From a kos diary which covers Bush approval from a number of angles. I just have a particular interest in this. Look at some of these trends:
Texas:
About the only place this dynamic isn't at work is in Utah, which actually has the precise reverse. Utah Youth Stand By Their Leader! Well, actually, Maine seems to have the same thing going on, though to a much less extreme degree. It woudld be interesting to map demographic changes as well, as in which states have young people moving away, which ones have them staying, etc.
But for scholars of electorality, just check the deep blue character of the youth in Ohio, Florida and PA. I'm aware of the old saw about how if you're not a liberal with your young you have no heart, but I think this is more than just your typical young/old liberal/conservative spread. Younger people don't pay much attention to the 24-hour cable ecosystem, which is the central hub of the Bush propaganda message machine. Younger Americans are more likely to be looking online for their information, and while this presents some dangers in that it's easy to stay in a partisan crease on the internet, the general quantity, quality and depth of information you get is a cut above the high-fructose corn syrup that the talking heads offer, if only because of the prevalence of linking.
As the semantic web emerges both in thought and in deed, and as commenting/publishing systems become better suited to sustaining conversation and debate, there's a chance that the signal-to-noise ratio online will improve, especially if improvements in social behavior (e.g. the type of stuff I see Glenn Greenwald succeeding in doing in terms of really trying to engage other writers) create a culture of inquiry rather than a playground shouting match.
It's not going to happen overnight. The info-war tactics of the "Conservative Movement," as well as the counter-tactics from the left-wing resistance, have left us literally in a state of cold civil war. That'll take some time to defuse, but when it happens (and it will, one way or another), there's a decent chance that if the Internet is still Free (as in Freedom), that a much more productive, advanced and inclusive civil society could emerge. I'm hoping it's here by the time I have kids in high school.
