Millennials Turn Rightward?

from Stand Firm by Sarah

Interesting stuff from an older article in my backlog of posts, from NRO, where there is more:

Resurgent Republic is not the only group to have discovered this trend among younger voters. Generation Opportunity, a new, non-partisan organization that seeks to organize millennials on economic issues, has also found rising dissatisfaction over Obama’s handling of the economy from previously ardent supporters. Its polling of young Americans across the country shows that 54 percent believe America is heading in the wrong direction. According to Paul Conway, the president of Generation Opportunity, the “number one overwhelming issue [for them], which folks deal with everyday, is the lack of jobs in America.” Generation Opportunity has found that the current economy has forced 77 percent of millennials to put their lives on hold. Many are delaying buying a home, saving for retirement, paying off debt, returning to school, or starting a family.

Millennials around the country are echoing these findings. Chris Pizzo, a 27-year-old lawyer in Florida, insists that there are “serious doubts among young voters and young Americans” about this economy. Chris says that even his “company, [which is] looking to expand and grow,” is “seeing individuals looking to work with us” who are significantly overqualified, “as traditional options aren’t there.” Trevor Brownlow, an 18-year-old freshman at University of North Carolina Chapel-Hill, describes how the economy has left him “unsettled,” and forced him to ask himself “what opportunities are out there?” The millennials are looking for concrete plans for an economic recovery — whether it is deficit reduction, lower gas prices, or tax cuts. Deficit reduction is of particular interest to this younger generation, as there is a realization that they will be stuck with the ramifications of the federal government’s overspending.

Independent millennials that are leaning Republican are focused solely on the economy and are not being drawn to the Republican party by social issues. In fact, according to Luke Frans, the millennials in the Resurgent Republic focus groups refused to discuss the Republican party’s social views. In other interviews, millennials have noted that they preferred the Republican party’s leadership on the economy, but could not bring themselves to vote for a Republican out of distaste for current GOP positions on gay marriage and abortion.