Fewer Young Voters See Themselves as Democrats

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The college vote is up for grabs this year — to an extent that would have seemed unlikely two years ago, when a generation of young people seemed to swoon over Barack Obama.

Though many students are liberals on social issues, the economic reality of a weak job market has taken a toll on their loyalties: far fewer 18- to 29-year-olds now identify themselves as Democrats compared with 2008.

“Is the recession, which is hitting young people very hard, doing lasting or permanent damage to what looked like a good Democratic advantage with this age group?” asked Scott Keeter, the director of survey research at the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan group. “The jury is still out.”

How and whether millions of college students vote will help determine if Republicans win enough seats to retake the House or Senate, overturning the balance of power on Capitol Hill, and with it, Mr. Obama’s agenda. If students tune out and stay home it will also carry a profound message for American society about a generation that seemed so ready, so recently, to grab national politics by the lapels and shake.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/us/politics/03students.html?_r=1&hp

[T Wolf]

1. Another (hopefully) unintended consequence of the administration (and Dem) putting the

needs of the financial institutions and the wealthy ahead of dealing with the economic realities facing everyone.

And young people know that reality of getting out of school (or soon facing that) and realizing that their education is not leading them to a job.

The implicit (and explicit) compact of working hard, getting an education to get a good start on adult life has been broken for this demographic - almost as violently as the contract between workers and the government in terms of retirement, social security, etc.

They know they are being screwed and will not abide the bullshit spewing from the republican wing of the Democratic party.

[KansDem]

7. I don't think the Repus are going to do much better this time around...

My 18-year-old daughter worked the polls in the primary. She has registered as an "Independent" but has very-Democratic ideals. She's very progressive and while she's not an "official" Democrat, no way in hell would she ever vote for the Republicans!

I think this article is another one of the "Oh, oh,...which way is the election going?"-type of articles that seem to appear just a couple months before an election.

I really can't believe anyone would "go back to the Repubs" because they haven't seen enough progress, or simply "forgot" who got us in this mess in the first place, as if students graduating into a depressed economy with few jobs are going to say to themselves, "Those darn Dems...I'm gonna vote Repub this time!"

[totodeinhere]

12. My fear isn't so much that they will go back to the Repubs. It's that they

will become disillusioned and won't vote at all. And if that happens the Dems lose because the right wing base is fired up and they will vote.

[primavera]

52. +1

That's my fear as well. These kinds of polls never seem to want to talk about why people might be disillusioned with the Democratic Party; are respondents leaning towards Repukes, or is the disillusionment that the Dems aren't doing enough to kick Repuke ass and differentiate themselves from the Repukes?

[xxqqqzme]

56. I am a down ticket race

that has two community colleges in my district. I worked them in '08 and am doing it again. The engagement difference is very evident. A shoulder shrug and blank stare has replaced smiles and enthusiasm. This administration has given them no reason to vote again. It will hurt all down ticket races.

[Juche]

61. I don't think people are going to vote 'for' the GOP this year

The GOP has no working ideas to make life better for the people who are going to vote for them. In fact their ideas will make their lives worse (they want to repeal medicare & either eliminate SS or raise the retirement age to 70). The dems passed student loan reform which the GOP opposed (which freed up billions for more student aid). Dems also let kids stay on tehir parents health insurance until 26.

I think people just want to express their discontentment via voting against the incumbent party, and dems just aren't motivated.

Anyway, my view is that is one of the biggest misconceptions in this election cycle. People aren't going to vote 'for' the GOP because they think the GOP is a competent, pragmatic party with good ideas to make their lives better (nobody outside the teabaggers thinks this anymore). They are just going to vote anti-incumbent or become too disillusioned to bother. That isn't the same thing as voting pro-GOP. But the media spin will be that this is a pro-GOP year and it isn't.

[Iowa]

44. Yep...

The media always frames it in such a way as to assume the Independents who are pissed at the Dems will vote Republican. But many of those Independents are pissed at the Dems precisely because they are too much like Republicans, which is the party of morons and evil. So it's not about switching allegiance to the Republican party; that would be insane. It's about punishing sell-out faux Dems and trying to push them to the left.

