Half of younger voters who backed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2016 election support impeaching Donald Trump, and a large block are joining in the #Resistance movement, according to a new Tufts University poll.
What’s more, millennials who backed Clinton remain more engaged in politics, driven by their anger at Trump’s election, said the survey from the university’s Tisch College Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
Key findings:
— 26 percent of Clinton voters “plan to protest or resist the Trump administration.
— 50 percent of Clinton voters “would support impeachment, suggesting that opposition may be a key driver in Clinton supporters’ continued engagement.”
— 43 percent of Clinton voters are not confident about democracy in America.
Trump voters, said the CIRCLE survey, “are less likely to engage in civic and political life beyond voting in the presidential election. This marks a departure from 2008, when young supporters of the winning candidate felt energized and engaged. While Trump voters are less experienced politically and appear less willing to try various types of civic activities, they care about their communities. Our polling shows that they are nearly as likely as young Clinton voters to help each other, to stand up for what they believe in, and talk to local elected officials. One possible explanation is that the motivations for their civic engagement are deeply personal and more local, and so meeting them there will be important to engaging them.”
By comparison, it concluded, “Clinton voters are more experienced with political engagement and more likely to say that they would pursue opportunities to engage if they are available. The biggest motivator for engagement among Millennial Clinton supporters is resisting the Trump administration, as evidenced in our polling by their willingness to support impeachment and to actively protest. But it remains to be seen how prevalent and sustained their engagement will be.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
