Younger millennials aren’t as Democratic as their older peers, though the Democrats still maintain a lead.
Millennials 25-29 years old favored the Democrats 50-27-23 percent compared with Republicans and independents, respectively. But, young millennials 18-20 years old were less enthusiastic, going 42-33-26 percent for Democrats, NPR reported.
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Young Americans tend to lean liberal, but the weakening attraction of the Democratic Party to young millennials gives the Republicans a chance to be more competitive with the youth vote.
An 18-year-old today was only 12 years-old when Barack Obama became president. Whereas George W. Bush left a bad impression of Republicans to older millennials, Barack Obama could be doing the same to younger millennials.
“[T]he engagement of young people in community service at the local level has generally stayed constant, and second, their engagement in electoral politics generally increased after 2000, peaking in 2008. Since then though, youth electoral participation has dropped,” Harvard University’s Institute of Politics finds.
Millennials, like most Americans, get bored of politics when it’s not a presidential-election year.
Since that 2008 high point, trust of and satisfaction with the government have fallen. The honeymoon ended with the election and realistic expectations.
Bitterness about the government might not do much for Republicans, however. Youth voter turnout remains low. Even if Republicans appeal to millennials, it’s a long way from home to the voting booth.
