By BEN ADLER | 4/3/08 8:08 AM EST

Barack Obama does better than Hillary Clinton among young voters in general election match ups. Photo: AP

High-profile surrogates have emphasized Barack Obama's ability to inspire youth as a primary reason they support him.

In her op-ed endorsing Obama in The New York Times, Caroline Kennedy wrote of his "special gift for inspiring young people to become engaged in the political process."

And the media has generally treated that as a given. The Washington Post on March 30 ran a column in which editorial page staffer Catherine Rampell claimed this year's youth turnout increase is entirely attributable to Obama, writing, "where Rock the Vote has gone wrong, Barack Obama has gone very, very right."

And Obama certainly has dominated the youth vote in the Democratic primaries, winning it in all but three states.

But in terms of boosting youth turnout this fall and, by extension, the Democratic Party's chances of taking the White House, it is unclear whether the Democratic nominee's identity would make a big difference.

The under-30 vote has been trending upward — and leaning Democratic — for years.

Voters younger than 30 accounted for 14 percent of the Democratic primary electorate through Super Tuesday and 11 percent of Republican voters.
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