Obama's Youth Appeal Could Decide Election, Poll Shows

Survey says 61 percent of young respondents would vote for Obama if election were held today. By Gil Kaufman Barack Obama Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images With efforts to reach young voters that include everything from concerts by John Legend , Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen to a just-unveiled iPhone application and hundreds of Facebook student groups, the presidential campaign of Democratic Senator Barack Obama has been going after the demographic hard. According to the results of a new poll conducted by USA Today, in conjunction with Gallup and MTV, those efforts appear to be making a difference, giving Obama a 2-1 lead over Republican rival Senator John McCain among this group, representing the biggest gap between two candidates ever seen in this demographic since exit polling began in 1976. Compare the 61 percent of respondents who said they would support Obama if the election were held today to the 32 percent who said they would cast a ballot for ... (link)