How young people see the matchup between two senior citizens: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, senior politics editor Scott Bland and national political reporter Ben Kamisar break down a major new poll of young voters. Plus, a critical milestone is met in Donald Trump's hush money trial.

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How young people see the matchup between two senior citizens

By Scott Bland and Ben Kamisar

The 21st-century Democratic Party relies on big margins with young voters to win elections. And a major new dataset shines a light on just what is going on with a group that has soured on President Joe Biden, but isn’t exactly ready to embrace former President Donald Trump.

If you take one thing away from the new Harvard Youth Poll, it’s that young people are, well, just like everyone else — that is, they are cleaved by the same dividing lines on race and gender (and political engagement) that define the electorate at large. Let’s dive into the survey, which provides one of the most comprehensive looks out there at young voters.

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The poll shows Biden with an advantage, but not a 2020-like advantage. A number of public polls this election cycle, including from NBC News, have shown Trump essentially erasing Biden’s advantage with young voters. That’s not what the Harvard poll shows: Biden leads by 13 points, 50%-37%, among registered voters ages 18-29 and an even broader 19-point (56%-37%) edge among likely voters. Still, it’s not at the 60%-30% levels the Harvard poll showed for Biden at this pointin 2020,