In this mornings NYT a poll made my heart flutter.
New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left
Libruls, the whole lot of ‘em.
Click below the fold for the good news.
Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage…
The opening paragraph says most of it. Americans 18-29 are paying more attention to politics and the political races, they’re more likely to describe themselves as liberal, less likely to describe themselves as conservative and most tellingly there is a 20 point difference between their positives of Democrats and Republicans, 58-38 percent.
The only bad news comes here,
“48 percent said they feared that their generation would be worse off than their parents’.”
The article is big on the optimism that the young people in this country have (interestingly enough, more young people think we can have a positive result in Iraq than people over 45), but this is the first generation where basically the majority think that they will not be better off than their parents.
The impact of young people at the polls is undeniable, they are up to a third of the Democratic party’s voting base in every election, they were the only demographic that John Kerry won outright in 2004, and without the support of young people the machine that is any Democratic campaign would wither on the vine.
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Once again you have 0 comments Sean. If young American’s are leaning left then I would expect their votes also. I don’t know if you remember who Paul Wellstone was Sean. Paul was as far left as we’ve seen to date.
Show me a young conservative and I’ll show you a man without a heart. Show me an old liberal and I’ll show you a man without a brain.
-Winston Churchill
…..Any DFL member who would not vote for James Broom Wellstone in 2008 should just drop out of the DFL……Or the Young DFL for that matter.
18-29 year olds are also the least likely to vote which mitigates their impact as a group.
Kerosene — Winston Churchill did not say that, and would never have even thought it. His beloved wife Clemmie was basically a socialist and he would have never thought to insult his wife whose counsel and intellect he respected.
As well, even given the hypothetical that he would have, given the distances in time, and the difference in English and American political ideologies, it would not mean what you mean it to mean.
Sean | Correcting incorrect Winston Churchill quotes since 1982
Fair enough Sean and I do regret being mistaken on the quote.
I do think though that there is a good amount of truth to the idea that many, many people start their political lives with a very liberal viewpoint only to modify it and become more conservative as they get older.
My dear father, God rest his soul, always said that people became more conservative as they accumulated wealth. I got mine, screw you.
Generally, youth are liberal, so this poll is not unusual. In fact, the only time a poll of the voting preference of youth has been unusual was when the previous cohort (those now in their 30s and 40s) was polled because they were more likely to be conservative.
Thankfully, they finally know better. Our long national nightmare is finally over and Reaganism is dead.
Maybe Tim people that are poor get liberal. “I want yours, so give it to me.” I really don’t think so but it makes as much sense as your argument.
Grew up in a family politically conservative. Republican roots extended back generations. I did the Republican thing as a young ladder-climbing adult. Had some success with that. And somewhere along the line, had a real epiphany: It’s not all about me!
We’re in this thing together, folks. And the greatest fear of the far left and the far right is that the rest of us might find each other, discover common ground and actually turn this country back into a high-functioning democracy.
You know, the polls that they show are basically the same as the general public. 52% plan on voting Democrat for president, Bush’s approval rating is about the same.
the issue stuff is where us young people shine.
Growing up in the Bay Area during the 1960’s, I was very Liberal. The young are more Liberal tha the parents of the previous generation.
My late father was a Eisenhower Republican and my Mother a Kennedy Democrat. I turned out to be a Moderate leaning more to the Democrats. I have a bit of both parents political philosophies that guide me.
bajonimi,
I believe “We’re in this thing together, folks”, but I do not think a giant government full of rules and regulations is the answer to help people.
Pick you social issue to help solve, join an existing non-profit that works to help that issue or start a new one. That is how we should help each other out.
I volunteer in the south metro and I have been to Honduras three times to help people there. When I went to Honduras the money I donated and raised did not go through layers of govt red tape where it can be lost as it travels through the maze.
If you want to help people in suffering it is best done with your own sweat and effort or by giving your money to groups with low overhead so that the suffering group can be more directly impacted.
I have come to believe SEAN BROOM does not support the http://www.broom4senate.com campain. Sean or you brain dead? If you won’t back a guy like that who will be changing his last name to Wellstone, make’s me wonder who you blew to get your job as the President of the young DFL? It makes alot more sense to me now.
Well, it’s good to know that James McBroom is bringing out the best and the brightest for his overwhelming campaign. Sean
We are all equal in Broom’s eye’s. I see now you like to sterotype people though as we can all see now??
Broom meaning http://www.broom4senate.com NOT YOU. You are a disgrace to the DFL and you will be removed!!!!
Woodbury man-tell that to Warren Buffet and Bill Gates…
Is there any wonder a lot of young people are liberals? The K-12 system is ran by liberals and their education union special interests. College campuses are ran by liberals. Hollywoood is run by liberals. Our young people are being endoctrinated by liberals every step of the way. It’s rather insidious, actually. But conservatives need not fear. Once these kids start getting jobs and paying taxes (and seeing that over 1/3 of their income is taken off the top), they will change.
