July 1 - During the 2004 Presidential election, Rock the Vote was one of many voter education campaigns that became prominent among youth. Although non-partisan, much of the success of youth voter turn out had to do with the hopes of unseating George Bush. 2008 candidate Barack Obama has been able to grow youth excitement around this years' election even more.

We spoke with two of them, 19 year-old Andrew McCrackin and 26 year-old Neesha Pierre as they stood on a street corner in Washington DC soliciting contributions for the Democratic Party.

"Well, I think I first really joined the Barack Obama movement on Facebook, I know he has a page on there, and that's a definite direct connection to young people. And obviously via the Internet is how we have learned to connect with each other, and he's definitely inserted himself into that and has been using that to the best of his advantage. And its been very successful I'd say."

"I was following the politics of 2004, I was interested in John Kerry winning. And, I was disappointed in how the outcome came about, and through the years I've been keeping track of what the Democrats have been doing, and they have been giving more to domestic problems here, as well as international problems. And so, I decided to get further involved. And so when Barack Obama came along as a candidate, and he was pumping up his website, that got me to go to his website, and check him out, and it was through there, because his website is very organized, I was able to better educate myself on the political process."

Interview: Elaine Jones, fmr President of NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund

Political veteran Elaine Jones is the former President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Now an older woman, she was an avid youth supporter of President John F. Kennedy. She talks about the importance of the youth vote.

"We cannot leave it to the Americans who are over 40 years old to make our decisions. Youth engagement is critical. All of us talking to you, were under 40 in the sixties. And we got engaged, and we got involved, and so we need this generation that's under 30. And I'm so proud to see them stepping up to the plate... You can't speak for those young people, they are going to speak for themselves."