Most young people do not follow politics. However, they do notice things like this.

[fightforfreedom]

Having their rights taken away, Roe for example. Their education system, teachers, books being attacked. News like that spreads like a wild fire among young people.

I am hopeful young people are going to vote in big numbers this election. They could make the difference in the many close races that are bound to happen.

Most young voters are Democrats.

[mopinko]

1. i think the book banning is an under the radar wave.

the 1 trumpkin in my life is starting to see the light. dobbs did it.
he- the lunatic fringe has moved to the center, and they want to tell ME what to do. and my daughter. and my wife.
i think you are right here. nothing says lunatic fringe quite like banning books. esp history books.
trying to bury the 1619 project was an unforced error.

gonna be a tsunami. willing to wager.

[JohnSJ]

2. We will see, but I suspect most of the polls assume that young people won't vote in the midterms

when they adjust their weighting factor

[pstokely]

15. they aren't considered "likely" voters

since this or 2020 might be the first they voted

[Sympthsical]

3. Most young people notice whatever's trending on social media

And that varies.

I think confirmation bias occurs where people see the politically active young people on Twitter or wherever and think young people in general are all fired up political types. I spend half my week around early twenty-somethings. They're on social media half the time pissing about with whatever the thing that week is. I don't think I've heard anyone care what book is being attacked (twenty-something bookworms are not common things).

We must be careful not to imprint our own ideas of what youth are like or what we would like them to be with what youth actually are.

Most youth are liberal. They're worried about the environment much more than their elders (because they will have to live with it). They're socially much more liberal - not big fans of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. They worry about costs of living, because they're priced out of apartments, homes, and their jobs do not pay for what they thought it might while also carrying debt.

They do not care about their education system. They just want to get the grades, the degree, etc., and move on. Teachers and politicians are far more focused on it than the students are.

They care about abortion, of course. However, youth culture is run out of cities and blue states mainly, and people who live there can be very complacent about their own situations and not feel the same pressing urgency someone in, say, Texas may feel about an issue. This goes back to "They pay attention to what is in front of them."

That said, I think President Biden has done more than enough to motivate them. The economy and costs of living are definitely a drag. It feels like everyone in their 20s is in a bizarre existential crisis these days. But they're definitely not Republican (where figures like Ted Cruz are the epitome of all that's shitty in Red World).

It's going to matter who shows up. We'll see.

(Yes, yes, I know everyone's child is perfect and wonderfully engaged in all of the issues all of the time. I'm sure they are lovely. But I'm on a college campus several times a week, and I see what they're about. That protest you saw on Twitter was the outlier - not the norm).

[Joinfortmill]

10. This makes a lot of sense to me. I do think they will vote.

ROE is a big issue, but so is the GOP's mission of hate and the banning books - they don't like it.

[Sympthsical]

12. Roe, yes. Books, no.

They really don't care about that stuff.

Activists care. Youth in general don't.

[pstokely]

21. it's about censorship

even if they don't read outside of anything required for a class

[Sympthsical]

29. How do you figure?

I'm trying to figure out where this youth hating censorship idea is springing from.

Because my experiences on Twitter, campuses, and other spaces is . . . a lot different.

[KPN]

16. THIS -- are we making good and sufficient use of social media?

[Freddie]

4. My kids and their friends - in their 30s

Are all LIVID about abortion and will be voting straight Blue.

[kacekwl]

5. I by no means was political when I was 18.

Cars and girls were the only thing on my mind. Could have been the looming threat of being drafted to Vietnam luckily the draft ended shortly after my number was picked. I voted as soon as I was able and in every election since. With all the information available now there must be some issues that can motivate young people to vote.

[Joinfortmill]

6. SCOTUS made a huge mistake with ROE. Watch us roar.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Young people don't poll well, either...

traditional polling methods don't capture them. Not sure how to fix that, because many people (not just kids) won't answer calls from unknown numbers. Perhaps something on-line or through the twitterverse or something. Kids are also not that "loyal" to social media platforms, either.

[rubbersole]

8. I left Florida for Berkeley in 1970 at the wise old age of 18.

Kent State happened on my 18th birthday (5/4/70). Vietnam was front and center for all my male peers. Friends without means and a low draft number would graduate high school and in 4 months come home in a box. We were in the streets and had been since '68. Hope for the future was found amongst each other and the college campuses. That could never happen now. Political leaders don't react to voter's interests. They react to their paymasters.

The only hope is the women and young people overwhelm the rw ratfuckery and the blue tsunami really reflects the good in the American people.

[Joinfortmill]

11. Amen to that

[pstokely]

18. and many of those white boomers became radicalized by 30 years of hate radio and faux

Last edited Thu Oct 27, 2022, 12:23 PM - Edit history (1)

but I think many of those were just posers doing the in thing at the time without any true beliefs at the time(protesting, draft dodgin' and dope smokin'), and they became repukes when they finally got theirs

[rubbersole]

34. Don't forget "free love"...

[AntivaxHunters]

9. "Most young people don't follow politics"

I hate to tell ya but they are incredibly engaged.
They now make up the largest age affiliated bloc too.

