The Daily Background

This bodes so incredibly well for youth turnout in the fall:

[PA Sen Bob] Casey decided to back Mr. Obama, the person close to him said, because of his “ability to bring disparate groups together and transcend some of these racial and other kinds of divides.”

“Also, his kids were on his case, his four daughters,” the person said about Mr. Casey. “Not that they dictate to him, but he was paying attention. He was wondering, Why are these kids, who aren’t very political, so interested? [Obama] does have the ability to light up a younger generation.”

More:

[Clinton] can’t stop from shaking her head in disbelief when longtime friends who are elected officials inform her that they are going to endorse Obama and were chiefly convinced by their children’s enthusiasm for his candidacy.

Even more:

Sen. Barack Obama won the endorsement of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), an up-and-coming freshman who scored one of the biggest Senate upsets of the 2006 midterm election cycle, in what is now a vital Feb. 5 battleground… The senator said it was her 18-year-old daughter, an Obama supporter, who ultimately urged her off the fence.

Sure, this is just anecdotal evidence of superdelegates being convinced to endorse Obama at least partially by their children, but this sort of thing isn’t just happening in the households of superdelegates. It’s just the sort of thing that is an indicator of record youth turnout and youth activism in the general election.

Oh, and it sends a message to Clinton and people like her: don’t underestimate the power of youth excitement.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog