Harvard University reports Thursday that millennial voters are turning away from Democrat Hillary Clinton, registering a 10-point drop in support for her, while those that back Republican Donald Trump are showing sky high enthusiasm and passion for their guy.
The latest poll from the Institute of Politics, located at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, also showed less support for Clinton among voters up to 29 years old than President Obama won in 2012.
What’s more, the survey indicated that just 47 percent of the voters “definitely” plan to vote in the fall election.
The younger voters have long been fans of Sen. Bernie Sanders, and now appear to be looking at Independent Gary Johnson. In a three-way matchup, Johnson wins 13 percent of the younger vote and appears to take much more support from Clinton than Trump.
In the head-to-head of likely voters, Clinton leads Trump 54 perent to 28 percent. But add Johnson in, and Clinton drops 9 points, and falls below 50 percent to 45 percent. Trump drops five points.
In the poll, 40 percent were Democrats, 21 percent Republicans.
The key findings directly from the poll:
— Clinton advantage over Trump slips in head-to-head match-up: In the April 2016 IOP Poll, Clinton held a 36-point lead among likely voters in a two-way race against Trump, 61% to 25% with 14% undecided. In July, that lead has dropped 10 points, as Clinton now polls at 54% compared to Trump, 28%, with 18% undecided.
— Trump voters more passionate: Overall, likely Trump voters show higher levels of strong enthusiasm in their support for the Republican candidate when compared to likely Clinton or Johnson voters. Among Trump supporters, 36% indicated that they were “very enthusiastic” and one-third (33%) reported that they were “somewhat enthusiastic.” As for likely Clinton voters, 21% indicate that they were “very enthusiastic” and 49% reported that they were “somewhat enthusiastic.” And for Johnson, the majority of likely voters indicated that they were either “not at all” or “not very” enthusiastic about his candidacy (60%), and only 40% reported that they were either “very enthusiastic” or “somewhat enthusiastic.”
— One-third call for “Washington reset:” When IOP polling asked young Americans about their views “related to the state of politics, government and Washington, DC today,” more than four in five called for significant change. One percent (1%) indicated that “things are great and we should not change a thing;” 17% believed “a few subtle changes may be in order;” 48% believed “significant reform is needed;” and 33% believed “we need to find a reset button and start again.” Trump and Johnson supporters were more than twice as likely to want to hit the “reset button” compared to Clinton supporters (41%: Trump; 34%: Johnson; 18%: Clinton).
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
