The Republican Challenge with Young Voters
Political analysts give plenty of attention to our partisan divisions according to race or gender, but not enough to the stark differences based on age.
The good news for Republicans is that the Democrats are entirely reliant on young voters. Among Americans over 30 in 2016, Trump won the popular vote by a decisive margin, but among the 19% of voters below 30 he lost by a crushing landslide of 20 points. The bad news is nearly all these young people will be voting again, joined by even younger new voters who think just like they do.
Meanwhile, the over 65 segment – the strongest age group for Trump – gets steadily thinned by the actuarial realities. Unless we can swing those youthful voters toward conservative ideas, emphasizing better plans for their present and future, the prospects for the Republican party may be grim.