Polling Shows Opportunities for Republicans Among Young Voters in 2022

 

The latest Economist/YouGov poll shows young people disillusioned with the Biden Administration and the Democratic Party.  But can Republicans make the sale?

The Economist/YouGov polled 1500 Americans on their views on the Biden Administration and the ideological positioning of the two major parties.

Americans overall, and young Americans in particular, are not optimistic on the outlook for the next three years under Joe Biden.  Just over a third of young Americans are optimistic about the remaining Biden presidency.   The same number of Americans aged 18 to 29 are pessimistic.

  It is important to remember that exit polls found that Biden received 60 percent of the vote among 18 to 29 year-olds ion the 2020 election.  Clearly large numbers of young voters have become disillusioned with the failures, corruption and big government policies of the Biden Administration.    

Biden does slightly better among 30 to 44 year-olds.  Still, a substantial majority of Americans under the age of 45 are either pessimistic or unsure.  The Biden Administration has not endeared itself with young people in America. 

Young Americans are more likely to see the Democratic party as too far to the left than want to see the Democratic party continue to move left.  By a 3 to 2 margin, 18 to 29 year-olds view the Democratic Party as more left wing than they are.  The margin increases to two-to-one among 30 to 44 year-olds. 

Nevertheless, the Republican party also needs to do a lot of work to appeal to young voters.  Young voters are more likely to see Republicans as too far to the right than not conservative enough.  However, older voters are more likely to view the Democratic party as too extreme.  Almost half of Americans 65 and over see the Democratic party as much father to the left than they are while less than a third find Republicans too far right. 

The fact that voters overall are marginally more likely to find the Democrats too far to the left (33 percent versus 29 percent for the Republicans) is in stark contrast to the corporate media narrative which routinely characterizes Republicans as “far right” but never, ever characterizes Democrats as “far left”).

Republicans need to make the case that the free market system and smaller government are in the best interest of young people.  It is younger Americans, who have more of their lives and careers ahead of them, who have the most to gain from a pro-growth, pro-opportunity economic program for America.