President Obama’s performance among young voters in 2008 was an electoral tour de force. He thumped his rival John McCain by 34 points (66 percent to 32 percent) among those 18 to 29 years old.

The dramatic shift in the under-30 crowd (Kerry only beat Bush by nine points four years earlier) started left-leaning partisans crowing. A continuation of this pattern would signal the dawning of an enduring Democratic majority in America.