• Listen to this segment

Early voting in today’s election has indicated huge enthusiasm among African American voters, eager to vote in the nation’s first black president. Political experts expect a historic turnout today among the nation’s largest minority voting group. A recent study by The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies revealed that as many as 94 percent of black voters prefer Barack Obama over his Republican rival, John McCain. But the other voting bloc that is expected to turn out in record numbers are American youth. How much does race matter to them? Not much, according to a new survey commissioned by rapsessions.org, an organization that organizes townhall meetings across the country, bringing leading authors, activists and artists together with young people to talk about the issues that matter most in their lives. The survey showed that Obama leads McCain by at least 13% among 18 to 24 year-olds, and 25-34 year olds. But, among 35-44 year-olds, McCain leads Obama by 6 percentage points.

GUEST: Bakari Kitwana, founder and CEO of rapsessions.org, and author of the upcoming Strategies for Organizing the Hip-Hop Voting Bloc