New Rock the Vote poll. Young voters: Obama double digit lead. Palin little effect

[Joanne98]

Sorry for the late post, but there is just so much information to digest here. This is my first go of it. I'm sure you'll be seeing these states used heavily in my blog posts over the coming weeks. --Mike

One of the big questions on everyone's mind this year is "just how important will the youth vote be this year?" I just got off a conference call in which Rock the Vote and pollsters Celinda Lake (D) and Ed Goeas (R) discussed the findings of their new poll of young voters. Conducted between September 8 and 17 and sampling 650 18 - 29 year olds on both cell phone and landlines, this is probably the only reliable poll out there at the moment with a sizable enough sample to accurately reflect the attitudes of young voters in the post-convention electorate.

Short version: Not much has changed since February, when Rock the Vote released it's last poll. Despite the conventions, the slew of attack ads, and the introduction of the VPs into the race, young voters are more engaged in the election than ever before, they still overwhelmingly identify as Democrats, Sen. Obama still holds a large, double digit lead over McCain among this cohort (56 - 29%), and while Sarah Palin's pick as the VP is energizing Young Republicans, it has failed to move new young voters into the Republican camp. In essence, if the election were held today, young voters would not only turnout in record numbers, they would vote for Barack Obama by overwhelming margins

That's only scratching the surface of the wealth of data offered in Rock the Vote's poll. There is a ton of information here, and I'll try to unpack it as succinctly as possible in this much more wonkier version:

Political Environment
Young voters are more energized than ever before - whether they support the Democratic and Republican tickets. The overall political environment greatly favors the Democrats, however. A vast majority of young voters believe that the country is on the wrong track, though less so than the general population. Young voters are paying closer attention to the race than ever before, and record numbers of these young voters are self-identifying as Democrats.

69% of young voters believe that the country is "on the wrong track," this number is unchanged since February, and is lower than the number for all adults, 81% of whom believe the country is headed in the wrong direction
Half of all young voters identify as Democrats, compared to just 29% who identify as Republicans. This is a 10 point increase since the 2006 elections.
87% of young voters are closely following the elections, an increase of 7% since February.
86% of young people say they are likely to vote in November, compared to 69% who said that in September of 2006.
Young Republicans have closed the enthusiasm gap and now 3/4 of both Democrats and Republicans say they are excited about their ticket and are extremely likely to vote in November.
The Democrat's advantage among youth is evident in all demographics:

http://futuremajority.com/node/2928

[grannie4peace]

1. are they not included in polls?

young people are so smart! i like them a lot!!! :):):)

[otohara]

2. If The Kids Show Up, We Win

I hope they know just how important it is they get their butts to the polls - don't put it off. My kid is notorious for putting things off, I will disown him if he fails to get his ballot in on time. I'm having him send his ballot to me, and I will drive it to a drop off place.