Young voters surveyed
The Chicago Tribune reports: Young people who voted on Election Day were more Democratic, less religious, less likely to be white and trusted faux news anchor Jon Stewart more than two of the Big Three network news anchors, according to post-election surveys released Tuesday.
The portrait drawn of young voters - from the Emerging Electorate Survey and the Declare Yourself 2004 Campaign Evaluation Survey - suggests that 18-to-29-year-olds, who voted in record numbers Nov. 2, are more politically engaged than critics complain and history would indicate.
After aggressive voter registration efforts, about 21 million people younger than 30 voted, an increase of about 4.6 million from 2000. Turnout among registered voters in that age group was 51.6 percent, up more than 9 percentage points from 42.3 percent in the last presidential election. ...
In a potentially ominous sign for traditional news media, young voters were much more inclined to learn about the candidates and the issues from the Internet, which the authors said is emerging as a counterbalance to cable television and talk radio.
Young people who listened to at least four hours of talk radio a week narrowly preferred President Bush over Sen. John Kerry. Those who cited the Internet as their primary source backed Kerry over Bush, 62 percent to 36 percent. -- KRT Wire | 11/16/2004 | Survey reveals young voters more politically engaged than thought