[drdtroit]

2. It's all about the propaganda fed to them by the media! n/t

[pattmarty]

6. No, it's about what they "promised" and what they DIDN'T do.

[Luciferous]

42. +1000 I wanted to see actual progressive changes and that has NOT happened.

The young voters wanted real changes and instead we got the same old bullshit.

[RamboLiberal]

8. I don't think young people are that much of the consumers of the media

IMHO the Obama administration and the Democrats have somewhat dropped the ball on the new communications tools they used so well pre-election.

And of course the college age have to be worried about job prospects & paying off their loans.

[movonne]

39. and also got rid of Dean on the DNC...

[pattmarty]

3. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mzteris]

4. how ignorant are they? How could they possibly

want to support the damn republicans who CAUSED this "economic reality". . .

[pattmarty]

9. If programs that were somewhat similar to "new deal" or "great society"........

...........progrqms were passed, we WOULDN'T be having this discussion.

[Lorien]

15. From the article:

“It’s like picking a team when you really don’t want to root for either team,” said Ms. Johnson, a communication studies major, who said she was undecided about parties and politics going into the general election campaign.

It's not that these young people are repugs, it's just that the Dems have done little since the election to inspire them to vote. People have grown tired of voting for candidates simply because the other guy is worse.

[nyc 4 Biden]

5. ...rofl...

Philip Stricker, 21, a biology major who voted for Mr. Obama but says he has not been paying much attention to politics lately, uses a nontechnical term to describe the phenomenon.

“There’s a vibe,” he said on a recent afternoon, while pumping weights at the gym. “Right now it seems like Republicans just care a lot more than Democrats.”



---

I read this article this morn. what a crock. read the comments section, they really abuse the articles findings.

[Lorien]

10. This doesn't mean that they see themselves as repugs

If they are liberal on the issues then they're just like most of the rest of us; citizens without representation. They may be searching for third parties. I have a bad feeling that many will just sit this one out. Who can blame them? With so many betrayals after such a huge GOTV effort in 2008, it's kind of knocked the wind out of many sails.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

11. Fewer Young Voters See Themselves As Critical Thinkers

:hangover:

[Lorien]

16. Actually they're wondering what ever happened to "hope and change". nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

18. So, they lean to Republicans?

Um, that seems like a very ill-advised decision to me.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

25. No, sounds like they are looking for some sort ... any sort ... of leadership.

First party to do so will probably get a good number of them to listen. The Republicans are great at causing fear. The Democrats appealed to "hope" and "change" in 2008 and have not done enough to differentiate themselves from the Republicans (due in great part to the Republican tactics of lying and stalling and Obama's unwillingness to kick them in the teeth, for whatever reason).

This generation is up for grabs and, really, should be easy pickings for the Dems.

[readmoreoften]

26. Given that Democrats haven't given a good argument for why they should stay,

it's an inevitable consequence. Critical thinking doesn't mean staying with a party that isn't working for you. Unfortunately, the Republican Party (not the Tea Party, but campus Republicans) argue much more effectively than College Democrats. Republicans put out a bogus solution. College Democrats do little more than play defense against Republicans.

The one putting out the positive program will always get the vote. That's why the Democrats need to clearly stand for something. If there were a strong 3rd party--like a Labor Party, I think students would be massively invigorated and gravitate towards it. But creating such a party means getting union bureaucracy support and it would take a ton of money--money that most workers don't have.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

28. FOR CLARITY - my initial headline was my gut reaction to seeing the chart here:

My intent was not to disparage our youth, but to point out that moving towards the Republican platform is a poor choice.

I absolutely agree that the choices in front of them are poor, and that the Democrats exhibit much of the same old tired rhetoric and status quo. We need real change and the options in front of us are sorely limited.

[Luciferous]

41. Just because they don't see themselves as Democrats

doesn't mean they see themselves as Republicans.

[Ozymanithrax]

13. What was it the Ragin' Cajun said all those year ago.

Oh yea.

"It's the economy, stupid."

Bread and butter issues will drive the vote. Insecurity creates amnesia. If there is any accuracy to this story, it is the reaction to the youth's insecurity.

