Six Million Loud

Rock the Vote's latest tally shows that 6.4 million of you have voted in primaries and caucuses so far in 2008, an incredible 2.2 million more than in the last comparable Democratic (2004) and Republican (2000) primaries.

Way to go. And the cool thing is that the 2.2 million is a lowball, because we can only compare your turnout in states that kept track of turnout in 2004 or 2000. So it doesn't even include your awesome showings in Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, and a few other states where we know young voters rocked the polls.

Kentucky, West Virginia, and Oregon - you going to keep it up? Find out upcoming election dates or more info here.

Vote Tomorrow on New GI Bill

Approximately three-quarters of the men and women serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan are under 30 years of age, part of the Millennial Generation we highlight here on this blog so often.

They're also part of that same generation that's having a devil of a time making ends meet, not least due to the rising cost of college and increasing burden of student loans.

So I wanted to give you all the heads up that tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would expand the G.I. Bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The bill has broad support. In the Senate, the effort to expand the GI Bill is led by Jim Webb (D-VA) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), both veterans; in Congress, nearly 300 members have expressed support for the bill.

From Bob Herbert's column in the issue:

Reinvigorating the GI bill is one of the best things this nation could do. The original GI Bill of Rights, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, paid the full load of a returning veteran's education at a college or technical school and provided a monthly stipend. It was an investment that paid astounding dividends. Millions of veterans benefited, and they helped transform the nation. College would no longer be the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and those who crowned themselves the intellectual elite.

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

If you'd like to contact your member of Congress before tomorrow's vote, you can find them and their contact information here.

Rocking the Hoosier-Heel Primary

Nice - all you out there in Indiana and North Carolina rocked the primaries again yesterday, making up significant portions of the electorate in both states.

Young voters' continued surge at the polls even impressed the most skeptical political reporters - for example, in today's Washington Post column "The Hoosier-Heel Primary: Winners and Losers," young voters are listed as one of yesterday's big winners:

Young Voters: No age group has been more ridiculed for their lack of participation than those under 30. But in Indiana that age group comprised 16* percent of the overall vote while those 65 or older comprised 15 percent...

You're making our generation a huge story this election year. From Monday's USA Today cover story "Young Voters Poised to Flex Electoral Muscle" to an article entitled "Young Voters Hold the Key" in the Nation today, we're making our mark on the 2008 elections.

West Virginia, Oregon and Kentucky - you're next!

*Updated to 17% last night. w00t!