Wordcruncher

Rockin' the Vote?

The Washington Post presents this interesting information:

In the latest Post-ABC News poll, taken immediately after the Democratic National Convention, Kerry led Bush 2 to 1 among registered voters younger than 30. Among older voters, the race was virtually tied. About 1 in 6 voters in 2000 was between 18 and 29 years old.

(snip)

Dole lost to President Bill Clinton by 53 percent to 34 percent among 18-to-29-year-olds. Bush's father split the young vote in 1988 and lost to Clinton by nine points in 1992. The Reagan era marked the recent high-water mark for the GOP with younger voters, who gave the Gipper his biggest victory margin of any age group in 1984.

Chris at MyDD tells us excitedly,

...even though turnout was low among this group in 2000, it was still 17% of the vote!

Granted, it’s a volatile demographic, but I just can’t see this swinging the other way. I believe the youth are sensing that this is an election in which they can make a significant statement, meaning turnout will almost certainly be higher than the 17 percent in 2000.

Let’s keep talking about the future while the other side celebrates the repeated image of a bullhorn amid rubble. Acting like grumpy old men (good one, Joe Lockhart) during the GOP convention didn’t help their cause.