The GOP has a shot at winning the youth vote because according to a new poll, most young people want to live in a capitalist society with less government and a free market, indicating that they’re on board with many conservative principles.
The downside is that young people still view conservatives more negatively than liberals, confirming once again that the conservative movement needs to refocus its efforts on youth outreach.
But the youth’s overwhelming support of liberty principles paves a clear way of how the conservative movement can bring young people into the fold.
The poll, released Wednesday by the Young America’s Foundation and conducted by The Polling Company, found that a whopping 61 percent of millennials disagree that the government should take a more active role in their day-to-day lives and 58 percent think elected officials should decrease taxes.
That certainly bodes well for the future of the Republican Party.
Seventy-percent of young people think the government should cut spending and 50 percent of young people think the federal government is hurting the economy compared to the 26 percent who think it’s helping.
Entrepreneurship and limited government were also popular topics among young people. Sixty-six percent of millennials view entrepreneurship positively and 35 percent of the youth view limited government favorably compared to the 21 percent who don’t. Conservatives need to highlight topics like entrepreneurship to encourage young people to join the movement.
In addition, 44 percent of young people favor free markets compared to the mere eight percent who don’t. But young people were split on whether the free market was fair to women and the majority found it was unfair to the LGTBQ community. Conservatives need to explain why the free market truly benefits all, if they’re going to win the support of the youth.
Interestingly, most young people have a neutral view of Libertarians and more young people view socialism negatively than do positively.
Despite these findings, 39 percent of young people still view liberals positively compared to the 28 percent who view conservatives favorably.
But the silver lining is that young people favor conservative principles like low taxes and limited government, proving millennials aren’t a lost cause. And with 80 percent of the youth demographic registered to vote, winning over the youth voter could be a game changer for the GOP in 2016.
