The Democrats Have a Millennials Problem

Remember when
Barack Obama permanently won millennial voters to the side of
Democrats in 2008? As I wrote in my October 2014 magazine feature
story, “The
Millennial Scramble,” experts predicted that Obama had secured
young people forever when he secured the presidency.

Well, that was short-lived. Millennials are as dissatisfied with
the president as everyone else, and are expected to sit this
election out—a major blow to a president who believed initiatives
like Obamacare would be widely appreciated by young people.
According to
The Hill:

Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and
former spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.), said that the promise of “hope and change millennials
invested in has hit a brick wall.”

Manley said that this in turn has made young voters “very
cynical about the political process and less likely to vote than
they had in the past.” …

A poll released earlier this year showed a significant
decline in the number of Democratic-leaning millennials
who planned to vote in the midterm elections.

The survey, conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of
Politics, found that young voters are increasingly turned off by
the political environment.

That’s an important distinction, though: millennials aren’t
exactly flocking to the Republican banner. They are “turned off” by
the political environment entirely, and are skeptical that any
politicians have answers to their economic plight.

Does this mean millennials are experiencing some kind of
libertarian awakening? While there’s no definitive answer, Reason’s
Nick Gillespie and Emily Ekins have
argued that the generation is still “unclaimed.” They are
socially tolerant, but their economic views are up in the
air—accordingly, they haven’t bought into a specific party or
ideology yet.

Even so, Democrats have some obvious advantages that make it
comparatively easier for them to recruit young voters. As The
Hill notes, the student loan debt situation has become a cause
celebre of those who would recapture millennial support, including
Sen. Elizabeth Warren:

A DNC official said that they have been building upon their past
success, and that most young voters agree that the Democratic Party
has their best interests at heart, championing issues ranging from
college affordability to equal pay.

“It’s a reflection of what we’re running on more broadly,” said
one DNC official, adding that these issues appeal to voters across
the board and are not simply geared toward the younger set.

At the same time, the official added that millennials understand
that “Democrats have their backs.”

Anyone who doesn’t want to see millennials returning to the
Democratic fold in search of debt forgiveness and tuition subsidies
needs to articulate the case that increased federal involvement in
higher education has
made college more expensive and wrecked it for everyone.

And it should be clear that a Republican Party more in tune with
the libertarian sensibilities of millennials would stand a
significantly better chance at winning some of their votes.