Here's the 2021 Harvard poll on young voters https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/spring-2021-harvard-youth-poll

Here's the 2022 Harvard poll on young voters https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/spring-2022-harvard-youth-poll

[fightforfreedom]

13. When I was young, 18,19,20 years old I did not follow the news or politics.

Neither did my friends. This was before the internet, cell phones and cable news. I had no idea what was going on in the world and I did not care. I only cared about girls and where the next party was being held.

However, when something big happened in the news it would spread by word of mouth like a wild fire among me and my friends.

I think that happened when Roe was overturned. That news spread like a wild fire among young people. According to news reports a lot of young voters have registered to vote for the first time. That could make a difference in close races.

We must hold the Senate, the House was always a long shot but we have a chance to hold that because of how extreme the Republican Party has become. In normal times this would be a blow out election for the Republicans.

I am hoping the American people surprise me and we hold both chambers.

[pstokely]

19. you must been an Xer

small in numbers, but even more repuke leaning than geezers according to some surveys

[JohnSJ]

20. I sure did. There was a Viet Nam war and a draft going on then

[fightforfreedom]

25. I was a little to young for Nam and the draft.

Thank goodness. I volunteered for the army in 1978. Nam and the draft had ended by then.

[Sky Jewels]

36. I know that they instantly spread the word through social media as well.

I'm on Instagram mainly to keep tabs on my young adult kids, and I follow many of their friends. The young women (including my daughter) and some of the young men (including my son) started posting stuff on June 24 when the decision came down.

[pstokely]

14. they aren't loyal Dems (yet)

but they do lean left, they haven't developed any party loyalty

[pandr32]

17. I think gun violence and the climate crisis have been noticable, too.

Those issues have been a huge deal with my niece and nephew along with gender issues. They talk about them all the time.

[fightforfreedom]

26. Good point.

[3825-87867]

22. Uh huh

[Elessar Zappa]

24. Ageism.

Nice. I forgot, which demographic supported Trump the most?

[Wednesdays]

28. To be fair, the meme is pointing out apathy, not Trumpism. nt

[pstokely]

31. actuallly GenXers

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/20/cherie-westrich-alt-rock-gen-x-maga-00033769

[pstokely]

32. he didn't have to walk butt naked through 40 miles of snow

&ab_channel=%22WeirdAl%22Yankovic-Topic

[Elessar Zappa]

23. I think you're right.

Also, surveys show that young people are very concerned with climate change.

[LakeArenal]

27. I worked with 18 year olds for decades.

The are aware of politics. They are active.

I won’t say the majority, but those that follow politics can activate others.

I couldn’t wait to vote when I turned 18.

If the topic like Vietnam can activate my generation we can activate this one.

I think the underestimated like women and youth are going to show up to vote.

We raised these generations. Parents do what you can to get your kids to vote.

[Treefrog]

35. "We" can activate this one?

You live in a country (if I remember correctly) that prohibits abortion under all circumstances.

I assume you moved there voluntarily.

How are "you" working to activate young people here?

[LakeArenal]

40. I have paid my dues. I don't have to validate my efforts to you.

Costa Rica is not your stereo type.
Abortions are not available through the State healthcare system. But there are plenty of private doctors that will perform an abortion.

Once again thanks for your interest in my opinions. Even if it is to pick them apart.

Pura Vida as we say here.

Edit: Also life of the mother is valued. State will abort for the health of the mother.

[FakeNoose]

30. They're getting their politics on TikTok and Reddit

It's not to say they are apathetic, but their attention is spotty and unreliable. They can be swayed one way or the other, depending on their friends and influencers. That's what makes today's kids so different from (us) Baby Boomers. Yes I'm a Boomer, born in 1951 and I was a Vietnam War protester in the 60's and early 70's.

So their world - what we've given them - is completely different from the world that was given to us. I believe you're correct about the Roe ruling, it could be enough to get the youngsters on the same page. They don't realize how hard it will be to undo all the wrongs that have been done by conservatives in the last 40 years. We need to give them encouragement so they don't give up.

[Sky Jewels]

37. A big majority of the young folk are pro-choice, anti-NRA & very concerned with climate change.

[FakeNoose]

38. That's good to hear

Even if they're unwilling to join our Party, at least they'll be independents who lean left. That's what I was for a long time, myself. I didn't join the Democratic Party until 2008, but I always voted for Dems my whole life.

[Act_of_Reparation]

39. Excellent take.

So their world - what we've given them - is completely different from the world that was given to us.

Bingo.

I'm a 40 year old millennial. My childhood was very different from what gen-Z experienced, and there's only a twenty year gap between us. I had to deal with nonsense they didn't. They have to deal with nonsense I didn't. These experiences shape our political attitudes and willingness to engage.

We seem more content to sit back and judge that which seems alien to us when we should be making more of an effort to understand it... if only for the very cynical reason that our failure to win over young voters is costing us big at the ballots.

[riversedge]

33. well, whatever they notice, I hope it is enough to get them to the polls-Dem vote of course.