Lady Logician - Get Out Of The Way!

Get Out Of The Way!

Written by LL

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 08:28

A strange phenomenon has been getting quite a bit of coverage in the "new media" and it started with a pair of polls. First was this Pew Research Group Poll last month tha showed young voters trending away from Democrats. Then came this Harvard Poll that echoed the Pew Group's findings. Analysts all over the country wondered if this was the beginning of a disturbing trend for the Democrats.

Back In February The Huffington Post opined...

The findings are significant because they offer further proof that the diverse coalition of voters Obama cobbled together in 2008 – including high numbers of first-timers, minorities and youths – are not Democratic Party voters who can necessarily be counted on.

While young adults remain decidedly more liberal, the survey found the Democratic advantage among 18-to-29 year olds has substantially narrowed – from a record 62 percent identifying as Democrat vs. 30 percent for the GOP in 2008, down to 54 percent vs. 40 percent last December. It was the largest percentage point jump in those who identified or leaned Republican among all the voting age groups.

Young adults' voting enthusiasm also crumbled.

But according to latest Gallup Poll that may not be totally accurate...at least when it comes to abortion...

...18- to 29-year-olds are now roughly tied with seniors as the most likely of all age groups to hold this position on abortion -- although all four groups are fairly close in their views. This is a sharp change from the late 1970s, when seniors were substantially more likely than younger age groups to want abortion to be illegal.

HT Ed Morrissey.

Anecdotally, I can add that there does appear to be a trending toward a more conservative attitude in younger people - a trending I started seeing back in Minnesota (so don't say it is a Utah influence because I know MORE liberal young people out here in Utah go fifgure). Now I will admit that our family tends to hang out with a more conservative leaning crowd anyway because of the Junior Logician's choice of activities, but even in those more conservative groups you generally have a more liberal slant due to the ages of the folks involved - but that has been changing over the last year as these youth (many of whom were enthusiastic Obama supporters in 2008). One reason for the change in attitude may be the issues that Mark Tapscott lays out in this Examiner piece.

Imagine watching as the government robs your parents of their retirement security, denies them access to decent health care, and compromises the independence that is supposed to mark their Golden Years.

That’s not a scene likely to generate support for those inflicting such agonies on the people who gave you life, especially when the perpetrators also hand you the bill. Thus will the progressive vision for America end with the Millennials.

His argument hits on issues that the Millennials are just now starting to experience as they enter the work force ahd start families of their own...

This coming entitlement crisis will engulf Boomers just as Millennials enter the most fecund years of family life and career. But instead of enjoying such rewarding endeavours, they will face the hardships and heart breaks that will come with being what The Washington Post’s Robert Samuelson earlier this week called “the Chump Generation:”

Samuelson’s label, however, doesn’t begin to do justice to what lies ahead for Millennials, thanks to their government:

Their federal taxes will hit unprecedented levels as Washington props up Social Security, Medicare and other federal entitlement programs. So will state and local taxes, thanks to similarly generous pensions for teachers, cops, firemen, and bureaucrats.

Good health care will be harder to get for middle class Millennials and their kids, thanks to government rationing of medical services.

With a no-growth, high-tax, “green economy,” entrepreneurial opportunities will be scarce, new jobs rare, and standards of living falling for the first time in American history. Most things will cost more, everyday tasks like getting to work and grocery shopping will be more tedious, and the general quality of life will be noticeably less pleasant.

In the process, millions of Millennials will have to take in their aging Boomer parents or otherwise care for them, and do so with fewer personal resources and under far greater economic pressures than those faced by perhaps any previous American generation since before the Great Depression.

Tapscott then goes on to argue that Millennials are so decentralized and so used to the endless choices of the digital age that they will not long tolerate a centralized bureaucracy oriented problem solving model.

But what does this mean to the political parties? It should mean a LOT as my friend Kevin McCullough points out.

At this year's recent CPAC gathering I was easily reminded, over and over again, how energized the next generation is. I'm also reminded that the bureaucratically heavy-handed moves from inside the Beltway--especially from conservative organizations--continues to prevent the energetic, well-informed, and capable voices of center right youth to be heard...

If the silver sea of conservatives and Republicans wish to capitalize on the significant mistakes Obama is making in misreading and misleading the current youth generation, then they need to invite this energized demographic into the discussion, planning, and strategy for the future that awaits (primarily) them.

In years past CPAC scored average attendance of roughly 50% of registrations from people under 30. This year it was sixty-one percent...

This is no time for ego or for the expansion of political kleptocracy.

For the Democrats who have abused the “under 30” good will, notice is served.

But that also applies to former Reagan administration personnel who hold on too tightly to power inside Beltway think-tanks.

Empower them, encourage them, or get out of the way.

Otherwise you're part of the problem!

We (as Boomers, as adults) need to encourage the Millennials to get more involved. Sadly we appear to be doing to our children (and their children) the same thing our parents did to us when we first became politically active and that is just wrong. We need to let the youth lead where they can and support them as they spread THEIR political wings. It is time for the next generation to get engaged and the best way to do that is to give them "skin" in the game. The party that does that will be the party that wins their loyalty for years to come.