Strong support from young voters was crucial to President Obama’s win in 2008. Now, as he gears up for reelection, a new poll from the Harvard University Institute of Politics shows Obama’s approval rating among that demographic has risen since last year.
In the poll, 55% of adults aged 19-28 — or, as the survey cals them, ‘Millennials’ — said they approved of Obama’s job performance, up six points since Harvard polled the question last October. That reverses a downward trend Harvard had found in their last three surveys, and it places Obama back near his standing last February, when 56% of young voters approved of his job performance.
Additionally, 43% of respondents in the latest poll said they disapproved of Obama’s job performance.
‘Millennials’ surveyed by Harvard were generally more supportive of Obama’s job performance in general than the overall population. The current TPM Poll Average shows that 46.8% of all Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, compared to 48.4% who disapprove.
But young voters’ opinion of how Obama has handled the economy runs pretty close to that of the general population.
Only 42% of young voters in the Harvard poll said they approved of Obama’s job performance on the economy, compared to 55% who disapproved. The latest TPM Poll Average shows that 41.8% of all voters approve of how Obama has dealt with the economy, while 54.7% disapprove.
The poll also shows young voters preferring Obama to an unnamed Republican in 2012 by a 13-point margin, 38% to 25%.
The poll was conducted February 11 to March 2 among 3,018 adults aged 18-29 nationwide. It has a margin of error of 2.4%.
