Young People in France Are Looking for Political Change But Likely Won’t Get It

 

Results of the first round of the French presidential election show that most young people in France are looking for alternatives to the current political order. 

Results of polling by Ipsos of the first round of the April elections appear below.

 

In the first round, Emmanuel Macron was bested by both Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon among voters under 32 and attracted less than 25 percent support among voters under 60.      

This being France, only Valérie Pécresse from Les Républicans and Éric Zemmour offered free market economic programs.  Zemmour focused on tax cuts while Pécresse planned to cut France’s bloated bureaucracy and regulatory state. 

Macron is a corporatist.  Macron wants more intervention in business with government directing capital to and providing protectionist measures to politically-favored businesses and industrial sectors. 

LePen is also a protectionist and advocates for expansion of entitlement spending by reducing the retirement age from 62 to 60.  She offers a particularly innovative approach to taxation by exempting workers below the age of 30 from the income tax.  This will allow young people to build wealth, buy homes and start families. 

Mélenchon’s economic program is straight out of Bernie sanders playbook—more spending, bigger government and more regulation of the private sector.

Polls show that Macron is ahead of Le Pen in the second round.  Poll show that Macron is favored to win.  That may be the case.  However, a macron victory will not bring about the type of political and economic change that young people in France long for.     

Yet Another Poll Shows Republicans Have a Golden Opportunity To Appeal to Young Voters

 

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to tank among the Millennials and Generation Z.  But will the GOP be able to capitalize on young voter dissatisfaction?

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,462 adults from March 24-28, 2022.

According to the survey, only 27 percent of Americans aged 18-34 approve of the way Joe Biden is handing his job.  This compares to 36 percent for all Americans.

Biden’s overall 36 percent is dismal.  However, for several decades, Democrats have depended on the votes of young voters to offset the Republican edge among voters age 45 and over.  That edge has gone away. 

In the 2020 election, Biden received 60 percent among young voters.  Based on the results of the Quinnipiac survey, half of the young people that voted for Biden in 2020 do not approve of his performance in office. 

Nor do young voters view Biden as a strong leader when it comes to his handling of the crisis in Ukraine.  When asked whether Biden has demonstrated strong leadership in his dealings with other NATO nations in the response to the invasion, only 34 percent of young people view Biden as a strong leader.   

The collapse in youth support for Biden provides the GOP with a golden opportunity to make deep inroads with rising generations.

In 1980 and 1984, Ronald Reagan won the hearts and minds of millions of young Americans.  But since that time, young voters have increasingly favored Democrats. 

Republicans should take a page from the Reagan playbook.  Young voters then were attracted to his message of economic opportunity, growth, optimism and a strong America.  I believe that young people would be attracted to the same message today.