Imagine... You're Turning 18 Before The 2016 Election... What Party Do You Choose, And Why ???

[WillyT]

And try to remember... that they were born in 1997/1998... they were 2 or 3 when Al Gore Gore got screwed by SCOTUS, were 4 or 5 when 9/11 happened...

Were 7 or 8 when we invaded Iraq... 15 or 16 when Barack Obama was elected as president.

We've done many an "Age" poll here at DU, and we tend to skew to the older side of the ledger...

We grew up with it back in "The Day", we got pissed, got active, and chose a party to support us as we supported them. FDR, JFK, MLK, RFK were our history...

I really am asking in earnest here...

Do you think the same thing is going on now for our youth ???

And if you were 18... would you see the divisions as dangerous and stark, or might you "experiment" with Indepedents, or other declared parties ???

I have no answer to this... hoping you do... we're gonna need them.

[seabeyond]

1. my son is turning 18 in oct. my other one that is turning 20 will get his first election.

they are well educated, but also well informed because of their own interests. and ya.... they pretty easily see the democratic party. oldest is taking political science courses in university along with philosophy. unfortunately, my youngest is taking an economic course in high school that really interests him, and the teacher is pretty right wing.

now... the friends in this area, republican. all the way. more than a handful may go dem. those that are thinking and wiling to go a little more outside the box. my kids like to be around thinkers.

[arcane1]

2. I would definitely be turned off by the hyper-religious nuttiness of the republicans.

[WillyT]

5. That May Be The Only Thing Saving Us The Youth Vote... But Not All Of 'Em...

[NYC_SKP]

3. Most teens? If the choice is between a slick but vacuous commercial and two younger candidates...

I worry that the younger candidates might sway many or most of them.

Youngsters aren't that discerning, not critical thinkers.

[BlueStater]

8. Their younger candidates preach the same stupid, bigoted shit that the older ones do.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are against gay marriage, don't believe in climate change, etc.

We should be more concerned about young people being apathetic and not voting at all than voting for those morons.

[liberal_at_heart]

28. It's not that young adults are not critical thinkers. It's that they don't have a lot of life

experience yet and have been put through a K-12 educational system that teaches to the test. The K-12 educational system doesn't teach critical thinking. If they are lucky enough to get to go to college, most of them learn critical thinking there and through just plain old life experience. We are all inexperienced when we are young. I was absolutely clueless at 18.

[WillyT]

38. Great Points... All !!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. "Young wolves, show us your teeth." John Steinbeck

I registered as a Democrat in 1966. In the presidential election of 1968, I voted for Eldridge Cleaver of the Peace and Freedom Party.

I'm still a Democrat and usually vote for Democrats but have no problem in voting for 3rd parties when necessary.

[arcane1]

6. My very first was a 3rd party vote for Ron "Fuck Ron Paul" Paul, entirely because of the weed.

It was the only thing I knew about him, and thought it was cool that my first time voting, I felt I was effectively voting on marijuana re-legalization.

I've learned a few things since then

[AuntPatsy]

7. They still desire in many ways the same things we did and yet I think because of the internet

and cable, phones, They become confused about the reality of real life situations...

I think it depends a lot on the adults that surround them....

It's up to us to help them realize just how important their vote truly is...

[CANDO]

9. I often tell my 15 yr old daughter

To never vote Republican. They are evil bastards that will kill you one way or another.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

10. 18-29 went 66% for Obama in 2008

Why would the next generation go Republican when they, too, can make history?

If I can find a breakout that drills down to 18 y/o, I'll post it.

But it's worth noting, older people vote Republican. Why are people so quick to bash the youth?

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

13. majority of youth vote has gone to Dems in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012

Reliable base. Older people, not.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

16. Here you go: 69% of 1st time voters went for Obama in 2014

Older people did not.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. Voila

Young people will hit the polls in 2016, and they want Hillary



http://fusion.net/story/41972/fusion-poll-millennials-politics-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush-election-2016/

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

24. Of course they do! And for the same reason they went for Obama in 2008

It's historic and it feels good, among other things I've listed below.

