Millennials in Poll Fake Right, Go Left

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Wednesday, January 13, 2016

by Campaign for America's Future Blog

Millennials in Poll Fake Right, Go Left

by Isaiah Poole

At first glance, a poll released this week by USA Today and Rock the Vote, done by Ipsos, seems to confound our narrative that a majority of millennials identify more with progressives than conservatives. In fact, when asked that question point-blank when it comes to economic policy, 38 percent of respondents in the poll identified as conservative to some degree, while 34 percent identified as liberal.

But there are several signs in the poll that a progressive policy agenda would win much broader support among millennials than what would be indicated by how they identified themselves ideologically. (See our Populist Majority website for how other polls have measured national support for progressive policies.)

When the poll asked specific policy questions, a majority of the respondents – a sample of more than 1,100 adults between the ages of 18 and 34 – sided most of the time with positions that at least lean toward positions in our Populism 2015 Platform for People and the Planet.

Eighty percent, for example, agreed with the statement that “American should transition to mostly clean or renewable energy by 2030.” Almost that same percentage supported regulation to protect air and water (which would be a no-brainer position if it were not for leading Republican presidential candidates campaigning on either abolishing or severely weakening the Environmental Protection Agency and the laws it enforces). Almost 60 percent support the idea of government investing more heavily in buses and rail.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/13/millennials-poll-fake-right-go-left

[nxylas]

1. Among millennials, I often find that a "conservative" is a liberal from the South or West

It's the "football team" approach to politics. They may be progressive on the actual issues, but think of liberals and progressives as those pointy-headed elitists from the Northeast or the Left Coast.

[EdwardBernays]

2. It's just brsinwashing

They think liberal is another word for bad.

[Proserpina]

3. Every generation brings change to the language

This one will bring change to reality, too.

[ripcord]

4. It doesn't matter anyways

Millennials don't vote.

[Populist_Prole]

5. I've gotten phone polled very few times, but

I couldn't help but to notice how skewed they seemed to me; skewed to the right, or rather "forcing" you to "choose" right.

What I mean is that you actually can choose a left answer choice, but the choices are so biased as to make one feel like the rightward choices are normal or reasonable, and the leftward ones are so extreme that it makes you take that choice out of pure partisanship.