Moreover, the issues that young voters care about have changed just from 8 years ago, and this cuts across right and left. Younger evangelicals returning from missionary work in Africa are really concerned about the effects of environmental destruction. Some may care about that as much as they do abortion.

Since fewer people work in industries where they directly have to deal with government regulations and filings, there is less chance for someone to become more conservative in their old age. Fewer people are employed in industries they are directly affected by compliance with OSHA, DOT, EPA, Labor, tax, building codes, business permits. How many people actually have to deal with the arcane of DOT HAZMAT regulations.

Also, the 20 somethings are probably the most likely to ignore the regulations they do not like. Why should they worry about an oppressive government when the government did such a lousy job of enforcing the rules in school.

A man over 25 who is not a republican has no mind
I've heard that expression many times, and I think it applied a generation ago. That was before Bushism. It doesn't take a genius to recognize that decreasing taxes, increasing domestic spending, and starting two wars is economically unsustainable. It isn't naivity among the youth that makes them recognize that Republican's racking up a huge national debt and passing Medicare part D, represent wealth transfers from the young to the old. Those Bush era Republican policies aren't in the best interests of either the young or the middle aged. I think the problem for Republicans today is that young people aren't sufficiently naive.

“A man under 25 who is not a democrat, has no heart,
A man over 25 who is not a republican has no mind”

It is a good thing that the 'youths' were more engaged. But, for the republicans, the long term effect may be more positive if these young voters continue to be engaged while their political views change with their shifting lifestyles, i.e., they start paying taxes. They may grow up to be engaged republicans, I myself even voted for Clinton once when I was 25.

It _was_ a youth-oriented campaign and the youth vote was (as was so obviously predictable) very high for Obama. Of that there is no question.

Young, naive people are naturally liberal. The Dems have a natural advantage in this liberalism and exploitability. (Liberal activists who know this especially well are those behind reducing the voting age, of granting voting rights to younger people, typically down to age sixteen. “If you're old enough to work, you're old enough to vote.”) As a local radio program in Detroit noted (in addressing the auto industry and Detroit's long-failed model and losing market share and fraction of that industry), there are something like ten million new drivers being added every year. A few years after that (with no delay if the activists had their way), it means ten million or so new liberal and Democratic voters every year. What's not to like about that if you're an official in the Democratic Party, especially after a rejection of the GOP and preference for Obama by older voters as well as the young?