Republican Brand Officially Crashes Among Young Voters

A new research report (pdf) from Democracy Corps outlines in exquisite detail (god I love schadenfreude) the collapse of the "Republican" brand among young people:

Here's some other interesting findings:

• A generic Democrat currently beats a generic Republican 57 - 39%.
• In the more specific showdown of Guiliani vs. Obama or Clinton (the three most popular candidates among young voters), the Democratic lead among likely voters narrows only slightly to 55 - 40% .
• They study marks pocketbook issues - jobs, debt, the economy, etc. - as the most important issues to young voters. Even more important than the war, Daruf, or climate change. Democrats will need to speak to - and produce results on - these issues if they are to maintain this advantage and, indeed, potentially increase it. Fwiw, I don't know that I buy this. Democrats just ushered through the biggest college assistance bill since the G.I. Bill, but Congressional approval is still in the tank. Economic issues may rank highest in a survey, but Iraq is the most visible issue in the media. W/o progress in Iraq, do domestic policy victories matter?
• The authors note that Democrats' advantage is the result of the diverse makeup of the Millennial generation. Among young white males, the Republicans still hold an advantage over Democrats.

More on the candidates and specific Demographic breakdowns:

There's lots more to look at in this study, but I'm banging up against some book deadlines and the looming Yearly Kos convention, so won't really have the time to dig deeper. But I encourage everyone to check it out. It's a pretty short, but info-packed, report.