Elections are governed by the middle-aged, political movements are sustained by youth. It’s no secret that older folks vote in higher proportions than younger. They simply have the most at stake in any election as changes in policy, usually taxes, affect them most.
But, the energy which sustains a political party comes from how well it can mobilize the youth. And for two generations the youth in America sustained the Democrats through their appeals to emotion and ‘fairness’ through the lens of cultural Marxism and democratic socialism.
It doesn’t hurt that the institutions of education and media have been completely taken over by these ideologies to the point where we find ourselves today. But, like all things that swing too far in one direction the counter trend begins to take hold.
So, color me not shocked when I see the results of a new poll that says Millennials are souring on the Democratic Party. I knew they would and said so back in October of 2016 in an article called The Authenticity Gap.
But the big problem for Hillary is those [Bernie] millennials will not turn out for her.
This is a generation more aware of how screwed they are than mine was. And while their political identity is in flux– reared on diet of Comedy Central snark as a coping mechanism for the lying — they have a near obsession with natural things – real fiber clothing, lumberjack fashion, farm-to-table food choices, etc.
They’ve turned their Masters of Social Justice into Ph.D’s in Cocktails, Cappuccinos and Craft Beers… and bless their hearts. I can finally get a good whiskey sour when I visit my friends in South Florida.
At least now some of them are entrepreneurs.
Their cultural identity is one big cry for authenticity in a sea of smarm.Hillary’s authenticity gap is simply too big for many millennials to square with that value system.
Eighteen months later after Hillary’s historic rebuke it’s morphing into a general disdain for the reaction to it. Millennial voters are moving away from Democrats in numbers that can only be termed horrific.
The online survey of more than 16,000 registered voters ages 18 to 34 shows their support for Democrats over Republicans for Congress slipped by about 9 percentage points over the past two years, to 46 percent overall. And they increasingly say the Republican Party is a better steward of the economy.
Although nearly two of three young voters polled said they do not like Republican President Donald Trump, their distaste for him does not necessarily extend to all Republicans or translate directly into votes for Democratic congressional candidates.
The Democrats need the Millennials. They are moving out of the youth vote and into the Middle Aged voting block. The Homeland generation (as termed by Strauss and Howe of Fourthturning.com) or Generation Z will only further this trend as the Artist generational archetype.
The Millennials are the generation that will build the next version of society. Their rejection of the Democrats while not embracing Trump or necessarily the Republicans points towards a different political identity which the Democrats have not figured out or have shown any willingness to counter.
Now with Kanye West trying to blow apart the co-dependent relationship between black voters and the DNC oligarchy, this country is ripe for a complete realignment of the political power structure.
This is not to say that the Libertarians or Greens will somehow swoop in to collect these disaffected Millennials. No. I think both parties are terminally compromised by DNC and RNC operatives and money to see them capitalize on this transition state.
I remember full well just how strongly the youth vote was energized for Ron Paul’s runs for president in 2008 and 2012 were. He, smartly, encouraged them and made the point over and over that his movement wasn’t about him it was about the ideas of liberty and a new way to look at our politics.
It wasn’t enough to win him the presidency, and more’s the pity, but it set the stage for what we saw in 2016 and what we’re continuing to see today. Trump is the current beneficiary of the flux we find ourselves in. The Millennials and minorities the Democrats have taken for granted and mis-used if not outright abused for the past generation will not turn out for mid-term elections.
The history of voting in this country is quite clear on this.
So, whatever Blue Wave the DNC thinks its coming it’s not happening in 2018 if the fund-raising numbers are any indication, which are, frankly, terrible. And if it doesn’t happen in 2018 and the pillars of the Democratic Party — Clinton, Obama, etc. — go to jail for attempting to frame a sitting president then it won’t happen in 2020 and beyond.
The Democrats are facing the kind of terminal loss of confidence that destroys political parties and the ideologies which back them. It couldn’t happen to a nicer group of oligarchs.
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