progressives, conservatives do what they do best: cultivate the next generation of leaders. As reported by Steve Chawkins at the LA Times this weekend, the radical right brought together hundreds of young conservatives at a Santa Barbara resort to talk campus activism.

Over 500 college conservatives were in Santa Barbara for the weekend from across the country, courtesy of The Young America's Foundation a conservative organization working to spread conservative values throughout our college campuses.

YAF is only one of 11 nationwide conservative youth leadership organizations that understands the value of supporting students over the longterm. YAF is active on more than 2,000 campuses and sponsors conferences, pays speaker fees for college lectures and puts out how-to books like the "Campus Conservative Battleplan," and regularly brings together top young conservative leaders (also at the Regan Ranch) to strategize and network.

It's critical for progressives to celebrate the successes of November 7th - and to keep focused on building for the future, namely by investing in the next generation of progressive leaders.

For the second major election in a row, young voter turnout is up across the country, and even more so in places where they were targeted.  Below is a news release from Young Voter Strategies with an analysis of 18-29 year olds' turnout results from the national exit poll, precinct tallies, and election-eve polling from Celinda Lake and Ed Goeas. A HUGE THANK YOU to the youth voter community, all of our fellows who tirelessly worked to register and turn out young people. This report below courtesy of the Young Voter Strategies Team

Turnout among 18-29 year old voters increased by more than 2 million voters in the 2006 elections compared to 2002, according to an early exit poll analysis released today as part of the first comprehensive look at the youth vote in the midterm elections, presented by Young Voter Strategies.  At least 10 million votes were cast by this age group in 2006 compared to 8 million in 2002, and the vote counts are still coming in.  Youth-dense precincts that were targeted by Get-Out-the-Vote campaigns showed even larger increases.  Turnout more than doubled in the 36 precincts where groups like the nonpartisan Student PIRG's New Voters Project actively turned out this age cohort.

Also released today, a new bipartisan poll by Ed Goeas and Celinda Lake shows that in 2006 young voters were motivated primarily by a strong desire for change, combined with high levels of contact from campaigns and nonpartisan organizations:  61% of those who were surveyed said they feel the country is on the "wrong track" and 52% report being contacted by a campaign.

"A new generation of voters has arrived as a force in politics," said Heather Smith, Director of Young Voter Strategies. "For the second major election in a row, turnout among young voters increased--yesterday's election showed that 2004 was the start of a trend of increasing young voter turnout.  Today's young adults proved that they're a critical voting bloc for both political parties to court--at 42 million strong, this generation will only grow in importance as more and more vote in each election."  

Congratulations to Trey Thomas, Chairman of Penn State's Represent and Elena Cross founding member of Represent!
They are - and have made - an incredible contribution to the youth vote!

Though we are still waiting for youth vote turnout numbers nationally, Represent has already assessed the total turnout for all student/on-campus precincts at Penn State(24, 25, 27, 28 and 33) was 924, a 119% increase over the 2002 turnout of 422 - targeted precincts and focus areas for Represent.

Total turnout for mainly student/downtown precincts (18, 26, 29, 30 and 34) was 977, a 36% increase over the 2002 turnout of 719.  Overall turnout for all watched precincts (excluding those in Ferguson Township by Wal-mart - lower student ratios) was 1901, a 67% increase over the 2002 turnout of 1141.

Once again, we see that young people are engaged and they vote.

YP4 Network: if you have turnout numbers from your campus polling sites - please share them with us!

People For the American Way Foundation's latest Election Protection 1:30 PM EST UPDATE includes
problems appearing around the country. Check back for up to date information.

KANSAS: Enterprising pollworkers in Kansas are using hand lotion to solve sporadic problems with the county's touch-screen voting system. Machines have rejected the encoded cards that voters plug into the machines, forcing shutdowns and re-coding. Poll workers in Johnson County are using hand lotion to prevent the machines from spitting out the cards.

FLORIDA: In Broward County, the Deerfield Beach polling place didn't open until 3.5 hours after it was supposed to because of machine problems. Election Protection attorneys on the ground are working to get the governor to extend voting hours at that polling place.

PENNSYLVANIA: Election Protection is working with local election officials to extend voting hours in Allegheny County, where machine problems delayed early morning voting, and voters were not provided with sufficient paper ballots. Similar problems were noted in Lebanon County.

Feeling lazy today? Not sure you want to vote? Remember why it's important with this You Tube Video on Freedom; then find out where you are supposed to vote today by going to My Polling Place.Com.

Make sure to raise your voice with your vote. And make sure your vote counts. There are, no big surprise here, already voting machine problems around the country, especially, guess where, Ohio. Read more about the "havoc" voting machines are already causing at Salon.com

Citizens of Colorado have had enough with the broken laws in their state that are set up to deny thousands of Colorado couples basic legal protections like the right to make funeral arrangements for a partner or visit their sick or dying partner in the hospital. Their solution? Referendum I. It's not marriage, but it provides basic legal rights to committed same-sex couples.

Coloradans for Fairness, the statewide organization created to ensure the passage of Referendum I, has challenged its supporters to make the 380-mile trek in support of basic legal rights.

Check out this innovative idea and help iwalk get to it's $1M goal!

For nearly 30 years, ultraconservatives have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in young people and built an infrastructure that initiates young people into the radical right movement through campus activism, leadership training and career development. Their investments have paid off. The radical right wing now controls the executive and legislative branches of government, and it's only one seat away from complete dominance of the Supreme Court.

How is this investment affecting young people? Check out the student rally, "Catch an illegal immigrant day" hosted by Young Americans for Freedom and The Leadership Institute's course about Progressives' "sorid history" and The Intercollegiate Studies Institute's Lecture Series.  Read more about the ultraconservative battle for young people's hearts and minds and How progressives can win in the long run. Tell us your perspective.