Fewer Young People See Themselves as Democrats

A full six months after Pew Research reported that the Democratic Party was losing support among some of its biggest backers in 2008, the New York Times reports that this year's college vote is "up for grabs."

How and whether millions of college students vote will help determine if Republicans win enough seats to retake the House or Senate, overturning the balance of power on Capitol Hill, and with it, Mr. Obama’s agenda. If students tune out and stay home it will also carry a profound message for American society about a generation that seemed so ready, so recently, to grab national politics by the lapels and shake.

To take the temperature of America's young voters, the Times traveled to Colorado State University in Larimer County, Colorado:

A spokeswoman for the university’s chapter of College Democrats, Mandi Asay, 22, said her group battled apathy on one hand and anger on the other.

“People are angry — about the budget deficit, health care plan, angry about this and that,” she said. “I feel like Republicans definitely, definitely have a chance of getting back on their feet.”