A lot of the far right are millennials and Gen Z. While the proportions in different generations are different, this isn't purely a generational thing. The implied message is that we can "wait them out," but that is basically just the same as doing nothing. We can't do nothing. We have to motivate people to vote, and then get them to volunteer and have them get others to vote.
If that's what the map would look like if younger generations voted like 65+, then go get those people voting so we get that map next election.
I've been hearing this bullshit "Wait them out" message for 30+ years. There is no waiting out bad ideas and propaganda. You have to fight it with truth and activism.
There's also no waiting out groups who have no intention of maintaining even a semblance of a democratic Republic with participation, balanced arms of government, and blind justice.
Listen, one side supports holocaust and wants endless wars with no Medicare4All or minimum wage increases, and the otherside wants the same. The literal only candidate not to stick to that script is insane Trump who is problematic for all his own reasons. The real lesson is people would rather not vote than support someone shitty, and call me crazy but that I live in NYC and only see more Trump Flags and literal looks of disgust when mentioning Harris, has me pretty convinced shes gonna lose really badly, like this might be in history books next to to failure.
“Literal looks of disgust” probably when you’re at the local Nazi bar and say her name. NYC will overwhelmingly vote blue so you’re just being delusional. 🌻🌻🌻
I heard this about Gen X and Millennials. Don't rely on this at all. Educate young people and help them get to the polls. We may not get another chance at this.
I think Gen Z stands a real chance. We're the first generation where the majority of us have had the Internet from birth, or at least long enough to not remember a time without it. We're super connected all around the globe, and with more diversity in groups comes less bigotry.
Younger people are way less bigoted now then they were in my childhood (early Gen Z, barely not a millennial thank God). When I was in elementary and middle, everything not cool was called gay. Everyone called everything they didn't like gay. It was completely synonymous with bad. A couple parents in my town recently got riled up cause a kid got a days suspension for using gay as a derogatory term against a gay kid. Most young people around here will tell you that he should've gotten more. In my day the other kid would've been suspended before the asshole.
A lot are disenfranchised by voter ID laws and weird residency requirements around college campuses. Others just don't realize the exceptional time we are in because their entire adult life has been marked by encroaching fascism and that seems normal.
I still don't get how Boomers (and a bit of the Silent Generation) were super left wing in the 60s, but by the 80s or even the late 70s they became super right wing. Not sure if it's just a USA thing or not, either.
Because they weren't. There was a vocal minority who was super left wing in the 60s, but the huge majority were as reactionary and conservative as they are today. Hippies weren't really representative of their generation, they are just the most iconic. Remember that Nixon not only got reelected, but reelected with a landslide.
I don't know how many people think this way, but I once heard a quote: "If in your youth, you don't vote left, you don't have a heart. If when you're older you don't vote right, you don't have a head."
I don't think that quote says anything good or true, but if there are a lot of people who think that way, well...
That quote has been changed a bit, but in it's original form I think it was Churchill.
And the general idea is that as you age your idealism is tempered by practicality, as well as having adapted to the situation and built something of a life of your own, so you've gradually moved from the camp of "very little to lose/give up in exchange for all these benefits" and toward the camp of, "you know what, I'm doing okay, I've figured out a way to make it work, and I'd rather 'the system' just leave me alone at this point, since I'll be footing the bill for things that aren't even going to benefit me that much".
Obviously it's a lot more complicated than that, but that's the gist.
It's also worth remembering that "liberal" and "conservative" meant something different mid century than they do now. Especially with the MAGA influence.
I think the shift in political affiliation had something to do with Regan and the de-regulation of many different business sectors by the republicans in the 80's and 90's.
It became 'easier' to make money and with lower taxes those people got to keep more of it (at the expense of other Americans). So as these boomers started getting out of college in the late 70's and 80's they could now become stock brokers, bankers, real estate brokers, etc instead of a 9 - 5 factory worker. And those were the industries that were getting a lot of lower regulations from republicans so why not vote for their best interest and leave the left wing ideals to someone else.
Millennials tend to become more progressive as they age (probably has something to do with realizing how much inequality sucks and understanding the reason why it's happening)
As someone from a small European country, it still seems weird to me that you need to encourage people to please go vote. Because where I live basically everyone is required by law to show up at a voting station(but not required to vote, you don't have to cast a valid vote just show up). While it is off course not the perfect system, I think it is still better than hoping non extremists show up to vote. It probably also helps that we don't have a 2 but about 8 party system.