Actually, the poll says that 28% of young people identify themselves as liberal and 27% of young people identify themselves as conservatives. Once again, MNPublius is playing a little bit fast and loose with the facts.
Chris — Do you play this whole victim card often? “Our education system is controlled by liberals! blah blah blah… whine whine whine… Unsubstantiated crap”
But lets go a little further, yes, 28 percent of young people identify themselves as ‘liberals’ and 27 percent of young people identify themselves as ‘conservative’ but thats up from 20% and down from 32%, respectively from the public at large. So, where is the fast and the loose? Or are you all just bs and bluster today? Sean
Kerosene — Of all the things to not worry about, reusing that quote is a big one. It’s oft-repeated and taken for face value. (It’s also worth noting that also in Churchill’s personal life he was a ‘Conservative’ at 20, and a ‘Liberal’ at 35).
But, to get to the kernel of your post, it’s not unreasonable at all to say that people ‘mellow’ out politically or start to drift to the more conservative edge of things, but it’s no absolute, it depends on as much as anything the influence of the times, the positions of the parties and their ability to frame their message to those young people as they grow. And I think that the Democratic party is uniquely set to do that right now, for reasons I won’t go into because they’d be extra boring for most anyone reading. Sean
A Nony Moose — “18-29 year olds are also the least likely to vote which mitigates their impact as a group.”
This is and isn’t true. While historically young people haven’t voted as regularly as older people have it’s not been the case in specific states like Maine and many of the states of the Upper Midwest (Minnesota having had the highest young voter turnout in the nation in every major election in the last 10 years) and because of that in those states young people are quite a force to be reckoned with.
And the good news is that nationally young people are becoming more engaged (as this poll shows) and that in the last 3 major cycles young voter turn out around the country has increased, and if this poll is any indication they will continue to increase their role in our elections in 2008, and hopefully beyond.
And finally, as a little coda, it’s been speculated on why Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota et.al. have had some of the highest young voter turn out in the country, and the the two best reasons as far as anyone can guess? Our simple and easy to use voter registration systems, including same day registration and… you guessed it… our liberal school systems create better informed and more civic minded students than other states. Sean
Sean,
If you don’t think the majority of teachers in the public school system and on college campuses are liberals, you’re even more out of touch than I thought.
If you want to call a 28%-27% margin victory, then congratulations! I guess with Congress’ approval rating around 15%, you don’t have too much to celebrate.
Chris — I don’t find a 1% margin of victory espescially heartening. I do find the 7% increase of liberals over the regular population a good sign. Like wise I find the 5% reduction in ‘conservatives’ a good sign. But clearly these mental gymnastics are too much for you.
Know what else I find good news?
“62 percent said they would support a universal, government-sponsored national health care insurance program; 47 percent of the general public holds that view. And 30 percent said that “Americans should always welcome new immigrants,” while 24 percent of the general public holds that view.”
And this:
“By a 52 to 36 majority, young Americans say that Democrats, rather than Republicans, come closer to sharing their moral values, while 58 percent said they had a favorable view of the Democratic Party, and 38 percent said they had a favorable view of Republicans.”
And this:
“It found that substantially more Americans ages 17 to 29 than four years ago are paying attention to the presidential race.”
And this:
“More than half of Americans ages 17 to 29 — 54 percent — say they intend to vote for a Democrat for president in 2008.”
But it doesn’t appear as though you read that far in the article now does it? Sean
Chris-
Polls show that 82% of Americans wanted Congress to either cut off funding for the war immediately or approve funds for the war with strict conditions. However, the Democrats—assuming they knew better than the American people—decided to go ahead and make possible a vote to provide unconditional funding for the war anyway. That’s the biggest reason Congress’s approval rating among Democrats is low.
As far as why it is so low among Republicans, it’s probably safe to say that’s because of people like you, Chris.
Notice these numbers in the following link, please, that summarize approval polls in Congress, going back years. The Republican led Congress really did not fare much better. I notice that you keep referring to the same poll over and over again without concerning yourself with any other polls. This link includes Newsweek, Gallup, Ipsos, FOX, and many other relevant and often referred to polls.
I suggest you update your Congress approval rating data, pally. http://www.pollingreport.com/CongJob.htm
Sean,
Young people don’t vote in blocks, they never have. You and I are probably exceptions to the rule, but that is a fact. As I said before, young people don’t have the life experience to know whether universal health care is good or bad, etc. But you can celebrate all you like if you think this is some tidal wave. I just happen not to think it’s going to turn out to make that much of a difference. Although as tight as recent elections have been, I don’t think either side should take anything for granted!
I have the best prescription drug plan in the history of America for teachers K-12. I anticipate working with Blue Cross in the future to put it to bed. Co-pays waived and teachers get rebate checks back. What have you did for the teachers of America Sean? Oh yeah you’re barely outta high school.
Well good night everyone.
Sean Broom, Please feel free to volunteer for my campain when you are ready. You would make a perfect “smithers”