Boomer’s Influence on Politics Coming to an End? And Will the Younger Gens go the Other Way?
Posted On November 2, 2016
Millennials have made their voices heard in this year’s contentious presidential election, mostly through the vociferous support for Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders – a phenomenon I explored in a blog back in May. After Sanders fell in the primary to Hillary Clinton, their level of support for the Democratic nominee may play a role in whether she or Republican Donald Trump wins the presidency. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank recently cited polls showing Trump leading slightly among Baby Boomers while trailing among Gen-Xers and millennials. Milbank offered the opinion that Baby Boomers’ preference for the combative Trump is proof… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Voting Behavior
Millennials keep us guessing at the polls
Posted On December 18, 2014
Harvard shocked the pollsters a week before the election with its report that Millennials favored the GOP. And then the Millennials went out and voted Democrat—at least 55% of them did. While still a majority, that represents a significant shift from 2012. Are Millennials becoming more conservative as they age? And if so, is that consistent across fiscal and social positions? One election is too soon to tell. I will admit the poll results surprised me. Millennials have always had a very strong sense of social justice, which has greatly influenced their politics. On the other hand, from a financial… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Voting Behavior
Millennials and Boomers may work alike, but they don’t vote alike. Or do they?
Posted On May 8, 2014
I am frequently asked whether the differences in the generations are true differences or simply differences between ages. It is also a common belief that individuals grow more conservative as they grow older, however statistics do not necessarily bear that one out. The Pew Research Center recently reviewed 30 years of voting trends, comparing the percent of young (age 18-29) and older (age 65+) voters who voted democratic in each election between 1972 and 2012. With the exception of the 1972 Nixon election and the 2008 and 2012 elections of Barack Obama, the gap between the ages has only been… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation Y / Millennials, Voting BehaviorGenerational Vote Post-Mortem
Posted On November 13, 2012
Now that the 2012 election is over, the generational breakdown of the vote is no longer a matter of speculation but one of record. Exit polling tells which age groups showed up and for whom they voted, a long with a raft of other demographic data. One of the key questions we looked at going into the election was generational turnout, particularly of Millennials, which proved decisive in the 2008 race. Going into the election, polls indicated that Millennials still favored the incumbent but were likely to turn out less. In the end, Millennials actually increased their share of the… Read More
Categories: Voting BehaviorMillennial Voters think Globally, Not about their Pocketbooks
Posted On October 30, 2012
In an earlier post, we looked at the disconnect between Millennials’ nearly 2-to-1 support for the incumbent and their economic condition (struggling), which would typically incline them to vote against the incumbent. We noted that Millennials are not as dissatisfied with their status as many might believe and are driven in large part by social issues. Now, a survey by The Intelligence Group sheds some additional light by showing that Millennial voters are focused on the wider world and social causes more than their own economic condition. According to the survey, 73% of Millennials will base their vote for president… Read More
Categories: Menu 1, Recession Economy, Voting BehaviorMillennial Votes Driven by Branding, Social Media
Posted On November 1, 2012
The recent Intelligence Group survey of Millennials found that they interact with candidates and political parties in the same way the interact with their favorite brands: through causes and social media. In Millennials, the president of the Group sees “little distinction between airing their support for a candidate, a cause, a team, a movie, a birthday, or a pair of shoes they’ve purchased.” Indeed, brand loyalty and brand evangelism expressed through social media channels are key Millennial consumer traits that shape their political activity. Two-thirds of them said in the survey that social media activism was more effective at creating… Read More
Categories: Product Design, Voting BehaviorFinal Look at Election Demographics
Posted On November 6, 2012
Almost exactly one year ago, Pew took a generational look at the coming election and found a distinct generation gap: the preferences of the youngest and the oldest groups of voters were distinctly at odds. A year and billions of dollars of campaigning has altered that basic equation only slightly. Pew’s final look at the demographics of the 2012 election reflects essentially the same gap as its first. In October 2011, Millennials favored the Democratic candidate by a margin of 26 points. Today that margin is 21. A year ago Matures preferred the Republican candidate by a margin of 10…. Read More
Categories: Generations, Matures, Voting BehaviorMillennials Weigh In
Posted On September 27, 2012
The political potential of Millennials has begun to be realized across the globe in the last few years, as they reach adulthood and voting age. In the Middle East, younger generations are seen as largely responsible for the social-media fueled Arab Spring and Green Revolution. In Europe, Millennials affected by the economic crisis have taken to the streets in protest. And in the United States, Millennial voting patterns are seen as responsible, in part, for the outcome of the 2008 election. The shape and degree of their influence going forward has come into sharp focus as the 2012 election nears…. Read More
Categories: Voting Behavior