From a reader:

Jonah,
I think your assessment of college voting patterns is pretty much
dead-on. One thing, though, that’s important to remember is that
a large portion of college students — those at public universities
in particular — are effectively on the dole. Between the government
funding of their institutions coupled with perpetually rising tuition
that necessitates more and more government-backed loans and grants,
it’s the equivalent of welfare recipients voting for the person who’ll
give them more. (Never mind the fact that the flood of money chasing
finite supply only drives tuition still higher, in a vicious cycle.)
And only this week has Kerry been talking about giving college
educations away in exchange for “public service”. It’s all bread and
circuses.
I recall my own fit of insanity in the 1988 election, when I was all for
Dukakis simply because Reagan’s tax cuts meant that scholarship
income not used for books and tuition were taxable, which had not been
the case before the reform. In time, I came to my senses about the
big picture, and perhaps many of the college students will, too.