Younger voters continue to trend away from President Trump, with many, by a 2-1 margin, telling a new poll that he has “made their lives worse.”
In the just released Harvard Youth Poll, they also said that their anti-Trump mood has sparked leftist “activism” to campaign against him.
The 39th survey of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School is always highly anticipated during election years and typically finds younger voters promising to help Democrats.
The new survey found that again, but also revealed deep anxiety about the status of younger voters, disappointment with Trump and his handling of the coronavirus fight, and a noticeable drop in patriotism, with some Democrats associating the word “patriot” with racism.
“Well before COVID-19 struck, we knew this to be a generation anxious about their future. The pandemic brought these anxieties into focus,” said John Della Volpe, director of polling for the Institute of Politics.
“In the survey, we found that stress related to debt, the cost of housing, access to healthcare, mental health resources, and concern about whether or not loved ones will survive coronavirus are the prism from which young Americans will view and engage in this campaign. Self-defense, in 2020, is one of the primary motivations for voting,” he added in releasing the survey.
Politically, it’s bad for Trump. In the 2020 race, the younger Americans prefer Joe Biden over Trump, 51%-28%. Among those “most likely to vote,” Biden’s advantage is 60%-30%.
Harvard said the big reason for the gap is that younger voters feel that Trump has made their lives worse. “Overall, 15% of young Americans indicate that as a result of President Trump, their lives are better, 29% believe they are worse, 39% responded no different, 16% were unsure,” said the analysis.
However, they do give Trump some credit on the economy, and 49% of GOP youth said that Trump has made their lives better.
And, not surprisingly, the poll found that “President Trump is a highly motivating factor for young voters.” Half plan to vote, more than the 46.1% who voted in 2016.
Among the other findings, the Harvard poll found that despite coming through the impeachment period and into the coronavirus crisis, younger voters are less patriotic than after 9/11, which the virus fight has been compared to.
“One year after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the IOP youth survey which then only polled 18- to 24- year old college undergraduates found that 89% of the cohort considered themselves patriotic, with 33% embracing the ‘very patriotic’ label (56% ‘somewhat patriotic’). Today, 63% of 18- to 24- year college students call themselves patriotic (-26 since 2002), with only 16% considering themselves ‘very patriotic’ (47% ‘somewhat patriotic),” said that survey analysis.
It added, “When asked in an open-ended question what word they associated with ‘patriot,’ Republicans were more likely than Democrats to associate positive attributes. Republicans used terms such as loyalty, pride, and responsibility; in contrast, many Democrats associated the word ‘patriot’ with racism/xenophobia and a general ignorance about the reality of America today.”
