A national poll released today by political scientists at Harvard University found that a majority of college-aged students plan to vote in the elections next November. More than twice as many Republicans as Democrats, however, are still undecided as to whom they will vote for.
Thirty-eight percent of 18- to 24-year-olds who identify themselves as Democrats favor Barack Obama, the senator from Illinois, as their first choice for president. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York was the first choice of 33 percent of those voters.
Twenty-six percent of Republicans of that age group favor Rudolph W. Giuliani, former mayor of New York City. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who has been surging among young voters, was the first choice of just 6 percent of college-aged respondents to the poll. Some 30 percent of young Republicans said they were undecided.
When given a choice of the most important issue facing the nation, the first choice for 37 percent of respondents was the war in Iraq. The next-highest response, health care, was selected by 10 percent of respondents.
Young people are also wearier of the media than they are the president. Thirty-seven percent said they would “never” trust the media to “do the right thing,” compared to 23 percent responding so for the president.
The online survey was conducted by Harris Interactive and polled 2,526 18- to 24-year-olds during the period of October 28 to November 9. The survey administrators declined to release a margin of error for the poll. Full results and an executive summary can be found on the Web site of Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
