President Obama poll numbers are nearing the levels he enjoyed in 2008, with one glaring exception: young people. Especially young white people. His approval rating is at 56 percent approval rating among people ages 18 to 29. That’s higher than the 51 percent national average, but that’s a decline of 10 points compared to the 2008 exit polls, according to the National Journal’s Ronald Brownstein report. And if you want a look into the reason for the slump in one of the demographic groups that most strongly embraced Obama in 2008, it may be this: Obama’s simply not cool anymore. …

But perhaps Obama shouldn’t get too worked up about all the kids still living in their parents’ basements. Aside from hurting the president’s aura of cool, maybe it doesn’t really matter that the under-30 crowd isn’t excited about Obama? Despite all the buzz young voters got in 2008, they weren’t critical to Obama’s victory.