Young cell phone users behind Kerry

The young cell phone crowd backs Kerry for president, according to a novel poll taken exclusively over mobile phones.

Among 18- to 29-year-old likely voters, 55 percent favored Democratic candidate John Kerry, while 40 percent preferred incumbent George Bush, according to the study, conducted by polling firm Zogby International and nonprofit group Rock the Vote.

The findings may address the concern that traditional polling efforts don't reach young people who strictly use a mobile phone.

"Rock the Vote's mission is to encourage young Americans to be heard in the political process," Jehmu Greene, president of Rock the Vote, said in a statement. "Because this group has been increasingly underrepresented in traditional polls, our mobile-phone poll, conducted with Zogby, takes a first step toward capturing the political attitudes of youth voters--reaching them while they are on the go."

Other polls predict that Tuesday's presidential election will be close, making the new text-messaging poll potentially significant. In the survey of 6,039 likely voters, 1.6 percent chose Independent Ralph Nader, and 4 percent remained undecided. The poll was conducted Oct. 27 through 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points. Its results were weighted for region, gender and political party.

Against the standard view that young people care little about voting, the poll found that only 2.3 percent of 18- to 29-year-old respondents said they did not plan to vote. Another 0.5 percent were not sure if they would vote.

Participants came from the 120,000 subscribers of Rock the Vote Mobile, a system put in place by Rock the Vote and mobile-phone maker Motorola.

John Zogby, CEO and president of the Utica, N.Y., polling firm, said his company plans to explore future text message surveys in response to concerns throughout the polling industry about reaching mobile-phone users.

He also said the new poll's results jibe with other research.

"Among 18- to 29-year-olds, Kerry leads the president by 14 points--55 percent to 41 percent in our current daily tracking poll--virtually identical to these results," Zogby said in a statement. "Our text message poll seems to have been validated by this experiment. All in all, I think we've broken some new ground in polling."

[danlemire]

Poll source?

When you use rock the vote as a source for your poll, your only polling those young people that are going to rock the vote's website. They go there, because they see it on MTV. Most conservative young people don't watch MTV because it's too liberal. No wonder the poll came out so much for Kerry.

[danlemire]

Poll source?

When you use rock the vote as a source for your poll, your only polling those young people that are going to rock the vote's website. They go there, because they see it on MTV. Most conservative young people don't watch MTV because it's too liberal. No wonder the poll came out so much for Kerry.

I hope they're right.

I'd honestly rather commit suicide than live through another four
years like the last four. I've spent more than half of the last 45
months looking for a job. I just can't take it anymore.

Bush has been an unmitigated disaster. I can't think of anybody
who's better off now than they were four years ago. Even the rich
people who benefitted from Bush's giveaway of our budget
surplus have had their investments hosed by the collapse of the
economy. I can't understand why anybody would vote for that
moron. Thank God the next generation has more sense than we
do.

I hope they're right.

I'd honestly rather commit suicide than live through another four
years like the last four. I've spent more than half of the last 45
months looking for a job. I just can't take it anymore.

Bush has been an unmitigated disaster. I can't think of anybody
who's better off now than they were four years ago. Even the rich
people who benefitted from Bush's giveaway of our budget
surplus have had their investments hosed by the collapse of the
economy. I can't understand why anybody would vote for that
moron. Thank God the next generation has more sense than we
do.

Bush is a lot scarier.

Come on. You don't blame Bush for the economy? The economy
is always better when a Democrat is in the White House. FDR
pulled us out of the great depression and fought the second
world war. Bush can't overcome a minor market correction and a
couple of police actions? And you're forgetting that Clinton
fought wars in Somalia and Bosnia while paying down the debt
and building huge budget surpluses. So don't give me any of
those lame excuses!

Bush squandered the surplus on a tax giveaway to the rich,
underfunded education, slashed all kinds of constructive social
programs, bungled the war efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan,
and built up a record deficit. Don't you think maybe there's a
connection between his policies and the mess we're in? Get a
clue!

I thought it was pretty interesting to hear Osama bin Laden say
his goal was to bankrupt the US government. I guess we can see
who he hopes will win this election. It looks to me like they're
both working for the same cause!

Bush is a lot scarier.

Come on. You don't blame Bush for the economy? The economy
is always better when a Democrat is in the White House. FDR
pulled us out of the great depression and fought the second
world war. Bush can't overcome a minor market correction and a
couple of police actions? And you're forgetting that Clinton
fought wars in Somalia and Bosnia while paying down the debt
and building huge budget surpluses. So don't give me any of
those lame excuses!

Bush squandered the surplus on a tax giveaway to the rich,
underfunded education, slashed all kinds of constructive social
programs, bungled the war efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan,
and built up a record deficit. Don't you think maybe there's a
connection between his policies and the mess we're in? Get a
clue!

I thought it was pretty interesting to hear Osama bin Laden say
his goal was to bankrupt the US government. I guess we can see
who he hopes will win this election. It looks to me like they're
both working for the same cause!

[pentium4forever]

Hope is the only word for next 4 years

America is screwed, hope is the word here. I can only hope that over these next 4 years, Bush puts some of his focus on economic issues like healthcare, jobs, etc. I'm dissappointed in America with the outcome of this election. You would think after thousands losing their jobs particularly in Ohio, that Bush wouldn't win, people are just not seeing the big picture in what is happening in our country. America means more than war, I can only hope Bush tries to fix his economic mistakes he has had over his first term.

[pentium4forever]

Hope is the only word for next 4 years

America is screwed, hope is the word here. I can only hope that over these next 4 years, Bush puts some of his focus on economic issues like healthcare, jobs, etc. I'm dissappointed in America with the outcome of this election. You would think after thousands losing their jobs particularly in Ohio, that Bush wouldn't win, people are just not seeing the big picture in what is happening in our country. America means more than war, I can only hope Bush tries to fix his economic mistakes he has had over his first term.