Politico's Ben Adler looks at a surprising break-out from the Pennsylvania exit poll that hasn't gotten any attention: Barack Obama lost among white voters under 30, which is highly unusual for him. Generally he has lost that demographic only in states such as Arkansas, where Clinton's margin of victory was much larger than 10 points. Ben reports that Pennsylvania Democrats are chalking it up to racism and tensions between college-educated and working class young people:
“He's black. It doesn't matter that he is biracial, the simple fact of the matter is that young white people in Pennsylvania have a certain prejudice against black people,” said a young African-American woman from Pennsylvania who is active in Democratic youth politics, and asked not be named because of the sensitivity of the topic.
She also noted that socially conservative white voters in Pennsylvania are more likely to be Democrats than they are in Southern states, where they tend to vote Republican. ...
Democratic youth political blogger Mike Connery also noted that Pennsylvania’s population skews old, in part because so many young people move away for jobs. And those who leave are more likely to have college degrees—the very supporters on whom Obama has counted.
It's hard to know what implications Obama's lack of support among working-class whites under 30 would have in the general election. Young voters are trending more and more Democratic, and that demographic appears poised to support whoever the Dem nominee is -- especially the single women among the group. Still, it's not difficult to imagine that working class white males under 30 will be quite sympathetic to John McCain.
--Dana Goldstein
