Among college students, Sen. Hillary Clinton could use the "Colbert bump" right about now.
According to a recent Daily Pennsylvanian/CBS News poll, Clinton (D-N.Y.) lags far behind Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) among Penn voters on campus.
Among Penn students, 73 percent of registered Democrats favor Obama for the nomination, compared to just 26 percent for Clinton - who appeared in Colbert's show, filmed on campus, last night in an appeal to young voters before Tuesday's primary.
Penn's numbers are also comparable to statewide data - according to the poll, which also includes data from campuses across Pennsylvania, 71 percent of students supported Obama, with 28 percent favoring Clinton.
The trends revealed in the poll are not surprising for a college campus. Obama has won the youth vote in almost every state since the nominating process began in January.
But the poll did reveal that whomever they support, roughly nine in 10 students are paying attention to the election, with 86 percent declaring that they are likely to vote in the primary.
Similar to voters nationwide, Penn students are more concerned with the economy than anything else - 43 percent said the economy was their top issue.
The war and health care tied for the second most important issue, with 17 percent each.
The poll also shows that Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, had less support than either Democrat in addressing the issues.
The poll revealed that six in 10 Penn students believe a female candidate faces more challenges than a black candidate in running for office - but the same amount said that racism, not sexism, was a greater problem in the United States.
Clinton also fared poorly when students were asked who could better unite the country, with 74 percent saying Obama would do a better job.
In the statewide poll, an Obama-McCain general election battle would put Obama ahead, 71 percent to 29 percent.
A Clinton-McCain election, however, would see the student electorate more divided, with roughly a 60-40 split in favor of Clinton.
Obama also does much better at keeping students within the Democratic party in the general election than Clinton.
In a Clinton-McCain election, 19 percent of registered student Democrats said they would vote for McCain, compared to just 8 percent if Obama were the nominee.
St. Joseph's history professor and political analyst Randall Miller said Obama's immense support among youth was attributable to the "great sense of possibility" he projects in his campaign toward students.
Miller also said Obama has exuded more energy on the campaign trail than Clinton or McCain, and he attributed the student shift toward McCain if Clinton were the nominee to her identification as part of the "old politics."
The poll included a random sample of 2,366 undergraduates at 14 four-year colleges across Pennsylvania. It was conducted by CBS News and UWire, a national student news service that partnered with student newspapers, including the DP, for the poll.
