Newsweek GENEXT Poll: Rally Around Kerry

Young voters give President Bush his lowest approval rating in the new Newsweek GENEXT poll of 18-29 year olds, which also shows strong support for Sen. John Kerry. Fifty-five percent of young voters disapprove of the president's performance.

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In May, more than half (55 percent) of voters 18 to 29 supported the president's handling of foreign policy issues and the war on terrorism, but since then his numbers have reversed. Now just 47 percent approve and half of the respondents say they (52 percent) disapprove. More potentially challenging to the Bush campaign is the fact that more than half of young voters (60 percent, up from 55 percent in May) now disapprove of the president's handling of Iraq, and more than one third (37 percent) strongly disapprove.
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More than half (56 percent) disapprove of his handling of health care, education, the environment and energy while just 40 percent approve (down six points from last month). Similarly, 56 percent of young voters disapprove of his handling of the economy, with 43 percent approving.
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On Kerry:

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Half (53 percent) of self-described Kerry supporters now say they will "definitely" vote for their candidate in November, up from just over a third (37 percent) a month ago. "Strong" support for Kerry is also up significantly from May. One-quarter of all young registered voters, up from 16 percent in May, say they strongly support the candidate.
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One of the most important numbers in this poll is the percentage of young voters following the election. Eighty percent say that the outcome of this election matters a lot and seventy percent are closely or somewhat closely following the election. Meanwhile support for Independent Ralph Nader has dropped since he threw his hat into the race. He now stands at 7 percent (down from 12 percent in February) among young voters.

Of course, polls are only a measure of where voters stand today. There are still many more months for events to unfold and young voters attitudes to shift.