Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.
According to a recent story in the Washington Post, traditional Civil Rights groups that were so important 50 years ago are now becoming obsolete in favor of internet-driven groups like Color of Change. Why do you think this is? Are Civil Rights groups like SCLC, CORE, and even the NAACP faltering because they have failed to rework their message to fit modern concerns?

About four years ago, Keli Goff had an inkling of what many political experts are just not starting to realize — that when it comes to politics, young black Americans are no longer in lockstep with their parents, the old-guard black leaders, or the Democratic party. Driven by this concept, Goff, a political analyst who got her start in the field as an intern on Hillary Clinton's first senatorial campaign, talked to young black voters, conducted surveys, and put her ideas on the page.

She came up with a book, Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence, about how the Democratic establishment has lost the unshakable loyalty of many young black voters who don't have any first-hand experience of the Civil Rights era, which was when the bond between blacks and the Democratic party was forged. Many feel only weak ties to a Democratic party that doesn't necessarily relate to them, and, as a result, are registering as independents at unexpected rates. The data in the book, which Goff conceived of years ago and finished researching and writing last year, is at least one answer to the question of how a solid, traditional Democratic candidate like Hillary Clinton is less popular with young voters than the more youthful upstart preaching an end to bitter partisanship.

I spoke to recently Goff about her book, in which your own Lauren Williams makes an appearance, spouting off about how Al Sharpton isn't my leader and gushing unbecomingly about B.O. After the jump, get the low down on her book, recent campaign issues, Barack Obama, working for Clinton, and a horrifying on-air run in with Pat "Say Thank You" Buchanan.

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Now that the minority population in this country has topped 100 million, the census shows a large racial and generational gap among U.S. voters. Two major groups of voters — older whites and young minorities — have varying interests and concerns. Is there any way for candidates to please both groups? If they haven't figured it out already, at least one of them will need to in order to win an election.

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Some of the Clinton opponents who blasted her for accepting campaign funds from Timbaland will probably stay mum on this one. Why? It doesn't help their Don Imus case much.

The people who will care are the mostly black New Orleans residents who Jefferson Parish's Harry Lee forbade from entering his parish in the days following Hurricane Katrina. He claimed he had a duty to "protect our people." Oh, and he's a good friend of Hillary Clinton's and a fundraiser for her campaign. Accepting his money is not exactly the smoothest move from a candidate desperate to secure the black vote.

"Sen. Clinton’s campaign is going to have a tough time justifying the fact that it demanded that Sen. Obama return a contribution from Hollywood mogul David Geffen simply because Geffen expressed his opinion that Obama is a stronger candidate, yet her campaign so far sees no problem accepting a contribution from someone whose sensitivity to race relations is in question," Keli Goff, author and political analyst, told Stereohyped. "I think she needs to address it — and fast — or it may come back to haunt her much later in the campaign.”

So far, Clinton hasn't acknowledged criticism over her friendship with Sheriff Lee. I wonder if she's afraid he won't let her back in Jefferson Parish if she does.

[NYT]