I am in close contact with many groups populated with millennial with GenX and Baby Boomers as helpers and advisors. But all in all, these millennials are taking the lead and set the direction. Pollsters models, in my opinion, are not normalized for this reality. I am more concerned that the older folk will vote inappropriately because of the changes these millennials are fighting for and will ultimately actualize.
Millennials in the past have not voted in the numbers commensurate with their population, and the result is disadvantageous policy outcomes. Their future is at stake, and many are seeing it and believe they have nothing to lose.
Robert Reich blog post titled “Why I’m Betting on Millennials, this November 6th”could not have said it any better when he asked the question, will millennials vote in 2018.
My answer is, yes.
First, the issues up for grabs aren’t ideological abstractions for them. They’re causes in which Millennials have direct personal stakes.
Take, for example, gun violence – which some of these young people have experienced first-hand and have taken active roles trying to stop.
Or immigrant’s rights. Over 20 percent of Millennials are Latino, and a growing percent are from families that emigrated from Asia. Many have directly experienced the consequences of Trump’s policies.
A woman’s right to choose whether to have a baby, and gay’s or lesbian’s rights to choose marriage – issues Millennials are also deeply committed to – will be front and center if the Supreme Court puts them back into the hands of Congress and state legislatures.
Millennials are also concerned about student debt, access to college, and opportunities to get ahead unimpeded by racial bigotry or sexual harassment.
And they’re worried about the environment. They know climate change will hit them hardest since they’ll be on the planet longer than older voters.
They’ve also learned that their votes count. They saw Hillary lose by a relative handful of votes in places like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
They’ve been witnessing razor-thin special elections, such as Conor Lamb’s win by a few hundred votes in the heart of Pennsylvania Trump country, and Hiral Tipirneni’s single-digit loss in an Arizona district Trump won by 21 points in 2016.
They know the importance of taking back governorships in what are expected to be nail-bitingly close races – in states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kansas. They’re aware of the slim but increasingly real possibility of taking back the Senate. (Who knew Ted Cruz would be so vulnerable? Who even knew the name Beto O’Rourke?)
As doubtful as they these young people are about politics, or the differences between the two parties, they also know that Trump and his Republican enablers want to take the nation backwards to an old, white, privileged, isolated America. Most of them don’t.
In my thirty-five years of teaching college students, I’ve not encountered a generation as dedicated to making the nation better as this one.
So my betting is on them, this November 6th.
I echo all of Reich’s sentiments. I am seeing the same in every organization I am currently working with. right now. As I mentioned earlier, I am more concerned about the older folk who always vote, get into the booth and vote against the interest of their personal economy, their state, and their country.