Harvard survey: Young voters favor Obama over Clinton
Ill. senator does better in matchup with McCain
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama may have lost Pennsylvania, but Harvard's Institute of Politics gave him some encouraging news yesterday: Young voters overwhelmingly prefer him to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
The institute, which has been conducting extensive surveys of the youth vote for eight years, found that 70 percent of Democrats ages 18 to 24 favor Obama, compared with 30 percent for Clinton.
Obama's strength among young voters is evident on the campaign trail and has contributed to his wins.
In Iowa, for example, the under-30 vote tripled, helping him to an upset win in the caucuses.
"The youth vote has been central to [determining] who's going to be the next president of the United States, and who's going to be the nominee," said Jim Leach, director of the institute and a former Republican congressman from Iowa.
"We may be in the midst of a civic reawakening of a new generation," he said, citing statistics showing steady, dramatic growth in turnout among young voters since 2000.
Both Democratic contenders come out ahead in matchups against Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, among voters 18 to 24, but Obama does better.
The institute poll - conducted online among nearly 2,500 respondents between March 11 and April 1 - showed that among young voters, Obama would best McCain by a 50 percent to 29 percent margin, with 4 percent going to independent Ralph Nader and 17 percent undecided.
If Clinton were the nominee, she would beat McCain by a 41 percent to 34 percent margin, with 7 percent supporting Nader and 18 percent undecided.
A big turnout among young voters could be critical for either Democrat, especially in states where McCain can attract older, conservative Democrats and conservative-leaning independent voters.
But John Della Volpe, director of the poll, said there was no indication from the survey that young Obama or Clinton supporters would stay home if their choice were not the eventual nominee.
And while Obama has inspired many young people to register and vote in the primaries this year, the upward trend in youth participation in politics has been building since 2000, he said.
"This is a lot bigger" than Obama, he said.
