I wrote yesterday’s long post about the Republicans’ youth problem after taping an interview with NPR’s Don Gonyea. He was working on a March 1 “Morning Edition” story. The audio is here, and these were my key points:

For two elections in a row, Democrats have enjoyed a huge edge among [young] voters. And while many think that’s the way it’s always been, Levine says that’s not so.

“As recently as 2000, the youth vote was evenly split between the Democrats and the Republicans. So the phenomenon of the Democrats getting a lion’s share of the youth vote is new, and it’s really problematic for the Republicans because this generation will continue to vote for 50 years,” Levine says.

And, he says, Republicans shouldn’t simply think it’s a matter of young voters idolizing Obama.

“Young people in the exit polls really aligned with Barack Obama on the issues as well. So I don’t think they just voted for him because the Black Eyed Peas liked him. I think they actually voted for him in both ’08 and ’12 because they agreed with him,” Levine says.

Levine says that is the reality Republicans truly need to confront when it comes to the newest generation of voters.