(En route from DC to Boston) in lieu of a substantive post today, I’m just going to link to CIRCLE’s New Hampshire youth vote analysis. Exclusive from CIRCLE is an estimate that youth turnout was 15% in the primary. That’s not too great (as the following chart shows), but one reason is surely the lack of a contested Democratic primary. Missing a whole party will always lower turnout–and young voters lean Democratic in states like New Hampshire.

Republicans have opportunities with young people and should aim to attract more of them than John McCain did in ’08–but they are starting far behind. Ron Paul continues to attract substantial youth support, but it may not translate to the eventual Republican nominee; besides, his numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire are far behind Obama’s in 2008. In fact, Obama got nearly as many young votes in ’08 as the whole Republican field received yesterday.