It's no secret the older people get, the more conservative they tend to lean politically. As the adage goes, if you're not a liberal at age 20, you don't have a heart, but if you're not a conservative at age 40, you don't have a brain. However, new numbers show the political gap between older and younger generations is as wide as it has ever been. The Wall Street Journal cites the annual General Social Survey conducted by the University of Chicago, which measures the political identification of different generations. It finds that while Gen X and Baby Boomers are trending more Republican in recent years, Gen Z and Millennials are overwhelmingly Democrat. Gen Z identifies as Democrat over Republican by 29 points (49%-20%), while Millennials favor Democrats by a similar margin (47%-20%).
Since older Americans vote in far greater numbers than younger ones, these numbers appears to be positive for the GOP in the short-term. But they don't bode well long-term. "They say as you get older people get more and more conservative, but in fact statistics show it's actually a very minimal amount that that switches," says Anthony Russo, political commentator with the group Be The Change. "I think it just ebbs and flows with time, and it tends to be more coincidental based on what's going on in the world at the time."
That said, Russo does believe the current culture is contributing to the strong left lean of younger voters. "It is something really scary, because it's not going to get any better," he says. "The school system isn't getting any more awake, it's still continuing that whole path of wokeness."
Beyond education, liberals have the pop culture and media, too. "The marketing of the left is so much more hip and cooler, and then they've also got the bulk of social media and Google that can completely paint a one-sided picture," says Russo.
But all hope is not lost for conservatives. Other recent polls show both Millennials and Gen Z are persuadable, as their support for Joe Biden has fallen significantly since he took office. Russo sees this as an opportunity for conservatives. "One of the big flaws of the conservative movement is they're too stuck in their ways," he tells KTRH. "They've got to find a way to reach out to those liberals who are like, 'I'm young, I have to be a Democrat if I have a heart.'"
"Ultimately, it comes down to a slogan I've been using for awhile," he continues. "Make Patriotism Cool Again."
Photo: Getty Images