(with reporting by Joseph Rendeiro)

Rock the Vote, the organization that made such a splash in the 1992 Presidential race, using celebrity-studded PSAs and TV specials to try to reverse the trend of declining youth voter turnout, is still at it. Much like the aging rockers that spread its message, the group is working hard to keep up with the times, using its rockthevote.com website and partnerships with social networks like MySpace, YouTube and Flickr to reach out to American's youth.

This month it is running a contest on MySpace for bands called DemROCKracy. (Sadly, there is no RepubROCKin counterpart.) The winner gets a chance to play at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, not a bad gig for a young band. 

As for actually rocking the Vote, the organization has yet to surpass the impact it had in 1992, when Rock the Vote was a household name across the country, and drew attention to an important civic issue. That year, thanks to Rock the Vote's efforts and numerous other factors, youth voter turnout actually increased for the first time since 1972.

The encore, however, was disappointing. Youth turnout declined again in the 1996 and 2000 elections, before rebounding in 2004.

Through the ups and downs, Rock the Vote has continued to engage the 45 million Americans between ages 18-29 who make up an important, and underrepresented, block of the nation's electorate.

"They are the future of our country," Rock the Vote deputy director Chrissy Faessen said in an interview. "They have a strong ability to drive where we are going. And in this election, they are mobilizing, are energized and are turning out in record numbers."

Faessen is bullish on the prospects for a high turnout in 2008. "In the primaries, young voters have doubled, tripled, even quadrupled their numbers," Faessen says. "I think that's because we've got candidates reaching out to young voters coupled with new technologies that allow peer to peer communication."

Rock the Vote insists that in order to win in the upcoming election, candidates are going to have to pay attention to what young voters are interested in and concerned about. The economy, the Iraq war, and education topped the list in a recent poll of 18-29 year-olds by The Economist.

"Young people have turned out to be critically important in this election," said Faessen. "That's why you have Barack visiting colleges and high schools to talk about his issues with younger people. At the same time, you also have John McCain talking to younger people about issues that affect them."

Yet candidates would be wise not to rely on young voter turnout, said David Hill, a writer for The Hill. He recently criticized Heather Smith, executive director of Rock the Vote, for hyping the youth vote.

"Campaigners must set aside normative wishes about kids voting and be realistic about the likelihood of that happening. Regrettably, youth vote boosters like [Smith] induce too many candidates and campaigns to place too much emphasis and hope on that unreliable slice of the electorate," Hill writes. "If Barack Obama wants to build his entire campaign on exciting the youth vote, then as a Republican I hope he does exactly that, because it will lead to his defeat. The hard numbers don't lie."

For this election, Rock the Vote's goal is to register 2 million young voters. As of March, more than a half million 18- to 29-year olds had registered using the online form that is the centerpiece of Rock the Vote's website. The form is not automatically submitted, but instead must be printed and mailed to the proper state election office. The website also has a wealth of helpful FAQs about the voting process.

"We are creative, effective, and controlled by nobody's agenda but our own," said Faessen. The mission is public-spirited but also dedicated to achieving "progressive change" in the country.

"Clearly the Internet has been an important tool," Faessen says. "Online voter registration lets them register to vote from anywhere by filling out the form, printing it out and sending it in. For young voters, the registration process is the biggest barrier to getting them to vote."

Faessen says that the more young voters that get registered, the more that will actually vote in 2008.

In 2004, 81% of 18-24 year-olds registered to vote did cast a ballot, amounting to about 11.6 million votes. Yet the youth vote is still notoriously finicky before and on Election Day. Even in that news-soaked election between George W. Bush and John Kerry, held during a difficult and unpopular war, only 42% of eligible citizens in the 18 to 24 year-old group cast a ballot. This compares to over 60% of the electorate at large. Hardly rockin'.

Worse, only 22% of 18-24 year-olds voted in the 2006 elections. The pitiful turnout confounds many political observers.

"It's an odd thing, really, how so many in the generation that fights the wars take a pass on picking the people who start them," writes Ron Dzwonkowski, editor of the Free Press editorial page. "The generation that will be paying taxes for the most years abdicates on selecting the authors of tax policy. The kids who will be stuck with the bills don't seem to care who runs them up."

Rock the Vote is highlighting the numbers that young Americans are putting up in the 2008 primaries as a sign that the tide may be turning. In the Texas primary, the number of 18-29 year-olds voting jumped 301%, while young Iowans voting in the Democratic caucus accounted for 22% of the total vote, an increase from 17%, according to Rock the Vote.

But the era of American Bandstand and Woodstock was far more rockin' when it came to youth voting. The Hill's Hill notes, "The 18-to-24 vote peaked at 50.9% in 1964, 50.4% in 1968, and 49.6% in 1972, years when charismatic figures like Barry Goldwater, Bobby Kennedy, and George McGovern energized youthful activism.

"Perhaps Obama will do something close to that again in 2008, but he's got a mountain to climb to reach those records of the '60s and '70s."

The candidates will have help stimulating interest in the election from actors, artists, and bands who have played key roles in spreading the organization's message since the early '90s. Everyone from Madonna, to Snoop Dog, to the Dixie Chicks have taken part in Rock the Vote initiatives over the years.

"We know that they are influencers, individuals, and messengers that can really engage young people in a conversation," Faessen says. Visitors logging on to rockthevote.com today are greeted with a video Christina Aguilera singing a tender rendition of "America the Beautiful" to her baby son wrapped in an American flag.

"It's time to make history. It's time to rock the vote," Aguilera concludes.

If all the hype of the 2008 campaign doesn't produce a huge turnout of youth voters, the only recourse might be to draft actual rock stars as candidates. Paging Bono!