This week, the Pew Research Center released a survey looking at the Millennial Generation -- some media outlets have mischaracterized the data to claim that Democrats are losing young voters and that young voters are up for grabs.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Millennials continue to be liberal and pro-government, two attributes notably lacking from the Republican Party, its leadership and the policies that it pursues. Young people are frustrated with government and at times frustrated with President Obama and elected Democrats -- but our frustration comes from the left. We are the wired generation and the pace of progress is not what we are used to.
Millennials first distinct political memory is Bill Clinton's Presidency and the defining moment of our generation is 9-11. We have never known a world without the Internet; we talk to our peers through gchat and text messaging. We are the most diverse generation this or any other country has ever known. We are making our way in one of the worst economies any generation has ever experienced and we have lost too many of our peers in wars spread across the globe.
Our experiences with domestic and global events mirrors that of technology - they are vast, sweeping and fast moving -- and we see the world as no other generation before us. These experiences have shaped our political belief system and nothing has happened to change that.
Millennials have been coming to the polls in steadily increasing numbers since 2004 and overwhelmingly support Democrats. Given the strength of this trend it is premature to declare that there is a reversal before we see actual evidence at the ballot box.
In fact, we demonstrated our commitment to Democrats again in the Massachusetts special election, just weeks ago. While older voters flocked to Republican Scott Brown, young voters cast ballots 58-42% for Democrat Martha Coakley.
Exit polls in Massachusetts showed that young people favor the Democrats health care plan with 55-40% support and have the strongest overall support for President Obama of all age groups with 67% support.
In 2008, 52% of young people came to the polls and voted for change in a historic election. We were driven by our commitment to issues like marriage equality, health care and job creation and we believed that our vote would create an America that works for us. We are driven and sometimes impatient, but we are not so fickle that we will abandon our ideals because they have not yet been fully realized.
And it is no wonder why. Millenials who care about issues like equality, choice, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, health care and green jobs are the antithesis of the Tea Party ideologues that have taken over the Republican Party. Tea Partiers rally with almost exclusively white crowds waving signs filled with hate in cities across the country. As Meghan McCain pointed out, the Tea Party Movement represents "innate racism." She agrees that is "why young people are turned off by this movement." The Republican Party is not offering solutions or creating jobs. The party of "No" does not answer the questions that concern our generation.
Does this mean that Democrats can automatically count on young people to come to the polls and vote for them in November? No. Millennials need to hear clearly what our party stands for. We learned in the 2009 Virginia and New Jersey Gubernatorial elections that young people are like any other voting group: we will stay home if no one reaches out to us. Democrats need to proudly declare our support for equality and show how we are fighting for the economic opportunities that will create bright futures for young people in all corners of America. Millennials are a generation of tolerant, forward thinking citizens committed to creating a country and an economy that allows every American to achieve success. Democrats are with us on the issues that matter most and with a renewed investment they will see results on November 4th.
Crystal Strait - President, Young Democrats of America
Michael Conniff: Con Games: On Facebook, It's Good to Be Liberal
Edward Muzio: Over 30? Quit Whining About the Next Generation at Work
Christina Vuleta: Millennials: Starting Up or Starting Over in the Face of Recessionary Pay Gaps
How much ya wanna bet it?
Meanwhile, I did find one little weakness in the poll: media comprehension. I'd like to know how gullible or saavy the Millenials are when it comes to mediated messages. Watching the snowballs that keep rolling downhill at Obama (and now Gov. Patterson) makes me wonder how many people are developing opinions based on opinions based on opinions and not on any direct facts at all.
Keep in mind that the Boomers are aligned with FDR and Churchill. Boomers are an unfocused, idealistic generation that doesn't hit its prime until old age. The tragedy of Clinton was his election before he had matured enough to keep his libido out of his office. Likewise, Bush was immature and cocky, needing Cheney to think for him. Even Obama, at the young end of the Boomers, is probably too young. This is certainly evident in the contempt that Republicans hold towards him--as much about his youth as his race.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Yeah, now take a look and Clinton and Obama and tell me what the Democratic party has done in the last generation that is DIFFERENT than the GOP.
The democratic party is no more liberal and pro-government than the GOP is. They're both corporatist parties using different marketing plans to appeal to different groups.
I'm one of those people who is either Gen X or a Millenial, depending on who you ask... a cusp, I guess. At my age and financial station, I can confidently say I'm a liberal (albeit less radical than in the past) and will stay that way.
But the truth is that the boomers were liberal when they were young. They too saw the Democrats as being backward. Now, due to changes in economic circumstances more than anything else, they have given up the hippie ideas for Reaganism... often using the same "revolutionary" rhetoric.
Being that this is a lousy economy (but at the same time, Millenials are sacrificing less than previous generations, particularly the Greatest) where jobs are scarce... maybe now they are liberal.
But wait until the economy picks up and they get jobs and become socialized by the workplace. Then family and kids...
They may still be anti-racist (although perversely more likely to believe racismis gone), pro-gay marriage and all that...
But can we really assume that their empathy for the weak is lifelong? I'm sure people assumed that with the boomers. Or are we just awaiting a "pro-gov" Reagan that will symbolize a shift of adult Millenials from hippies to yuppies, just using different rhetoric?
Personally, I wish you young people well. I look forward to watching the Millenium generation/Generation X follow us down the path of life, as their children 'take over' and sit in judgement on them.