While there are many parts to consider, and everyone loves to make fun of Republicans for the whole "muh freedoms" thing, ironically, I want to point out that part of truly being free is the freedom to not be required to vote or even show up.
That said, it's stupid as fuck and everyone that can should absolutely be there casting their vote.
There's a number of reasons for this like the electoral college and voter suppression.
The electoral college basically means that all of a states votes go to the winner of that state. If you're casting a minority vote in that state it's very easy for it to not affect the outcome in any way, unlike if the winner was determined by popular vote where every vote mattered. This is also why we see presidents elected even though they receive less votes, which further undermines the system.
Then there is rampant voter suppression, usually in Republican controlled areas. There is a strong correlation between more people voting and Democrats getting elected so Republicans try to make it as difficult as possible for people to vote, especially people who are likely to vote Democrat. So they pass voter ID laws, restrict mail-in voting, close polling places and shorten polling hours. In these areas people might have to spend hours traveling to a polling place only to stand in line for more hours before they can cast their vote.
Add in that voting takes place on a work day when it should probably be a national holiday, the two party system, and other stuff and it's easy for people to feel lukewarm about voting.
There isn’t a two party system. It is only bipartisan because such a system generally reduces to two in a polarized and popularity system. even though through state or province they will often pick a 3rd party, sometimes those people will decide that their 3rd party doesn’t have a chance they just do not want to see an opposing party win so they’ll vote via popularity vote instead of their preferred 3rd or 4th party. They settle. And I’m not sure a rating system would reduce the chance of that happening either.
They said the same thing about millenials, then they get older, get jobs, and families, and bills, and bitterness, and many look for people to blame and shift right.
If only there was one very global event currently close to the heart of genZ that might influence their willingness to vote for Kamala Harris, who has openly supported the continuation of said global event at the convention of a PAC dedicated to the continuation of said global event.
Maybe there are other particular issues that affect genZ which the democrats have consistently ignored up until election season.
Maybe the assumption that Democrats are owed votes is the reason they're having such a hard time with the republicans?
The key got cut off I think. 538 has a standard key for predictions. Darker colors are "lean" and lighter colors are "solid". So it's confidence. Looks like I'm this example there are no states with the medium style of confidence for Republicans.
The National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) published by Pew Research in July shows people under 30 lean Republican over Democrat party identification. That's the first time the NPORS has reported that fact.
Breaking out those registered to vote, Republicans under 26 beat Democrats by over 29% (63.8%R to 34.3%D). So, not only do young people generally lean Republican, but by petty staggering numbers when looking at those actually registered to vote. Young people are more conservative now than they have been in many decades.
This was pretty big news a month ago. Gen Z might be coming for someone, but it might not be who you think.
About two-thirds of voters ages 18 to 24 (66%) associate with the Democratic Party, compared with 34% who align with the GOP.
There is a similarly large gap in the partisan affiliation of voters ages 25 to 29 (64% are Democrats or lean that way vs. 32% for Republicans).
Voters in their 30s also tilt Democratic, though to a lesser extent: 55% are Democrats or Democratic leaners, 42% are Republicans or Republican leaners.
There was a recent poll about how the differences between 18-29 women and men have been the widest ever, with women become more liberal and men becoming more conservative. Maybe that's what they were referencing.
I'm talking about the more recent (and more comprehensive and granular) data from NPORS:
"In April, for example, Pew Research Center released data showing a continuation of the familiar pattern in party identification — more liberal to more conservative as the age of respondents increased.
Earlier this week, though, Pew released the most recent iteration of its big, comprehensive National Public Opinion Reference Survey. The NPORS is a benchmark poll that uses a number of different methodologies to ensure responses, including phone, online contact and direct mail. And, as The Washington Post’s Lenny Bronner found after parsing the data, it found a much more complicated interplay between partisan identification and age."
You can read the numerous articles on the data from NYT or the Washington Post if you'd like.
Biden was still the candidate, and a lot of young people were angry with him at the time
Younger people are less likely to identify or register with any party (but will still likely vote in one particular direction). So focusing on the results by party identification isn't that useful.