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"Cynical" is a word often used to describe the political attitude of young Americans. But when asked if they thought politicians were corrupt or dishonest, New Yorkers ages 18-24, were much more optimistic than their peers nationwide, according to a recent survey done by Hamilton College and Zogby International. This New York survey follows a national poll released last week and examines young New Yorker's attitudes about politics and the senate race.

"Young New Yorkers have a less cynical view of politicians than their peers around the U.S., " said Philip Klinkner, associate professor of government at Hamilton College. When asked if they thought most politicians were corrupt or dishonest, 61.2 percent of young Americans either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed. In contrast, only 48.4 percent of young New Yorkers felt the same way. The NY2K Political Attitudes of Young Americans poll was developed by a group of Hamilton College students involved with NY2K, a project and website designed earlier this year to inform their peers about the 2000 New York U.S. Senate race between Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio. The poll was administered by the independent polling firm of Zogby International.

Overall, Rick Lazio and Hillary Clinton are neck and neck among young New Yorkers, with Lazio holding a slight lead of 46.6 to 42.1 percent.

"The Lazio-Clinton race is characterized by a sizable gender gap," said Klinkner, who is director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College. "Among young men, Lazio leads 55 to 34 percent. Among young women, however, Clinton holds a lead of 52 to 37 percent. This amounts to a gender gap of 36 percentage points."

"I am not surprised that the young women of my generation are coming out to support Mrs. Clinton," said Sara Weinstein, a Hamilton College junior from New York City. "We see her as a strong woman who has been able to withstand gender bias."

Zogby International contacted 406 randomly selected New Yorkers between the ages of 18 and 24 from October 13-18. The Hamilton College students of NY2K composed the survey instrument. The margin of error for the full sample was +/- 6 percent. This project was made possible by the support of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College, which has conducted several national surveys of young people's attitudes.

Other major findings:

Young New Yorkers are substantially more liberal on certain social issues than their peers in other states. For example, 34.5 percent of young Americans said that a candidate's religion was at least somewhat important to them in deciding how to vote. In contrast, only 20.7 percent of young New Yorkers said that a candidate's religion was important to them. Also, nationally, 43.1 percent said that a candidate's sexual orientation was important to them, but only 25.6 percent of young New Yorkers said that it was.

Al Gore appears to be headed for a landslide win among young New Yorkers. He leads George W. Bush by a margin of 46.6 to 21.4 percent.

Ralph Nader is doing extremely well among young New Yorkers with 20.7 percent of the vote. This is nearly twice the support given by young voters nationally, and as much as four or five times the overall support for Nader in other national polls.

For complete survey results, see the NY2K website at http://ny2k.hamilton.eduHamilton College and Zogby International.

Professor Klinkner can be reached on 315-859-4344 or 315-792-9881. Sara Weinstein can be reached on 315-859-2659

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