Younger voters overwhelming want the Democrats to keep the White House, but they are backing insurgent Sen. Bernie Sanders over establishment-favorite Hillary Clinton by six points, 41 percent to 35 percent, according to a comprehensive poll from Harvard University’s Institute for Politics.
Among GOP youth voters, Donald Trump is on top, edging out Ben Carson, 22 percent to 20 percent. None of the other GOP candidates broke double digits.
But, found the poll, more Republican youth voters believe that Carson is more qualified to be president than Trump, by a 43 percent to 38 percent margin. And in the good news category for both, most said that integrity, level-headedness and authenticity were the attributes most valued in presidential candidates, not government or political experience.
The surge of Sanders was surprising. In Harvard’s spring 2015 poll, just 1 percent backed Sanders. The shift cost support for former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. His support was less than 1 percent. It’s worse for Clinton. Her support has dropped 12 points since the IOP spring poll, from 47 percent to 35 percent.
.@HillaryClinton down 12 pts amongst 18-29 yr olds since last spring. #HarvardIOPPoll pic.twitter.com/CeOWKwHVEU
— Institute of Politics (@HarvardIOP) December 10, 2015
Also good for Sanders: most do not believe that his “Democratic Socialist” label matters.
In the spring version of the survey, IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe found that the GOP had a chance to win younger voters. But in his latest analysis, he said that the “opportunity could be waning.”
The twice yearly poll is the best at providing the perspective of voters aged 18-29, a key constituency for Democrats. For this poll, Harvard’s IOP, part of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, surveyed 2,000 and found that they are also concerned with the major issues facing the nation.
The top findings can be seen here.
For example, they strongly support sending U.S. troops into battle with ISIS. It was the top finding highlighted in the poll. If found that support surged after the Paris attacks to 60 percent. However, a similar percentage of the youths said that they “would definitely not join” the military to back up their support.
They are also divided on the American Dream, with 49 percent believing it is still “alive,” and 48 percent calling it “dead.” It was worse among supporters of Trump and Sanders, with 61 percent of the Republican’s backers calling the American Dream “dead,” and 56 percent of Sanders’ supporters agreeing.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
