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In reply to the discussion: Why Democrats Have a Problem with Young Voters [View all]ProSense
(116,464 posts)9. First of
all, there are no polls showing Republicans with an advantage among youth voters.
Yet the article seems to imply that Democrats are moving away from party identification while Republicans are signing up youth. If they're shaking party identity, but still supporting Democrats that does no good for Republicans.
Then came Barack Obama, and Cecil fell in love. "The war thing was big," he remembers. "I had a friend who went to Iraq and died. Obamas whole opposition to the war was very important to me." He packed up his car and drove all the way across the country to become an Obama organizer in New Hampshire, then Maine, then Vermont. Because he was good at it, he was named deputy field director in Oregon, then one of two deputies in a crucial Midwestern state. After the election, in Washington, he was one of the principles in setting up a major new national progressive activist group.
By just about any metric you can think of, Cecil is on the left. (He requested I not use his real name because his employer is keen on preserving a non-ideological reputation.) The Republican Party's positions on gay rights and its anti-immigrant tilt, as long as they persist, "will keep me from voting for any Republican candidate," he says. "Anything bigotry-based and hate-based is going to lose me." He speaks with distaste of the Republican Party's "whole war-hawk thing." And he adds that, 99 times out of 100, "I'm going to vote Democratic."
You could call Cecil a progressive. Just don't call him a Democrat. As intense as his alienation from the Republican Party is his disinclination to state any party identity at all. He says, "I feel more attached to a politics of hope and optimism than I do to the Democratic Party"
He's not alone. It's more and more the case that young people who identify with Democrats on the issues shy from labeling themselves Democrats. In 2008, members of the "Millennial" generation demographers' term for kids born between 1981 and 1993 identified as Democrats rather than Republicans by 60 to 32 percent. Now, those figures are 47 and 43 percent.
The turn away from party identification has been a long-term American trend: According to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans don't consider themselves members of a political party, compared to 36 percent in 2002 and 33 percent in 1988. But that trend has been all the more accelerated among young people and even more so among young progressives. A study by Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement in the key swing state of Nevada found that youth were 11 percent of registered voters in the 2008 election, but just 7.85 percent in October of 2011 meaning a key Obama constituency in 2008 will have thinned out for 2012. More menacingly for Dems, those same researchers found that in North Carolina, a Southern state where in 2008 Obama scored an apparently historic map-changing victory, Democratic registration among 18-25 year olds was 300,000 in 2008 and only 265,000 in 2011. Republican registration among the same age cohort is about the same. Nationally, Republican youth registration has gone upwhich means that the Republican Party is bucking the trend: right-of-center kids seem perfectly happy calling themselves Republicans, at the same time that young lefties are becoming increasingly chary of being called Democrats.
By just about any metric you can think of, Cecil is on the left. (He requested I not use his real name because his employer is keen on preserving a non-ideological reputation.) The Republican Party's positions on gay rights and its anti-immigrant tilt, as long as they persist, "will keep me from voting for any Republican candidate," he says. "Anything bigotry-based and hate-based is going to lose me." He speaks with distaste of the Republican Party's "whole war-hawk thing." And he adds that, 99 times out of 100, "I'm going to vote Democratic."
You could call Cecil a progressive. Just don't call him a Democrat. As intense as his alienation from the Republican Party is his disinclination to state any party identity at all. He says, "I feel more attached to a politics of hope and optimism than I do to the Democratic Party"
He's not alone. It's more and more the case that young people who identify with Democrats on the issues shy from labeling themselves Democrats. In 2008, members of the "Millennial" generation demographers' term for kids born between 1981 and 1993 identified as Democrats rather than Republicans by 60 to 32 percent. Now, those figures are 47 and 43 percent.
The turn away from party identification has been a long-term American trend: According to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans don't consider themselves members of a political party, compared to 36 percent in 2002 and 33 percent in 1988. But that trend has been all the more accelerated among young people and even more so among young progressives. A study by Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement in the key swing state of Nevada found that youth were 11 percent of registered voters in the 2008 election, but just 7.85 percent in October of 2011 meaning a key Obama constituency in 2008 will have thinned out for 2012. More menacingly for Dems, those same researchers found that in North Carolina, a Southern state where in 2008 Obama scored an apparently historic map-changing victory, Democratic registration among 18-25 year olds was 300,000 in 2008 and only 265,000 in 2011. Republican registration among the same age cohort is about the same. Nationally, Republican youth registration has gone upwhich means that the Republican Party is bucking the trend: right-of-center kids seem perfectly happy calling themselves Republicans, at the same time that young lefties are becoming increasingly chary of being called Democrats.
The article jumps to a lot of conclusions. It cites some numbers, but give no solid numbers for Republicans. Again, unless someone can cite an increase in Republican support among young people, this article is a stretch.
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It's easy to blame Obama. This system is so dysfunctional when indivdual Senators can prevent
libinnyandia
Mar 2012
#6
Both parties are in the pockets of the rich. They just serve in different ways.
white_wolf
Mar 2012
#10
My phrasing was clumsy. Most are likely to vote... none will volunteer.
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#31
Yes, calling these college educated youths (2 go to Columbia, 2 are at UCBerkeley, 1 graduated from
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#3
That's cool. Which Occupy would that be? I'd like to follow their twitter feed and Face Book page.
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#16
I was asking for links to the specific Occupy group she was talking about. I'm following 75 or more
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#29
The article doesn't imply "that Democrats are moving away from party identification..
girl gone mad
Mar 2012
#15
It is amazing how little political savvy is being expressed here. It is a remarkable statistic
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#18
Let's hope that those right wing Republicans will cough up cash for Obama like they did for Kerry...
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#14
The difference is, the purpose of the Kerry $ was to put a Democrat in the White House.
Warren DeMontague
Mar 2012
#40
Right wing Republicans $110,000 to Nader. $10,000,000 to Kerry. Piss poor attempt
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#66
I agree that everyone who involved with Nader's campaigns was wasting their time
Warren DeMontague
Mar 2012
#82
So, you agree that John Kerry should have returned the $10 million he received from Republican
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#24
So you agree that John Kerry who accepted donations that were 5 times Nader's entire
Luminous Animal
Mar 2012
#45
Glad to hear that the youth going to have their votes taken for granted and think for themselves.
Tierra_y_Libertad
Mar 2012
#21
It sounds like they stand for the right not to buy into the establishment.
Tierra_y_Libertad
Mar 2012
#28
The Democrats really need to get some voices on a national platform to steal these issues.
Saving Hawaii
Mar 2012
#48
I actually think pot legalization would play very well nationally, especially w/ proper framing.
Warren DeMontague
Mar 2012
#53
replies to this thread are perfect example of how NOT to try to re-engage these kids
ibegurpard
Mar 2012
#39
I'll agree with you there. A lot of us old farts are tired of it, too.
Warren DeMontague
Mar 2012
#51
This doesn't mean good news for the Repukes, young cons are likely to identify themselves as Repukes
pstokely
Mar 2012
#62