BARONE - AT 5:01 P.M. ET:  I just returned from a briefing by Michael Barone, who probably knows more about politics than anyone else in the country.  He feels that we may - repeat may - be entering an era of open field politics, where the country can shift either toward the Dems or the GOP.  He doesn't believe that the 2008 election results are set in stone, or that the Republican Party faces certain death.

He said something else that I thought was especially perceptive.  He noted the tremendous majorities built up by Barack Obama among young voters.  He got two thirds of the under-29 vote.  But he also noted that the lifestyle of these young people contradicts the nanny state approach of many of Obama's policies, and he wondered whether there's a built-in clash of values coming.  He pointed out that the young generation is fiercely independent and suspicious of people giving orders.  They don't even accept what the music industry gives them.  They create their own playlists on iPods.  If Barone's hunch is correct, they may, especially as they get older, turn against the New Dealism of the Democratic Party.

May 15, 2009