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Obama Won Even Without Counting Kids

Subtract under-30 voters, and the outcome's the same

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Nov 7, 2008 12:02 PM CST

(Newser) – Every left-leaning constituency in the country wants to chalk up credit for the Obama victory—labor put him over the top, Latinos put him over the top—but the support was so broad, an MSNBC analysis finds, that few individual claims are valid. Most surprising is the much-ballyhooed youth vote: If nobody under 30 had voted, Obama would have won all the same states except for squeakers North Carolina and Indiana—still plenty for an Electoral College win.

In fact, though Obama ran up a big margin among the young, their much-touted surge in turnout barely appeared, meaning they were less-than-instrumental to his win. Obama could also have won without help from any Latino voters, losing only New Mexico and Indiana in that scenario. But with no African-American voters participating, John McCain would have pulled off a narrow victory.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

In this Oct. 17 file photo, a group of young supporters cheering for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at a rally in Roanoke, Va. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

This Nov. 4 file photo shows President-elect Barack Obama smiling during his acceptance speech at Grant Park in Chicago. (AP Photo/Morry Gash,File)

Voters line up outside the Coleman Young Community Center on Detroit's east side to cast their ballot in the 2008 presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. (AP Photo)

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So just as important as the differences between younger and older voters was simply where the voter lived: young people in Oklahoma tended to vote for McCain; young people in Virginia did not. - Tom Curry

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Obama Won Even Without Counting Kids