Susan Milligan's story, in today's Globe, on the new clout of the youth vote starts like this:

Young voters, who for decades played a marginal role in electoral politics, have emerged as a powerful new force in the 2008 elections and are poised to determine the next president as a result of an explosion in political activity among youth, according to pollsters, political organizers, and young voters themselves.

Haven't we been here before? Like in 2004? And if my memory serves, the youth turnout in that election was disappointing. What's different now? Some note that 9/11 shocked students out of complacency. That was probably more a factor in 04 than now. The Internet and the moral passion of young people? Ditto, nothing new.

Of course, the war and the incompetence of the Bush administration are motivators. But without a draft, I just don't see that that rising groundswell of political passion among young people.