Reason-Rupe has a new survey and report out on
millennials—find the report
here.
Millennials don’t have much
confidence in either of the two major political parties. When asked
who they trust most to handle a series of issues, neither Democrats
nor Republicans receive a majority of support on any of the 15
issues surveyed. Instead pluralities say they trust “neither” party
to handle 12 of the 15 issues.
Pluralities trust Democrats the most on gay marriage, the
environment, and poverty. Republicans only marginally exceed the
Democrats on promoting entrepreneurship. In fact, even Republican
millennials don’t trust the Republican Party across most of the
issues.
Half of millennials (50%) say they trust neither party to handle
privacy, with 27 percent trusting Democrats and 17 percent saying
the same of Republicans. Dissatisfaction with both parties is
understandable given that both parties have staked nearly the same
position on the issue and both President Obama and President Bush
expanded surveillance programs. Those who disagree with the status
quo on domestic surveillance lack a partisan alternative to
represent their views.
Likewise, millennials don’t have many options to choose from if
they care about fiscal responsibility either. Large pluralities
trust neither party on government spending and the budget
deficit.
Notice—these two issues, spending and the deficit, have
historically advantaged Republicans, yet today less than a
quarter of young adults say they trust Republicans to handle these
issues now.* Instead, more trust Democrats (3 out of 10) than
Republicans.
Other issues that have traditionally advantaged Republicans,
such as taxes and foreign policy, don’t garner support for either
party and see Republicans losing ground to Democrats. A third of
millennials trust Democrats to handle taxes and foreign policy, a
quarter trust Republicans, and nearly four in 10 trust neither.
Although civil liberties and fiscal responsibility are important
issues for millennials, the economy and jobs are
given highest
priority. Neither party has convinced a majority that their
approach is best. However, nearly twice as many trust Democrats
(37%) as Republicans (21%) to promote job creation. Another 37
percent say neither party is best at promoting jobs in the
economy.
Drug policy is another issue where both parties take similar
positions and millennials trust neither. Forty-one percent say
neither party can adequately handle drug policy, but slightly more
trust Democrats (32%) than Republicans (21%).
The only issue on which Republicans could credibly compete with
Democrats is promoting entrepreneurship: 28 percent trust
Republicans and 27 percent trust Democrats. While Republicans talk
about promoting small business, start-ups, and entrepreneurship, it
is possible that young people either have not heard this message or
don’t think Republicans are serious or competent on the matter.
However, millennials don’t think Democrats will do a very good job
either in fostering entrepreneurship either.
While millennials have little confidence in Republicans to
handle important issues, their view of Democrats isn’t much better.
On issues that Democrats have traditionally
had an advantage on, such as education, immigration, and health
care, trust in Democrats doesn’t exceed 40 percent. Nevertheless,
support for Democratic handling is double that of Republicans for
education (37 to 17 percent) and immigration (37 to 18
percent).
While a slim majority (51%) say they have a favorable opinion of
the Affordable Care Act, the Democratic overhaul of the health care
system, only 36 percent of millennials say they trust Democrats to
handle health care overall. Only 21 percent trust Republicans; a
plurality (37%) say neither party can properly handle health care
issues.
Even Republicans Don’t Trust the Republican
Party
Another reason Democrats are handily beating Republicans is that
even Republican millennials trust the Democratic approach
on a number of issues. Nearly a third of Republican millennials
prefer Democrats’ handling of same-sex marriage and the
environment, and a quarter prefers Democrats’ handling of poverty.
No more than 15 percent of Democratic millennials trust Republicans
on any issue.
Compiling these results into a Party Trust Index shows that not
even Republican millennials trust the Republican Party to
competently handle the nation’s most pressing concerns. On all 15
issues combined, only 47 percent of Republican millennials
primarily trusted the Republican Party while 69 percent of
Democratic millennials trusted the Democratic Party.
Political science research has shown that political independents
tend to lean one partisan way or the other, but millennial
independents are still overwhelmingly unwilling (79%) to endorse
the parties on the issues. Of all millennials, 28 percent refused
to endorse either political party on any of the 15 issues
surveyed.
Among the millennial cohort, Republicans are no longer viewed as
most competently able to handle issues on which they have
historically had the advantage. While Democrats aren’t viewed
favorably either, they are viewed as the better of two bad options.
Given millennials’ low level of confidence in both major political
parties, it is less surprising that more than half initially say
they are independent rather than affiliate with a partisan label
they don’t trust.
To learn more about
millennials, check
out Reason-Rupe’s new report.
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