An eye opening study suggests younger voters may be tired of having just two choices politically.
Ron Fournier at National Journal looks at the study from the Democratic-leaning Third Way think tank that finds millennial voters approach politics with an “a la carte” attitude – picking and choosing from different candidates instead of towing a party line.
Some interesting findings:
- Since Obama’s election, the number of self-identified independents among the Millennial Generation has increased by 11 points, nearly twice the pace of all other generations. “They aren’t satisfied with either side,” she says.
- More than other generations, they believe government can play a positive role in people’s lives. That could be good news for Democrats, but think of the events that have shaken Millennials’ faith in government: Iraq, Katrina, the financial crisis, and the Affordable Care Act rollout. More than half of young voters think something run by the government is usually inefficient, up 9 points since 2009. The percentage of Millennials who “trust the government to do what’s right” all or most of the time fell from 44 percent in 2004 to 29 percent in 2013.
- They’re skeptical of big institutions, including corporations and churches. In a warning to Democrats, Diggles writes, “Millennial voters are unlikely to align with a political party that expects blind faith in large institutions – either governmental or nongovernmental.”
- They are socially tolerant, which raises severe problems for the GOP.