[jeremyfive]

14. Think Again About the GOP, Kids

With the way the thieving GOP has been licking it's chops over the Social Security trust, were I 21 again, I think I'd be a victim of suicidal depression.

[Lorien]

17. Read the article. It doesn't say that they're voting for repugs

I think that if Democrats stopped acting like Republicans then the young would start identifying with the Dem party again.

[lumpy]

21. An NYT article based on Pew Research Center survey is

essential meaningless. Let's hear it from some other 'unbiased' organization.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

24. From the article...

[old mark]

19. If it were not so sad it would be very amusing. The young hate the boomers because

the boomers "sold out" the progressiveism of the '60's, and now we are seeing the young people selling out their own progressivism after 2 years of a moderate Democratic president.

Nice work, kids - go play them gameboys.

mark

[Bluenorthwest]

34. sounds like you did not read the ariticle

And that you have some baggage. The young people I know don't hate any age group. Sorry about that. They also have a huge problem standing against equality, and the DNC is headed by those who are 'faith based' and pro discrimination. To equate a lack of excitement about Tim Kaine with selling out progressivism is pretty self serving. Many of us are tired of dealing with the 'one man one woman' shouters, no matter what the party. With the wealthy status quo types, holding tight to their positions.
This article did not say the young people were becoming Republicans, nor even more conservative. Sure did not say they hate their elders.
And you think you can get votes from adults who need futures by calling them 'kids' and talking about toys? Good luck to you with that.

[wookie72]

37. And that will get them to join the Democrats how?

Insulting them is no way to get them involved in politics.

[mwb970]

20. Can't they see that America's problems stem entirely from conservative policies?

These are college students. I thought they were supposed to be smart. How can they support handing power back to the very group that has laid us so low? Back to tax giveaways for corporations and billionaires. Back to meaningless foreign wars waged for corporate profit. Back to deregulation of the financial industry so that the rape of the American public can continue unabated. Back to being controlled by the likes of Newt Gingrich and the emetic $arah Palin.

I was in college in the 60s and we knew who the bad guys were. ("Tin soldiers and Nixon coming...") What's wrong with these students in the article? Why were we so much more aware? Better drugs? Better music?

:shrug:

[Better Today]

29. I think you've used the correct term here, "conservative" policies. Even if they are aware

that conservative policies/politics are the ones that got us in trouble, then they also see that the current situation where Dems are in charge of all three houses (House, Senate, Whitehouse) has led to a continuation of conservative policies. Additionally as many have pointed out, many of the current problems stem from conservative policies put in place by the last Dem administration. So I appreciate your use of the correct term, but I don't understand that you can't see that those conservative policies are mostly still in place or new conservative ones have been put in place.

[progressoid]

22. Seems like a general reflection of the public at large.

[lumpy]

23. No conclusion can be made based on one survey by the Pew

pollsters. This questionable conclusion was based on statements from a very limited number of college students. We mustn't believe everything we read, especially from the news media that tends to be poltically biased. The lead title, 'Fewer Young Voters See Themselves as Democrats' is utterly misleading.

[snot]

27. Kids this age grew up immersed in RW-owned media & went to vitiated public schools.

OK, gross generalization, but.

The RW has been spending money to buy these things because propaganda works.

I heard a story on NPR not long ago mentioning that even emigres from N. Korea can't bring themselves to say anything bad about Kim Jong Il.

[chill_wind]

30. Fewer voters self-identifying as Democrats period.

Independents way up from a year ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4527633&mesg_id=4527706

[Aramchek]

31. what a load of crap! they sure as hell aren't identifying themselves as Repukes

[EFerrari]

33. Isn't party identification down right now, period? nt

[chill_wind]

36. Yes and not just among young voters

according to those findings I posted just above. We love living in denial :-(

[Mudoria]

38. The article didn't say they were...

I imagine right now both parties look dismal to them.

