They play "Guitar Hero" religiously, text incessantly and have only a vague idea of what a cassette tape is (heaven forbid a vinyl album), but the nation's youth could be the deciding force behind the next president of the United States.

It's been dubbed "The Year of the Youth Vote" by TIME. If that turns out to be true, it  could be a very good 2008 for Sen. Barack Obama, as he has the youth vote to thank for a large part of his 11 straight primary wins dating back to Super Tuesday. Young voters (ages 18--29) have turned out in record numbers across the states that have already held their primaries and caucuses. With the critical contests in Texas and Ohio looming, those youth votes have largely been cast for Obama.

So far, Obama has won among 18- to 29-year-olds in every state, garnering 67 percent of theirvotes in South Carolina, 59 percent in Nevada, 51 percent in New Hampshire and 57 percent in Iowa. In Michigan, only Sen. Hillary Clinton's name was on the ballot, but the majority of young people still voted "uncommitted" rather than for Clinton, reports The Nation.

Obama has benefited greatly from increased voter participation at the ballots this election season. In Tennessee alone, young voters quadrupled their turnout from 35,000 in 2000's primary to 140,000 on Super Tuesday, according to MTV.com. Young voters also tripled their turnout in Georgia and Missouri. The youth factor was the key to victory for Obama in Missouri, which he won by just 10,000 votes, but he garnered the votes of 75,000 young people, reports MTV.com.  

Obama has a 3-2 advantage over Clinton among voters and his appeal isn't just a matter of mood but of "effort and organization, of finding his supporters and getting them to the polls," according to TIME.

Another telling sign is the enthusiasm Obama has sparked on college campuses across the nation as he leads Clinton in college-newspaper endorsements, reports Politico.com.

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) has been studying the voting trends on the nation's youth over the course of the 2008 primary process. "Young Democratic voters were the most racially/ethnically diverse voting bloc in the Super Tuesday primaries. The majority of young voters, ages 17-24, were non-white (53 percent); this reflects a growing trend in the youth population," according to a CIRCLE fact sheet. "Overall, when looking at all Super Tuesday states, Obama won the vote among 17-24-year-olds by a 14-point margin, and the 25-29-year-olds by a 17-point margin."

In terms of historical data, CIRCLE measured the voting patterns of the nation's youths and found that young Black and Latino voters have increased exponentially in the last two presidential contests. Black voters ages 18--29 increased at the polls from 38 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2004. Latinos at the poll vaulted from 32 percent to 53 percent. 

Chrissy Faessen, communication director for Rock the Vote, tells DiversityInc she believes that trend will continue in the 2008 contest. "We've seen building since 2000. Young people have been increasingly engaged, and this could be the third election in a row where young people have increased their turnout. As we've seen in Iowa all the way through the recent primaries, young people are passionate and really care about changing the way the future looks, so they're standing up and going to the polls in record numbers."

Faessen believes none of the remaining candidates can hope to capture the White House without the support of the nation's youth. "Getting the youth vote will be critical for any candidate. Young people make up about one-fifth of the entire electorate, so that's 44-million-people strong this election cycle that can propel candidates to victory, so I think they are aware of the power young people have in this election," she says.

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