Some fascinating new polling data has surfaced on the most intriguing political battle of our time. Harvard’s Institute of Politics conducted an online survey of the shows’ key demographic – 18- to 24-year-olds – and amidst the more trivial topics (electoral preferences, America’s fall as a superpower, etc.), the poll finally gave us some insight into one of the most perplexing issues of our time: Who’s better, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert?

Here’s the overall result:
Jon Stewart 30%
Stephen Colbert 26%
Neither 28%
Never heard of ’em 16%

Beyond the immediate analysis – which boils down to “Get your asses out of the library and turn on the TV, you 16-percenters!” – the mini-demographic breakdowns are fascinating. For example, men go for The Daily Show by a 7% margin, while women narrowly choose The Colbert Report. (It’s gotta be the hair.) The younger portion of the sample, 18- and 19-year-olds, favor Colbert by a 16-point margin, while the 22- to 24-year-olds favor Stewart in similar numbers. In between are the college juniors and seniors, whose parents obviously are no longer getting their money’s worth education-wise; those slackers are partial to both shows in equal numbers.

Young adults who are following the election closely favor Stewart, 46-33; those who aren’t choose Colbert, 31-25. (Note that almost half of those who aren’t paying attention to the race either state no preference or aren’t watching late-night Comedy Central; to them, of course, we can only say, “Pick a side, we’re at war!”) (more…)