Republicans know just where they’re looking for votes this November: old white people. Old white people still like Donald Trump, and they’re a historically reliable voting block, so the strategy makes a whole lot of sense.
… in recently released surveys from both CNN and the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, voters age 35 and older split almost exactly evenly between the two parties on the generic ballot. Among voters ages 18 to 29, by contrast, Democrats held a resounding 27-point advantage in the Pew survey and an 18-point edge in the CNN poll.
Those results, in turn, reflect the persistent generation gap over Trump. In the Pew survey, only about one-fourth of adults under age 30 said they approved of Trump’s performance, far less than in any other age group. Likewise, Pew found that less than one-third of adults ages 18 to 34 said they agreed with Trump on all or many issues. By contrast, nearly half of all adults age 50 and older said they agreed with Trump on most issues, a number that rose to nearly three-fifths among older whites.
Here’s the real challenge for Democrats: making sure younger people and people of color vote.
… no more than about a quarter of eligible adults younger than age 30 have voted in any of the past five midterm elections. In 2010, voters under 30 represented just 12 percent of all voters, exit polls found, down from 18 percent in 2008. The share of ballots cast by voters under 30 likewise skidded from 19 percent in 2012 to 13 percent in 2014. Each time, the proportion of the ballots cast by seniors spiked by comparable amounts. In 2010 and 2014, the vote share cast by minorities also dropped 3 percentage points from the previous presidential races.
Anyone who wants to put a big barrier—a wall, if you will—between Donald Trump and power needs to vote. It’s really that simple.
Let’s give Democrats the resources to get out the vote and take back the House! Can you give $1 to elect a Democrat in each Daily Kos-targeted House district?
And don’t forget the Senate. Can you give $3 to elect Democrats in Nevada and Arizona?