In 2008, young voters voted overwhelming for Barack Hussein Obama. There was talk of a permanent Progressive majority and that the GOP was called the Grey Old Party. Well times have changed!
For the first time since the Reagan era, the GOP now leads among young voters. What has caused this change? For starters it’s Obama’s terrible economic policies. His State Capitalist model has failed, as many of us knew it would. Another factor is the GOP’s new found emphasis on economic and fiscal matters. Young voters want a better economic future and a chance to make money. They see that there’s a chance they will never have the lifestyle of their parents. This has made them sour on Progressive economics.
Millennials voted 66 to 32 percent for Barack Obama in 2008 and identified as Democrats rather than Republicans by a 60 to 32 percent margin.
But white Millennials have been moving away from the Democrats. The Democratic edge in party identification among white Millennials dropped from 7 points in 2008 to 3 points in 2009 to a 1-point Republican edge in 2010 and an 11-point Republican lead in 2011.
[…]It’s not hard to come up with plausible reasons for these changes. Obama campaigned as the champion of “hope and change” in 2008 and assured crowds of young people that “We are the change we are seeking.”
But the change they have seen is anything but hopeful. Youth unemployment rates have been at historic highs. Young people have seen their college degrees produce little in the way of job offers.
[….]
In the wake of the 2008 election, I argued that there was a tension between the way Millennials lived their lives — creating their own iPod playlists, designing their own Facebook pages — and the one-size-fits-all, industrial-era welfare-state policies of the Obama Democrats.
Instead of allowing Millennials space in which they can choose their own futures, the Obama Democrats’ policies have produced a low-growth economy in which their alternatives are limited and they are forced to make do with what they can scrounge.
Read the Rest: Under Obama, Millennials move into the GOP column
Ronald Reagan won over young voters in the 80’s with an optimistic message of economic growth and a bright future. The post-Reagan GOP forgot this and spent their time talking about how bad American society had become, a bleak future and giving moral lectures. Now that the GOP has found it’s economic focus, it’s attracting young people back. This was a concept Reagan grasped back in the 1980’s.
Whether its the 1980’s or the 2010’s, young voters want an optimistic vision of the future. They want to hear about a better tomorrow and opportunities to advance in life. In a turn of events it’s the Democrats who are now negative about America, like the GOP was in the 90’s and 2000’s. Obama’s demagoguery is turning off many younger voters who can’t stand negativity. He comes across as a crank who’s miserable.
Hopefully Republicans can cement this hold by continuing to address economic concerns and pursue an agenda of economic opportunity.
Tonight at 8pm eastern time, Urban Infidel will have Robert Spencer as her guest on The Urban Infidel Show! Come join us!
Tags: Michael Barone, Ronald Reagan, Young Voters
