The Poll Watchers
Youth Is Fleeting for Bush (washingtonpost.com)
By Richard Morin, Claudia Deane and Christopher Muste, Washington Post Staff Writers

Four years ago, network exit polls found that Bush and Democrat Al Gore split the vote of 18- to 29-year-olds, with Gore claiming 48 percent and Bush getting 46 percent — the best showing by a Republican presidential candidate in more than a decade.

But that was then. In the latest Post-ABC News poll taken immediately after the Democratic convention, Kerry led Bush 2-1 among registered voters younger than 30. Among older voters, the race was virtually tied. …

Surveys suggest that Bush’s popularity has plummeted among 18- to 29-year-olds in the past four months, posing a new obstacle to the president’s bid to win reelection and an immediate challenge to Republicans seeking to win over impressionable and lightly committed young people during their upcoming convention.

[Thanks, Jas.]