Poll: Young voters disenchanted with Republican party

[Kadie]

Poll: Young voters disenchanted with Republican party
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Monday, August 27, 2007

Two larger-than-life politicians, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan, charged into the California governor's office with the help of young voters, many of whom were drawn to the Republican Party by a message of sunny optimism.

But what those two very different Republican politicians did to attract millions of young adults looks to be a feat the Grand Old Party may not repeat anytime soon - either in California or on the national level in the 2008 presidential election.

A Democracy Corps poll from the Washington firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner suggests voters ages 18 to 29 have undergone a striking political evolution in recent years.

Young Americans have become so profoundly alienated from Republican ideals on issues including the war in Iraq, global warming, same-sex marriage and illegal immigration that their defections suggest a political setback that could haunt Republicans "for many generations to come," the poll said.

The startling collapse of GOP support among young voters is reflected in the poll's findings that show two-thirds of young voters surveyed believe Democrats do a better job than Republicans of representing their views - even on issues Republicans once owned, such as terrorism and taxes.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/27/MNMIRNDUK.DTL&tsp=1

[Kolesar]

1. LBN thread of SF Gate article

:) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2967836

[YOY]

2. We can only hope it's true

It would spell a true shift back to a normal political compass for this country where the right is the right and the left is the left and not rightish shades of "liberal and conservative".

[Colorado Progressive]

3. As a gen-xer I have to say

I am always surprised when I hear stats of us being repubs. I dont know any repubs who are not boomer age. Maybe it was that time I spent in San Francisco....

anyways, this article is good news!!!!

[Vogon_Glory]

4. That's Nice, BUT...

I think it sounds all very nice that twenty-something people are growing disaffected with the Gee Oh Pee, but I can't help but wonder if:

(a) Those purportedly disaffected people are registered to vote.

(b) They actually bothered to vote once they've registered.

I'd love to be optimistic, but I'm all too aware that the twenty-something demographic is the demographic least likely to vote in local, state, and federal elections. If the purportedly disaffected people had voted in proportion to their disaffection about three years ago, Buckaroo Bush and Dead-Eye Dick would have had to slink back to Texas in January, 2005.

:argh: