The GOP's "empathy"
problem with millennials
Fri Jun 12, 2009 at
11:18:05 AM PDT
While dates can vary
depending on the
source, the
millennial
generation is
roughly everyone
born between
1978-1993 (or
currently 31 years
old at the top end).
And there's no doubt
that this generation
is overwhelmingly
Democratic. The
18-29 cohort went
for Obama by a
dominant
66-32 percentage
in 2008. And Gallup
polling (which calls
the Millennials
"Generation Y" and
puts them in the
18-29 category)
indicates that these
younger voters are
dramatically more
Democratic than
older generations:
Now there's a stupid
little saying in the
conservative world
that "if you're a
Republican in your
youth, you have no
heart, if you're a
Democrat when you're
older, you have no
brain". It's
supposed to glibly
explain away the
more liberal
leanings of younger
adults. However,
Reagan won
61 percent of
the youth vote in
1984, and even Bush
Sr.
won it in 1988.
So Republicans have
been able to win the
youth vote, they
just aren't doing it
anymore. And those
Gen Xers who voted
Republican in the
80s remain to this
day
the strongest
identifying GOP
block (see chart
above). Getting
voters young pays
dividends to the
party that captures
them.
The children of
the baby
boomers,
Generation X,
were thus born
into a world of
increasing
cynicism about
government, and
they grew up
during the
Ronald Reagan
and George Bush
Senior
administrations,
when government
was under
systematic
assault and
social ills were
blamed on a
failed welfare
state. Their
depressed
outlook was
further fueled
by a multitude
of griefs --
from rising
divorce rates to
the economic
recession to the
crack epidemic
to the AIDS
explosion --
that made the
world a
dangerous place.
In 1984 and
1988, as
Generation X
came of voting
age, only 40.8
percent and 36.2
percent of
people under 25
voted in those
respective
presidential
elections. And
this
generation
remains the most
disaffected --
and conservative
-- in the
electorate.
Today's youngest
voters,
Generation Y,
were raised
during the heady
1990s, a time of
seemingly
endless dot-com
possibilities,
as well as
social projects
such as
AmeriCorps that
were championed
by the nation's
political
leadership.
Volunteer
programs
blossomed and
flourished on
college and
high-school
campuses.
Michael Hais and
Morley Winograd,
authors of the
seminal work on this
generation,Millennial
Makeover,
describe
Millennials as
"characterized by
optimism, ability to
achieve, and strong
group orientation."
Cusp Millennials
are less likely
than their
elders to
believe that
special
interests get
their way in
government, that
politicians
don't care about
ordinary people,
and that
politicians are
more concerned
with their party
than the good of
the whole
country. Similar
to other
Millennials,
a
majority of Cusp
Millennials
(50%) agrees
that it's unfair
that some have
so much while
others have so
little.
That last sentence
can be summed up as
"empathy". And as
the most
group-oriented of
the current
generations, it's
clear that it also
is the most
empathetic. That
feeling manifests
itself in tolerance
toward "alternate"
groups and
lifestyles, whether
its racial, ethnic,
national, or sexual
orientation. The
internet has broken
down geographic
barriers and they're
used to interacting
with a global
network of people
with dramatically
different lifestyles
than what's
available in their
immediate
surroundings. Where
once a suburban or
rural kid would be
mostly influenced by
those immediately
around him,
technology allows
the youth of today
to build truly
global networks.
Hence, the GOP is
hopelessly out of
touch with this
generation. Its
hostility toward the
"alternate" --
whether race,
ethnicity, sexual
orientation,
nationality or
whatnot, makes them
look mean spirited
and out of touch.
Their overt anger at
the notion of a
global community,
such as the "citizen
of the world" thing
that Reagan once
championed but is
now the subject of
Newt Gingrich's ire,
seems anachronistic
to kids used to
directly interacting
with people all over
the world. And while
these youngsters are
group-minded and
embrace empathy as a
tool of government,
the GOP's
close-minded
rejection of such
approaches is a
genuine turn off.
Look at our recent
Sotomayor polling:
Do you think
empathy is an
important
characteristic
for a Supreme
Court Justice to
possess or not?
Yes No
18-29
63 17
30-44
47 34
45-59
55 26
60+
46 35
This tracks closely
the polling on party
ID -- Gen Xers,
raised in the era of
Reagan and Bush Sr.,
are more selfish and
represent the
strongest pro-GOP
cohort, almost
matching the oldest
"get off my lawn!"
generation. Boomers
are supportive of
empathy in
government, but look
at the Millennials
-- they're in an
entirely different
world, fully
demanding the
Supreme Court use
empathy in its
decision making
process.
And therein lies the
GOP's biggest
problem with young
voters. Same
question as above:
Do you think
empathy is an
important
characteristic
for a Supreme
Court Justice to
possess or not?
Yes No
Dem
73 12
GOP
18 56
Ind
54 28
How can the GOP win
votes among young
voters, when it
rejects a value
("empathy") prized
so much by those
Millennials? It
obviously can't. As
long as the GOP is a
selfish party
predicated on
individual rather
than collective
success, it will be
at odds with the
fastest growing
demographic in the
nation.
Throw in the GOP's
problems with women
and ethnic and
racial minorities
(stemming, pretty
much, from that same
lack of empathy),
and you have a party
that can't win
national elections
without radical
restructuring.
