http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/380573/boston_takes_to_the_streetsBoston Takes to the Streets
posted by Cora Currier on 11/05/2008
The college crowd was ecstatic tonight in Boston,taking over city streets and bars to celebrate a president-elect they could call their own.
At Tufts University, the quad overflowed with hundreds of students chanting "Yes We Can" and singing the national anthem.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts -- lovingly known to its residents as "the people's republic of Cambridge" -- the streets were jammed with crowds chanting and cars honking. Hundreds of students and residents shut down over a mile of Massachusetts Avenue, a major thoroughfare, with an impromptu march complete with drums and noisemakers. Finally, around 2 am, police corralled the marchers onto the sidewalk and the crowd dispersed.
The official tallies on the youth vote won't be in for a few days -- but CIRCLE, a think tank on civic engagement, estimates that young people made up 18 percent of today's voters (they are 21 percent of the total voting-eligible population). This is a one point percentage increase from 2004, but CIRCLE is also emphasizing that while the youth vote as a share of the electorate has remained close to constant, the sheer number of youth voting has likely increased substantially. Preliminary numbers also say that youth ages 18-29 voted for Obama 68 percent to McCain's 30 percent. In the streets of Boston, the party belonged to them.