[liberal_at_heart]

11. My son is 16. My daughter is 20. She sees the economic mess we are in and is pissed.

She knows she will have massive college debt and a lower salary than the generation before her. But she has yet to fully experience that because she is still living at home with us and we do have a little bit to help her go to community college. Most of her experience so far has come from experiencing discrimination as a female bisexual and so she still identifies as a Democrat although because of the economic mess she does lean a little toward Socialist Independent. I'm okay with that. If she feels the discrimination she faces as a female bisexual is the most important issue for her and she feels she needs to vote Democratic to keep Republicans from taking her reproductive rights away, I am okay with that. For me as her mother I am concerned with all of it and will only vote for someone who will fight for both social equality and economic equality because you cannot have social equality without economic equality. Our children need an education. Our children need jobs. Our children need living wages.

[WillyT]

14. Most Excellent Post... Thank You !!!

[liberal_at_heart]

15. Thank you Willy. It's scary being a parent right now. Every generation is doing worse than the last.

[WillyT]

30. :hug:

[sadoldgirl]

12. If I were to vote for the first time

I would go Green due to concern about climate change,
but that is just me.

[liberal_at_heart]

18. I started toward the Green party but they don't go far enough on education for me.

I really am more of a Socialist Independent.

[sadoldgirl]

20. And I am a Socialist Democrat, but

I don't think that at 18 I was so much aware of
the disaster that capitalism brings with it.
And I tried to think back, although that may bring
a false idea too.

[liberal_at_heart]

21. I was clueless at 18. It takes a few years of getting out on your own, paying the bills,

and letting life beat you up a little to really know what is going on.

[giftedgirl77]

19. I just posed your question to my son who will be turning 17

on Monday & therefore will be voting in November 2016 & his response was "Democrat of course because only a fuckin moron votes Republican". He was very very involved in the last election & he was only 14.

[WillyT]

31. That Is WONDERFUL To Hear...

Tell him... "Good on you!"

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

22. The numbers are clear. Now the "why?"

Making history: Voting for Obama felt good. Voting for Hillary will feel good, too.

Human rights: young people care, older people not so much

Freedom: younger people don't want to be told what to do. Older people like to tell people what to do

Young = solid Democratic block
Old = scary

Let's focus on changing minds of older people! We'll win every damn time if the old people crosed over.

What are young people going to do? Pffft

[liberal_at_heart]

23. Young people especially this generation are anti-establishment which gives me hope. Both parties

need some shaking up.

[jwirr]

34. With the young people in my family the reasons for voting Demcratic are just a part of how our

family has always voted and we have included them in our politics. My children worked in the McGovern headquarters in our area and the next two generations also worked as children for different politicians. But in my family I think there is a bigger reason: My disabled daughter. They all know her and love her. They realize what the Democrats have done to help people like her and they do not forget when they are voting. They have a cause.

That said I have a couple of gamers who are so involved in one game or another on the internet that they even have to be reminded that it is time to go and vote. And they are unfortunately just happy to vote for whoever we tell them to vote for. No time for politics.

As to changing the minds of the elder (I am one) the first thing we need to do is convince them to get away from faux news. One of my friends has turned from a solid Democrat to a R and the reasons are not pretty. She is a somewhat of a bigot and will believe anything she hears about President Obama. He is different than what they know.

Another reason people like her are voting R is because they do not like their world to change - they are afraid of change because they do not understand it. My mother was watching television one night while I worked on the computer. She finally asked "Why do we have two televisions on?" When the world seems to be getting out of control we older voters often get more conservative. And one thing we do know is that the world is out of control.

The only way that I think we can change minds is for children and grandchildren to talk honestly and gently with their parents and grandparents. Tell them what is happening in your life and ask them to vote in a way that helps you. Break through their fear with your love.

[liberal_at_heart]

35. We just agree to disagree in our household. My father is evangelical Christian.

He lives with us. My daughter is atheist, bisexual and sexually active. My son is also atheist. My husband is agnostic, and I am Buddhist. He used to try and convert my children when they were younger. We stopped that. I used to get in debates with him about religion and politics but found that just strained our relationship. Eventually we just agreed to disagree. We coexist and try to have compassion and tolerance for each other. He still has very bigoted views and I have a hard time getting close to him because of those views, but we have found a way to live in the same household and not kill each other.

