Did McGovern win the youth vote?

[buritobr]

We can find the vote by age in Wikipedia only for the elections since 1976.

I have already read that Nixon targeted the vote of the young people. But concerning the vote of the 18-29 people since 1972, I could find only this article https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/11/1596789/-Estimates-put-youth-vote-turnout-at-50-percent-heavily-for-Clinton-except-among-whites
It shows that McGovern won the majority of the votes of 18-29 year old people.

Are these numbers correct? Do other sources show same numbers?
What about 1968?

[MIKESOWELL]

I thought I remember seeing that Nixon narrowly won the youth vote in '72 something like 50-48.

[SingingAnalyst]

Excellent question. I suspect there was little interest in the youth vote until the late '60s.

In 1968, per Gallup, voters under 30 voted for Humphrey, 47-38-15. I suspect the turnout for those under 25 in particular was quite low, what with many of them demoralized after RFK's assassination and McCarthy's failure to get the nomination.

In 1972, with the 26th Amendment just passed, pollsters watched the youth vote like hawks. Two pre-election polls tell an interesting story: in a Nixon-Wallace matchup, Wallace got just 12% of the 18-20 vote, with 84% for Nixon and 4% undecided. (By comparison, Wallace got 15% of the Black vote, and those 21-29, 30-49, and 50+ gave Wallace 28%, 27%, and 26% respectively). In a McGovern-Nixon-Wallace matchup, Wallace got just 6% of the 18-20 vote, compared with 22%, 21%, and 20% of those 21-29, 30-49, and 50+ respectively. Clearly, Wallace was a complete non-starter among the newly enfranchised.

In the general, Gallup reports that "under 30" voted 48-52 Nixon (disregarding minor parties). Since 30-49 were 33-67 Nixon, the possibility that voters under 25 were more Dem than those 25-29 suggests itself. Per a University of Michigan poll, voters under 25 voted barely for McGovern, 49.4-48.8, with 1.8% (same as overall) going to 3rd parties. It appears certain that there were single ages (I'm guessing 20, 21, and 22 for sure) that went for McGovern. (Polls of college students showed them 49-47 for McGovern overall, with frosh voting 40-56 Nixon and juniors voting 55-40 McGovern).

Per Gallup, 48.3% of those 18-20 voted (probably an overstatement due to untruthful answers: this same poll showed 63.0% of eligible adults voting, compared to the "official" figure of 55.2%).

By comparison, 4 years later, Ford beat Carter 48-50 among those 18-20, with Carter winning 51-46 among those 21-29. Thus, there were almost certainly single ages (20, perhaps) that went McGovern-Ford. Were there individual years of birth (say, 1952) that did so? The evidence does not quite suggest that. Per Gallup, just 38.0% of 18-20 y/o voted, again almost certainly an overstatement.

[buritobr]

Even if there was a tie between Nixon and McGovern in the group of 18-29 people, there was a huge age gap, since Nixon won a 23 point margin.

In 1976, Ford won in the group of first time voters, but Carter did better in the group who voted for McGovern.

[Sumner 1868]

Whites born between 1949-1954 tilt Democratic (or, at least they did pre-2016), clearly the result of Nixon. I assume age group began its Democratic streak with McGovern.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/08/upshot/how-the-year-you-were-born-influences-your-politics.html

So, it seems when the age old question "why did the hippies vote Reagan after supporting McGovern?" is asked, the correct answer is they didn't.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

McGovern won the youth vote, but barely.

The youth of the 1968-74 period that served in Vietnam have not forgotten being spat on and called murderers after coming home from Vietnam.  Although he was a decent man and not to blame for this, McGovern is associated, however unfairly, with this disrespect for our returning vets, many of whom never forgave the Democratic Party for harboring persons they viewed as traitors to America (e. g. Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden).

He was sure back in the sixties that everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to Vietnam on his senior trip
And they forced him to become a man while he was still a boy
And in each wave of tragedy he waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more

[lfromnj]

Even if there was a tie between Nixon and McGovern in the group of 18-29 people, there was a huge age gap, since Nixon won a 23 point margin.

In 1976, Ford won in the group of first time voters, but Carter did better in the group who voted for McGovern.

It is weird that Ford one 1st time voters as you would expect to be heavily shaped by early events in their life(watergate) and I thought this group of boomers actually leaned D.

[SingingAnalyst]

Even if there was a tie between Nixon and McGovern in the group of 18-29 people, there was a huge age gap, since Nixon won a 23 point margin.

In 1976, Ford won in the group of first time voters, but Carter did better in the group who voted for McGovern.

It is weird that Ford one 1st time voters as you would expect to be heavily shaped by early events in their life(watergate) and I thought this group of boomers actually leaned D.

The youngest (18-20) voters vote more like their parents (similar to high school and grade school mock elections); which may also explain why college freshmen were most likely to support Nixon in '72, followed by sophomores, followed by seniors, followed by juniors (according to Gallup).

[SingingAnalyst]

McGovern won the youth vote, but barely.

The youth of the 1968-74 period that served in Vietnam have not forgotten being spat on and called murderers after coming home from Vietnam.  Although he was a decent man and not to blame for this, McGovern is associated, however unfairly, with this disrespect for our returning vets, many of whom never forgave the Democratic Party for harboring persons they viewed as traitors to America (e. g. Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden).

He was sure back in the sixties that everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to Vietnam on his senior trip
And they forced him to become a man while he was still a boy
And in each wave of tragedy he waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more

I have heard and read about this. Sylvester Stallone references it in one of his movies (I forget which one). I can only hope that the number of characters that engaged in this activity was very, very small.