More Americans age 17-29 are paying attention to the presidential race than four years ago, but they’re substantially familiar with only two candidates, Democratic Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll, reports the New York Times.

That age group is also more likely than the population at-large to want universal healthcare insurance, less stringent immigration laws, and legalized gay marriage - but is more optimistic about the outcome of the Iraq war - according to the poll.

Some findings from the survey of Americans age 17-29:

• 28% describe themselves as liberal, compared with 20% of the population overall.
• 27% consider themselves conservative, compared with 32% of the public.
• 58% say they are paying attention to the presidential campaign, compared with 35% who said so at the same point in the 2004 presidential campaign.
• Some 54% say they will vote for a Democrat for president in 2008, and only 28% approve of President Bush, whereas after Sept. 11 that proportion was 80%.
• 58% say they had a favorable view of the Democratic Party; 38% say so about Republicans.
• 18% say they are enthusiastic about the candidacy of Obama for President, followed by 17% about the candidacy of Clinton and in third place, with 4%, the candidacy of Giuliani.
• 43% say they have an unfavorable view of Clinton, whereas 19% say they have an unfavorable view of Obama.

• Young Americans were more optimistic about the outcome than was the population as whole. 51% say the US is very or somewhat likely to succeed in Iraq, compared with 45% of all US adults.
• 44% say same-sex couples should be permitted to get married, compared with 28% of the public.
• They are more likely to support legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.
• 62% say they would support a universal, government-sponsored national healthcare insurance program, compared with 47% of the US population.
• 30% say “Americans should always welcome new immigrants,” compared with 24% of the general public.
• 70% said the US is on the wrong track
• 48% say they fear that their generation would be worse off than their parents’.

The nationwide telephone poll was a joint effort by The New York Times, CBS News and MTV It was conducted June 15-23 and involved 659 adults age 17-29. Full survey results (pdf) are available on the New York Times website.