P+P swung by Falcon on Sunset Friday night to check out the scene at the L.A. launch of Generation O— the Obama camp’s effort to rally twenty-something support. See what we found, including a few minutes with L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti, after the jump.

Unlike some of the other campaign events I’ve attended this summer, the demo was actually what it was billed to be: hipster twentysomethings chilling with other hipsters twentysomethings, talking politics over energy drink-infused cocktails and imported beer. Met David Washington, CEO and president of 008, the volunteer group that helped stage the event. Decked in low-slung True Religion jeans, a black Obama T and a straw fedora tilted on his dome, Washington looked like an Opera devotee. Now a philanthropy adviser, Washington has worked on both the Kerry-Edwards and Gore-Lieberman campaigns (on the former as California political director). But he’s no Washington wonk: when I asked him if his last name was spelled “like the president,” he answered with a smile, “like Denzel.”

I stole him away from the crowd hoping to find out why he got involved in the campaign. “Unfortunately, traditionally, youth talk a lot about being involved in politics, but youth have been alienated by the political process,” he told me. The group, he said, aims to bring together young professional people who care about politics. Working with Generation O to launch GoLA was a no-brainer… “given that Los Angeles has the hipsters and what have you,” he said.

Washington and Obama Girl

Then we’re joined by L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti. Why does Garcetti, the co-chair of the Obama campaign in California, have a crush on Obama?

Because of Barack’s ability to “inspire America” with an exciting campaign “crystallized by the ideals of America,” he told me. America needs hope and Obama’s his man. “It’s the most important election of my life,” he said, characterizing the Bush administration’s tenure as “eight years of international and domestic decline.”

And on Gen O?

“I think this generation is getting more mobilized than any generation since Vietnam,” he said. And not just because of the failing war in Iraq or the uber-trendiness of going green. He says it’s the political climate in the country as a whole. Garcetti isn’t worried about the distractions of celeb-usession and reality TV. “People could get cynical and choose to ignore politics, but we’re finding the opposite,” he said. “…The youth will be our army.”

Speaking of young professionals, I spotted one politically, ahem, active Gen O-er: YouTube’s sexiest ’08 contributor, Obama Girl a.k.a. Amber Lee Ettinger, graced us with her presence, dolled up in a curve-hugging black minidress, sleek stunna shades and a glossy manicured do. The maybe-Hillary-supporter/Obama-fan slipped out early as the crowd began to buzz in anticipation of the main program, which would include words from Garcetti; Obama’s California State Director Mitchell Schwartz; and Barack’s longtime bud, actor Hill Harper. Barack, who was in Miami at one of fifteen Gen O events hosted nationwide, spoke on a prerecorded dvd. Here’s hoping he was also posing for another steamy magazine cover.

What did the hipsters think?

Eric Garcetti

Everyone I talked to sang the same song of praise: the country needs change and Obama’s gonna bring it.

One 29-year-old blogger and lawyer told me she’s confident that O “really is who he says he is. What he practices and his beliefs are what he believes.”

Yosi Sergant, a publicist and VP of PR for 008 who has seen the junior senator from Illinois speak six times, said he likes how candid Obama seems. The fact that Barack is “awkward, personal, real,” and not canned speaks to the sincerity of his political motivations and goals.

Although the New York Times yesterday was reporting/editorializing on the distraction and unpreparedness of young voters, the people all around me here were revved up and ready to fight, fueled by frustration with the current administration.

“Back in 2003, I said I would do everything in my power to make sure George Bush was not elected, and I didn’t do anything. So this time I got started early,” said 28-year-old David Kouchnerkavitch. “I see the fruits of my inaction, and I’m not willing to let that happen again.”