BARACK, THEY'RE NOT LISTENING – AT 7:25 P.M. ET:  Rarely do political coalitions break up so quickly.   But the Obama coalition of 2008 seems to be fracturing, as the reality sinks in that Obama is, shall we say, inadequate:

On college campuses where Barack Obama made politics cool again, most students have moved on.

They’ve quit bugging their friends about change, they’re no longer trying to sign up new voters and the knock-on-door day trips now draw only the most hard-core.

One statistic from Rock the Vote, the most aggressive organization behind youthful political participation, illustrates the difference between now and 2008 — just 280,000 young voters signed up in its midterm elections voter drive, a fraction of the 2.5 million who eagerly put their name on voter forms two years ago.

The bottom line: From coast to coast, universities that brim with liberal ideas and idealistic students won’t be sending nearly as many voters to the polls on Nov. 2. And that’s bad news for Democrats.

COMMENT:  And neither African Americans nor Hispanics seem as enthusiastic about the Democratic Party this time 'round.  And the gender gap, vital to Dems, has narrowed.

This doesn't mean we'll have a rout on election night.  But it does mean we can, for the first major election in a long time, look forward to some fun.

October 24, 2010