By Rachel Hoff

A new poll of America’s 18-29 year-olds released yesterday by Harvard’s Institute of Politics gives the Republican Party serious hope for change in 2010.

The poll reveals a significant enthusiasm gap among young voters, with young Republicans expressing greater eagerness to vote in November’s midterm elections than their young Democrat counterparts. Among young Republicans, 41 percent said they will “definitely be voting in November” compared to 35 percent of under-30 Democrats and 13 percent of young Independents.

Even more significantly, young McCain voters are much more likely than young Obama voters to show up at the polls in 2010. Fifty-three percent of under-30 McCain voters say they will definitely vote, compared to 44 percent of those who supported President Obama. There have been early signs that the young Americans who helped fuel the Obama campaign are not beholden to the Democrats: Bob McDonnell won the under-30 demographic 54-44 in Virginia’s gubernatorial election, and only 15 percent of 18-29 year-olds came out to the polls in the crucial Massachusetts Senate special election. Those were not the poll’s only hopeful signs for the center-right.

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