Be Counted

It's time for me to start banging my drum again. Whether your candidate won in Iowa or not, here's something you can celebrate:

Voter turnout in Iowa was at an all-time high. According to CNN.com, for the Democratic caucus there were 227,000 attendees, up from 124,000 in 2004. For the Republicans, it is projected that 120,000 people attended this year, compared to 87,000 people in 2000. Even more impressive are the young voter numbers - for the Democratic caucus, 21,000 people under the age of 30 turned out to caucus, which is a FOURFOLD increase from 2000! Okay, so I no longer fit in this age bracket, but some of you do!

So for many of you who do NOT live in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, you have a little time. If you live in one of the "Super Tuesday" states (which includes California, Utah, New York, Illinois, and many others), your primary is on February 5th. If you don't know when your primary is, you can find out here Do some research. And if you aren't registered, make a point to register now. If you've missed the deadline for your primary, at least you'll be all set for November. This isn't written to start a debate over the candidates or the issues, but to motivate you to participate. Sure, I care about issues and candidates, but mostly I care about you exercising a precious and hard-won right, the right to vote.