In a recent Mercury News interview with the authors of “Millennial Makeover, MySpace, YouTube & the Future of American Politics,” Michael Hais and Morley Winograd describe what they call the Millennials and the unusually sustained, life-long impact this generation will have on the politics of 2012 and beyond.

Who are Millennials?

Millennials are born from 1982 to 2003. They are the largest generation in U.S. history; they are also the most ethnically diverse generation. Forty percent are African-American, Asian, Latino or mixed race. One in five has an immigrant parent. There’s a million more Millennials than boomers. Though no more Millennials are being born, some are immigrating, so the generation keeps getting bigger. Boomers are leaving us and Millennials are still gaining in size.

Why should we care about them, beyond the fact that there are nearly 100 million Millennials, about a third of the U.S. population?

Every 40 years, a large, dynamic generation realigns or makes over the political system, and we believe that the Millennials are the generation that will lead the coming realignment. The last realignment was brought into existence by another large, dynamic generation but a very different type of generation, the baby boomer generation. There are twice as many Millennials as there are Gen-Xers, but there’s a million more Millennials than boomers.

Read the entire interview at the Mercury News.

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Joan Walsh, PolicyLink board member and editor-in-chief of Salon Magazine, offers a summit roundup. Read it all here.

“…as a veteran of at least 20 years of meetings like this (although this one was larger, more diverse and better organized than anything I’ve ever attended): I’ve never heard such rough stuff voiced in such a large crowd. Smiley and his panel modeled painful honesty, and we’re going to need more of it as this election season continues to lurch along. It may turn out that the leaders convened by PolicyLink, with its commitment to nonpartisanship, have a role to play in the post-primary reconciliation discussions that most Democrats know need to happen once a nominee is chosen. I found myself more optimistic in New Orleans that Obama and Clinton supporters can all get along than I’ve been before — and also more confident that there are institutions that can help make it happen.”

Stay tuned for more thoughts from Joan including an interview with New Orleans activist, actor, and summit attendee, Wendell Pierce.