"Obama ... Obama ... Obama ... Obama ... Obama ..."

Uh-oh.

"Obama ... Obama ... Obama."

It's a bust, I thought. My attempt to probe the political mind-set of young voters by meeting a mixed assembly of 28- to 32-year-olds had come up short on "mix." The group of eight recruited to talk politics at an alumni gathering of Common Grounds, an organization of University of Minnesota grad students in law, public affairs and business, was unintentionally loaded with voters for Barack Obama.

Some tilt that way was to be expected. Nationally, the Illinois senator won a whopping 66 percent of the votes cast by 18- to 29-year-olds. One could argue that the Democrat's share would be larger in Minnesota, where he bested Republican John McCain among all voters with a 10 percent margin, and among the well-educated, who, regardless of age, went for Obama 58-40 percent nationwide.

Still, this slice of the young vote was way too blue.

But wait. There was something worth exploring: "Who did you vote for in the Senate race?"

"Franken ... Coleman ... Coleman ... write-in ... Franken ... Franken ... Barkley ... Barkley."

Whoa. Suddenly I had lots of questions.

Might the young-adult vote in Minnesota be key to explaining one of this year's political oddities: Why did the U.S. Senate contest turn into a tied-up muddle when the state was otherwise enamored with the change in Washington that the Democrats were offering? What was it about the Senate race, and about young voters, that led Obama backers to vote for Republican Norm Coleman, Independent Dean Barkley or a write-in candidate instead of Obama's fellow partisan Al Franken?

Tim Huebsch, project manager, General Mills: "I've had a chance to interact with Coleman. That was part of it. But mine was more a vote against Franken than a 100 percent vote for Coleman. There was something about Franken not fitting well with Minnesota."

Lars Leafblad, vice president, Keystone Search, Minneapolis: "Al just did not feel Minnesotan. He worked hard to reinsert himself back into the culture of a state that is just different from his DNA." He went with Coleman.

Laurence Reszetar, attorney, Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand: "Barkley was the lesser of three evils. There were things I very much did not like about Coleman. I think he demonstrated a failure of leadership at times. ... I didn't think Franken fit what I thought a senator should be. I didn't see him offering solutions."

Nena Street, attorney, Dorsey & Whitney: "My tolerance for this Senate race got lower and lower as I watched Obama. He was on a national stage and captured our hearts. Here in a state, Minnesota, with really nice folks, you have to be all nasty? You don't. I just rejected it."

Were the three Franken voters eager to defend their choice? Not exactly.

Katy Friesz, community relations manager, Ameriprise: "The Senate race left a bad taste in my mouth. I agreed with the stances that Franken was going to take. Coleman seemed like the more typical politician, so I didn't want to vote for him."

Kim Borton, associate director, Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership, Humphrey Institute: "The Senate race was so nasty. Obama mobilized so many. The votes that Franken did get, I think many of us would say, we did it resignedly" to assist Obama.

Nick Wallace, associate director of admissions, University of Minnesota Law School: "I felt that it would be good to have Franken there, for the potential of having 60 [Democratic] votes" in the Senate. "But he wasn't my first choice. I really liked Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer," the professor who lost a DFL endorsement fight to Franken.

Was all that resignation a response to one less-than-admirable contest? Or is there a bigger story here, one about a generation rejecting party loyalty and old-style politics?

It's the latter, said Coleman voter Huebsch: "I've always kind of been antiparty, against the idea that just because one person is part of a party, I have to go along with him."

And Barkley voter Street: "I feel more comfortable identifying postpartisan, because I feel that [party identification] doesn't really matter any more. I have things in common with people all over the political spectrum. The idea of creating and living in these silos doesn't make any sense for getting things done."

And even Acooa Lee, an aide to St. Paul City Council Member Melvin Carter, and as such, someone close to city's DFL apparatus. She cast the write-in vote in the Senate race.

"We've gotten to the point where we're just tired" of bad government, Lee said. "We want the best person to be in that position, because we understand the gravity of everything they're doing to us."

If -- an admittedly big "if" -- these eight are typical of the youngest cohort of American voters, a lot of things Minnesota politicians take for granted are headed for change.

Caucusing? Make it virtual, or at least allow an e-participation component, they said. And why caucus only by party? Why not around issues or community needs?

Campaigning via TV ads? They're just "marketing clutter," in Friesz's phrase, to consumers who learned as little tykes that commercial messages aren't to be trusted.

"There's no upside to negative ads with our generation," said Reszetar. But there is a downside for the campaign that's doing the smearing. And this Internet-savvy crowd is adept at uncovering smears.

Coattails? Don't count on them. A strong candidate at the top of a ticket might do very little for those who share his or her party label.

Party loyalty, or else? The two big parties are going to have trouble insisting that these independent thinkers fully embrace platforms or always support endorsed candidates.

Lifetime political loyalty? The poli-sci textbook notion that a person's partisan preference is set by his or her mid-20s needs a fresh look.

Obama won the votes of this group of eight not only with appealing positions on issues but also with an inclusive, technologically savvy campaign and an inclusive leadership style.

It may be that the overwhelming young vote for Obama will serve the Democratic Party well in years ahead. But it also may be that Democratic campaigns that fail to mimic the Obama approach will falter -- or find themselves, weeks after the election, still waiting for the results.

Lori Sturdevant is a Star Tribune editorial writer and columnist. She is at lsturdevant@startribune.com.