Young Voters Give Obama 2-1 Edge Over McCain

[ThePhoenix]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-05-poll-youth_N.htm

Democrat Barack Obama now leads Republican John McCain by a 61%-32% among registered voters under 30, an advantage that is swamping McCain's competitive position among older voters.

A USA TODAY/MTV/Gallup Poll of 18- to 29-year-olds details Obama's continuing clout among the voters who fueled his initial victory in the Iowa caucuses at the beginning of the year and his presidential ambitions since then.

In contrast, McCain leads Obama among seniors 65 and older by four percentage points, according to the Gallup daily tracking poll. Among the middle-aged — those 30 to 64 — the Arizona senator remains within striking distance, lagging by two or three points.

Even so, Obama's 2-1 edge among an energized Millennial generation gives him a lead overall now measured at eight points by Gallup. If these margins hold up on Election Day, the nation will see its biggest generation gap since at least 1976, when surveys of voters leaving polling places began to be taken.

At this point, Gallup shows a 30-point swing between the votes of the nation's youngest and oldest voters.

[bemildred]

1. 1976 is a good analogy.

It's like the government wanted to go back there and do it over, presumably to get it "right" this time. But reality being "reality based", of course they fucked it up again just like back then. The real question for those of us on "the Left" is whether we are ready to finish the job of reform that we left half done back then, and make the government our servant instead of our master.