May 18, 2006
The Mind Of Young Voters
Tuesday's forum at the National Press Club on the George Washington University Battleground Poll shed a little light on the evolving minds of young voters. Dem pollster Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners said that for young voters, "the Democrats are reading quite favorably right now." But, she conceded, young people are in sync with older voters as they generally approve of their member of Congress, and it would be bad for the Democrats if the GOP succeeds in localizing the elections.
Both pollsters said the general gender gap isn't as evident as it once was, but Lake mentioned that young men are particularly interested in energy independence and the quest for other "renewable and sustainable" sources of energy. Maybe Democrats would be wise to make some dents in the GOP's long-standing stronghold on male voters this time by focusing on the issue...
On the GOP side, Tarrance Group pollster Ed Goeas rejected conventional wisdom and advised it makes sense for Republicans to target young voters. "If they are Republican, they are very intensely Republican," he said. (College Republicans, this means you.) However, Goeas joked that due to the left-leaning nature of young voters, the GOP would be best off if voters under 30 could be disenfranchised. [ERIN MCPIKE]
And just as the gender gap is beginning to weaken, other segments of the demographic are becoming more homogeneous. Goeas said young black Americans now are just as intense about voting as young whites are, which he said isn't true of other age groups. Lake indicated that regional differences have begun to evaporate, as well. (Was the "mobility of youth" a story in '04?)
See Tuesday's Poll Track and the poll for more.
Posted at 05:29 PM
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