Barack Obama, Pollsters, and the Youth Vote

One thing has struck me when I listen to pollsters talk about the 2008 election: They sound far more certain about their ability to gauge racism and ageism in the electorate than they are about their ability to correctly gauge how young people will vote.

It's those durn' newfangled cellphones the youngsters got glued to their ears, dagnabbit. Why some of them don't even have a telephone at home—just their portable smartituneyberries!

Anyhow, the polling wizards sound downright humbled when they talk about the challenge of determining how and how many young folks will vote.

Our pal Carl Cannon has written an intriguing piece about the youth vote here, in which he suggests that Barack Obama's strength in the polls is consistently underestimated.