From rsx3types
One of the things that has given me so much hope in this campiagn cycle has been how energized and engaged young voters are in the 2008 elections, in ways that seem historic and potentially transformative. CQ Politics reports on the results from the Rock the Vote Young Voter Poll conducted jointly by Republican pollster Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners:
The nation’s youngest voters, after years of lagging behind the general populace in political participation, may be on the verge of a breakthrough in a year marked by a hotly contested election for president. And the 18-to-29 year olds who responded to a major bipartisan poll released Monday morning say it’s not just about Barack Obama — even if the Illinois Democratic senator currently is a strong favorite for president among members of this demographic group.
Eighty percent of young voters said they were following the election closely, nearly twice the 42 percent who said the same during the 2006 midterm congressional election year, according to the survey sponsored by the nonpartisan youth-turnout initiative Rock the Vote and . Eighty-two percent said they intended to vote in this election.
“We’ve never seen young people pay this kind of attention this early,” Lake said. “This is not an angry generation, it is an energized generation"
“Young people are far more engaged beyond just a cult of personality.” Forty percent of respondents said they were following the election because they felt it was going to be very important, followed by 29 percent who want change. Just eight percent said they were excited about a particular candidate, tied with caring about a particular issue and voting for the first time.
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