[jwirr]

36. That would be very hard and not worth arguing with him. He is probably not going to change his

mind anyhow. But when it comes to voting - you can all out vote him.

[dsc]

25. it should be noted that if the child turns 18 before election day

he or she can vote in the primary or caucus even if he or she is only 17 when that is held.

[WillyT]

39. Good Advice... I Did Not Know That...

[Jenoch]

26. Anyone age 16 when Obama was

elected as president would be 22 years old right now.

[Mass]

27. My sons are a little older, but what I see is close to what you say.

My oldest is 26. He grew up hearing about Clinton's pecadillos and hate him for that. He will vote to Hillary Clinton if it comes to that (he is a progressive and would not vote for a GOPer, but he will do that without any pleasure - he would love being able to vote for Sanders).

The youngest is 22 and not very engaged in politics. He loved Obama because of his charisma and his rhetorical qualities, and certainly cares about student loans, but he is far from being enthused by your presumptive candidate and he could be enticed by a Republican who is young and dynamics. The only thing that would dissuade him is the hawkish side.

[ALBliberal]

29. My son just turned 18. The age group thinks politics doesn't matter both parties are the same etc.

But my son will vote and he will vote Democratic. He knows the importance of the Supreme Court nominations coming up.
But he's generally not excited about politics. He told me last night that his age group is the iPhone age group. He wonders how much they really can think things through how much they really understand about their world and what's going on...so much is played out through social media. Entire relationships are played out through instagram etc. It will be interesting to see what happens!

[liberal_at_heart]

32. Tell your son not to sell himself short. That social media generation can spark revolutions with

their new technologies. Remember seeing phone video from the Arab Spring? How about all the phone video we are getting of all the police abuse? There are young people out there making a difference and yes they are doing it with technology. Nothing wrong with that.

[ALBliberal]

33. True!! Maybe they will find a good balance between the technological side and the real life? side.

Not sure of the word I am looking for!

[hay rick]

37. I have real numbers from my area. You're going to hate them.

I live in SE Florida. My area has a lot of retirees and trends Republican. There are 329,735 voters in the area for which I have detailed information.. The overall registration mix is 40% R, 33% D, and 27% other. In the 2014 election, 56% of ALL voters voted. These numbers provide context for registration and voter participation rates of younger voters.

12,806 voters in the same area are between 18 and 22 and were eligible to vote in 2014. The numbers offer a little bit of good news and a whole lot of bad news. The good news- the Republican registration advantage shrinks in this group: 28.6% R, 27.8% D, and 43.7% other. The really bad news- they don't vote. Remember, the standard of comparison (all voters) is 56%. For this age group, the participation rate was 23.5%. Among those who registered neither D or R, the voting rate was 18.8%.

This generation is disenfranchising itself and the results are bound to be ugly. There is also opportunity here but it is currently buried under a mountain of inertia.

[WillyT]

40. And Therein Lies The Problem...

IF... They Vote... They Vote Presidential...

But not in the mid-terms...

We take a giant step forward, and then give it all back.

[hay rick]

42. Their participation in 2012 was really low. Figures for my area...

Last edited Sun Apr 19, 2015, 11:52 PM - Edit history (1)

In 2012, participation of registered voters by age group was:
21-30....47.8%.......they were 18-27 at the time. I use current age for all groups, so subtract 3 yrs for all
31-40....57.1%
41-50....67.5%
51-60....74.3%
61-70....77.3%
71-80....83.0%
81+.......80.7%

I think participation among younger age groups could be worse this time- based on the increasing share of non-affiliated and third party registrations. The change is pretty dramatic and does not bode well. First, you should understand that Florida is a closed primary state. Registering as something other than R or D effectively shuts a voter out of half the electoral process- the primaries. These voters have one foot out the door.

Two comparisons from 2012: for the 20-31 group, voters who registered as "other" voted 38.1% of the time vs. 53.5% for their peers who registered as R or D. The difference for all registered voters in 2014: R or D 74.2%, "other" 59.5%.

I said the number of people declaring "one foot out the door" was increasing...here are the last set of numbers to chew on:

"other" as percentage of all registered voters in my area: 27.1%
"other" as percentage of voters registering in last year: 44.6%

[daredtowork]

41. Socialist Alternative

because the traditional parties are dominated by old fogeys.