Washington, DC – On behalf of our 250,000 members and the millions of young voters who cast a vote in this election, the Young Democrats of America congratulate our President-Elect, Barack Obama, on his historic win.

“I proudly congratulate our next President, Barack Obama. Young voters were inspired by his candidacy and he embodies the change young Americans crave,” said David Hardt, President of the Young Democrats of America.

“Senator Obama prioritized young voters and they responded, proving what we’ve been saying for years – when you target young people, they come out to vote,” said Alexandra Acker, Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America.

Young voters supported President-Elect Obama by an astonishing 68-30% margin, higher than even the most optimistic polls in recent weeks. Final turnout numbers will be available in the coming days.

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The Young Democrats of America’s Young Voter Revolution campaigns are mobilizing the youth vote across the country.

Young Voter Revolution canvassers and street teams have already reached over 62,000 young voters in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Utah, and Virginia, more than doubling our 2006 numbers. YDA is focusing on electing Democrats up and down the ballot, in red and blue states. Between now and Election Day, Young Voter Revolution teams will contact thousands of young voters to ask them to pledge for Democrats on Election Day.

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The Young Democrats of America released the following statement on the shooting at the Democratic Party Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas:

The thoughts and prayers of the YDA family are with the Arkansas Democratic Party and Chairman Gwatney after a senseless shooting at their offices today. All Arkansas Young Democrats, including Young Democrats Executive Director Gary Moody, Campaign Director Peter Grumbles, and Online Organizer Cody Bassham, are safe and unharmed.

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YDA President David Hart just sent out an email to Young Democrats celebrating the Forth of July and introducing our new project, whYDA.org. Here’s the part about whYDA.org; see the full text after the jump.

The opportunity our generation has to sweep Democrats into office up and down the ballot in every state in the nation is unprecedented. Turning this opportunity into a reality, however, will take a lot of hard work. We need to do everything we can to convince our friends and family to vote for Democrats come November. With everyone gathering together to celebrate our nation’s independence, I can’t think of a better weekend to get started.

That is why YDA picked this holiday weekend to unveil our newest project. A web site designed to encourage a community of young voters to share why they are voting for Democrats and why they think others should as well. We call it whYDA.org (get it?), and in order for this to be an effective community building and persuasion tool, we need you to visit and tell your story.

Why are you voting for Democrats this November?
Tell your story at www.whYDA.org.

At whYDA.org you can submit videos and written testimonials and share them with your friends. We are going to do everything we can to publicize submissions, and the best of the bunch will be used as a part of our large scale paid campaign operations to convince undecided young voters to cast their ballots for Democrats.

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Echoing statements he has made publicly before, YDA President David Hardt released a statement today declaring that he will not announce who he intends to cast his superdelegate vote for until all remaining contests have concluded.

"We have seen unprecedented turnout among young voters this election cycle.  A true Young Voter Revolution is underfoot.  Nearly six million young people have participated in our primary process thus far.  With just five contests left, I will wait to declare my superdelegate vote until every young voter has made their voice heard.  The Young Democrats of America will proudly unite behind our nominee."

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