[GOTV]

32. Unfortunately not a lot of bank presidents and insurance CEOs among the 18-29 yo demographic

[Matariki]

35. Right and voting Republican is really going to help the economy for most people.

:shrug:

[Cognitive_Resonance]

40. As long as they don't see themselves as Republicans not a big deal. nt

[Odin2005]

43. We are ANGRY that Obama stabbed us young people IN THE BACK!

[w4rma]

45. DLC infiltrators did this. Purge the DLC. (nt)

[No Elephants]

47. .....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4527402&mesg_id=4527981

[w4rma]

57. They do change their labels like criminals. Thanks for the observation! (nt)

[librechik]

46. This article LIES!! Actual figure 57%, down from 61%

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=09&year=2010&base_name=the_new_york_times_latest_bogu

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

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[Barack_America]

50. Good. This is encouraging.

It shows that young voters are more politically savvy than they are normally getting credit for. They are clearly realizing that identifying oneself as a "Democrat" doesn't mean much right now.

[Jennicut]

51. This age group is the most liberal. Far more liberal then Gen X or the baby boomers.

But they may just sit out this election. Still, I think they are less cynical then Gen Xers. Most people my age (I am 34) hate politics and detest all politicians.

[alp227]

53. Pew found that 18-29's support Dems the most among all voters

even though more voters in that age group supported the Republicans during 2009 (the year the Tea Party movement rose).

I guess that frustration over the economy combined with the propaganda about "taxes kill jobs" etc. influence the young, naive minds. Are young folks really willing to vote for a party that opposes gay rights/sex education/abortion/racial equality/women's rights/immigration reform just to get a job or save tax money? Oh wait, consider the gay Republican org GOProud (Ann Coulter even spoke for that org one time, and WorldNetDaily stopped publishing her column). I guess some young folks finally found the GOP a bit more open-minded?

My point about propaganda is just one factor as to why young folks aren't liking the Democrats now as much as in 2008. Around DU you'll find all sorts of criticism of the party as intimidation from the other side and the DLC and DNC have scrunched up the political spectrum.

[Chicago dyke]

54. propaganda does work.

and it comes in many forms, including this article. the only way the media can stay in business is to make everything seem more exciting than it really is, and elections are no exception. this happens every election season, and it's always the same piece. "group X voted for dem politician last time, says they're uncertain today." then the actual election happens, and the dems do more or less as well as history and expectations of sensible people had predicted. no one ever calls the SCLM out when the incorrect predictions are proven to have been bunk.

seems to me there are three groups of young folks right now. those who don't care about politics; those who are very informed and in touch; and those who are sort of in touch and sort of care about politics, but care about other stuff a lot more. obama mania was a kind of fashion among the last two groups, and the middle group is aware of just how disappointing he's turned out to be. it's no surprise he's losing support from his most progressive young voters, the administration has outright kicked them in the teeth on a couple of occasions. it's also ridiculous to think those kids will vote republican. they're looking at greens and indie movements right now, from what i can tell in pretty large number. but the SCLM will never accurately cover that. the latter group isn't going to get motivated for a tired brand, esp if the cool kids who are really involved in politics aren't encouraging them to do so. low information youth voters are notoriously unreliable in off year elections, and will answer polls questions and give dumb answers that the SCLM of course will highlight as exemplar. but in truth a lot of them probably don't care that much one way or another and won't show up to vote. off year elections without superstar media celebrity candidates are usually like this. it's interesting to consider that these kids have only ever known republican and republican-esque democrats, and during their formative years endured a propaganda assault from the right that is practically unprecedented. toss in declining standards in public education, and the old adage that like religion, lots of folks just follow what their parents do in politics, and it's not terribly surprising, assuming the poll is even that accurate.

[wordpix]

55. here we see how badly our children are educated

:crazy: with so many dropouts, gradeflation and students entering college without basic skills, now wonder they can't think straight

OTOH, if Dems keep acting like repugs, this is an explanation, too

[UTUSN]

58. Good luck with that, Young Voters!1 n/t

[sendero]

59. Who wants to identify with a party..

... of gigantic pussies? Can't blame them.

[Drale]

60. You know what

im in college right now and I know so many people who say o im an indepentent only because they dont want to want to be "robots" and follow everyone but like everything the "main stream" does by trying to be "different" they are all the same.