It's moving libertarian.
If you look at the youth, young adults on both the right and the left tend to agree on more things than they realize. Social libertarianism (and populist libertarianism) is an area where the right and the left of people under 40 is in agreement.
They are rejecting the far-right authoritarians, especially the religious right. They have a "live and let live" attitude. They are open to gay marriage. They support marijuana legalization. They tend to be anti-war...many favor defense reductions.
But they are not pro-government either. The youth is far more likely to view people like Snowden and Manning favorably than the older generations. They are more likely to be angry that the government is spying. The youth tends to usually be more anti-authority. So these people don't really favor increasing the size of the government. They don't trust the government. They dont trust politicians. They think law enforcement is corrupt. And that's causing a significant rift in both parties.
I mean look at how divided we are even here on DU concerning Snowden. Some of us here think he's a traitor and should be brought back, prosecuted, and punished. Others here consider him a patriot and should be honored for informing Americans on what the government is doing. It's quite a big division.
Right now I think the Democrats blew it. They had a chance to grab these people over the past few years and have dominant majorities. But for some reason Obama decided to take a HUGE authoritarian turn. And now the youth doesn't really trust him or the party anymore. If Rand Paul runs, you might be surprised how much of the youth tends to drift his way because they want something different. Hillary Clinton (other than being a woman) is nothing different. Hillary will not change anything.
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