![](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/01835cf6-10e0-49e9-8aed-533f33be2ca3/Anderson_Kristen_AIF2019.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C800%2C800&w=200)
![](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null0fe6d430-e341-492d-82f6-89e4ab726a09/48132761566_a6c9f125db_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C83%2C4000%2C2250&w=800)
Not Your Parents' Party: How Gens X, Y, and Z Will Shake Up Our Politics
Setup
Whether it's their views on immigration, gun laws, or climate change, young people today are changing the face of politics. Are millennials and post-millennials becoming more progressive, or will they "grow into" conservative views? How might they change the Democratic 2020 primary? And how has their support for Trump changed since 2016? Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican pollster and co-founder of Echelon Insights, debates Margie Omero, Democratic pollster and principal at GBAO. They speak with Mike Allen, co-founder and executive editor of Axios, about what today’s political leaders must learn from young people.
- 2019 Festival
- USA
- Society
- Full transcript
A breakdown of the generations
Young people start out progressive but become conservative, right?
Young American voters are leaning to the left. They tend to favor democratic candidates and are progressive on a variety of issues. It’s not surprising then, says pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, that the commonly held perception is that “kids start off progressive but become more conservative.” In 2008, when young people helped Barack Obama garner enough votes to become president, Anderson decided to myth-bust.
Republicans should be worried.
In the last midterm election in 2018, 42 percent of millennials turned out to vote, which is a huge spike over the midterms of 2014. “[Young people] are turning out to vote in the sorts of elections they didn’t used to participate in,” says Kristen Soltis Anderson. And, starting with the election of President Obama in 2008, young voters have been breaking for the democrats, and according to Anderson, “these young voters are not likely to come back to the GOP anytime soon.”
Big IdeaSomeone who turned 18 on the eve of the presidential election in 2016, based on life expectancy, will be voting until 2076. So winning them when they’re young will pay dividends over a lifetime of votes.Kristen Soltis Anderson
Millennials want to engage with Mexico, not build a wall.
When it comes to immigration policy, the majority of millennials support a path to citizenship for people who qualify for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Additionally, 80 percent of millennials, according to GenForward, believe a pathway to citizenship should be available for law-abiding immigrants, or those who serve in the military. Kristen Soltis Anderson says this thinking is due, in part, to the greater diversity of the millennial generation. “Anytime you’re talking about generational politics, you’re inherently also talking about racial and ethnic politics because the younger generations are so much more diverse,” she says.
Younger generations are diverse
Anderson says there’s a danger in alienating Latino voters writ large. “You’re going to have an uphill battle winning young votes.” Younger generations, she says, believe we should be engaging productively with our allies, including Mexico. ”The kind of combative racial polarization that we see is just totally out of step with the ability to win over millennials and gen Z.”
Parkland forced lawmakers to listen to youth.
One issue young voters have embraced recently is gun control. Margie Omero, principal at the Democratic polling firm GBAO, says for a long time public opinion supported stronger gun laws but lawmakers were overly cautious to tackle the issue. Then, a fatal school shooting in Parkland, Florida forced them to confront gun control. Students from Stoneman Douglas High School caught the attention of the nation and members of Congress. “They hadn’t necessarily listened to young people and they hadn’t listened to where the public was on guns. Now, you see a real change,” says Omero.
Now, Omero says, gun control is showing up in the Democratic primaries and Republicans are struggling to figure out how to talk about guns. “[The gun debate] has changed dramatically even though the underlying structure — people want to see guns out of dangerous hands — has been true for a long time.”
Learn More
Additional Information
Resources
The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up)
The Pollsters podcast
Explore More
USA
![15 Talks to Understand the 2024 Political Landscape](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/26ac3431-ada5-424c-94a2-fdbb8fbb1bc3/GettyImages-1490401931.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=267&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4096%2C2729&w=400)
The 2024 presidential election is only months away, and the past few weeks alone have brought shocking headlines that change the political ground we stand on — an attempted a...
![Gettyimages 1488043800](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4f1048e8-0b45-4e5c-ab68-b59fdc805164/GettyImages-1488043800.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=8a5f4e&q=80&rect=2240%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=400)
![Gettyimages 1488043800](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4f1048e8-0b45-4e5c-ab68-b59fdc805164/GettyImages-1488043800.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=2240%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=400)
Conflict and suffering can bring out the worst in people, but it can also bring out the best. This is one of the lessons New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has learned...
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d53c86d8-a116-4261-8468-bf005c53bca1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ac473e&q=80&rect=1453%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d53c86d8-a116-4261-8468-bf005c53bca1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1453%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
The federal right to abortions in the United States has been overturned, access to contraception and IVF services are threatened in many states, and the gender wage gap persis...
![Adobestock 260344316](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2599851-39be-4138-a0b4-165f786a48a6/AdobeStock_260344316.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a7c51&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=400)
![Adobestock 260344316](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2599851-39be-4138-a0b4-165f786a48a6/AdobeStock_260344316.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=400)
The Supreme Court has issued another series of controversial and consequential decisions this term, fueling discussion on the current state of the judicial branch. Recent poll...
![Roots and Revelations](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9a7290c3-c71d-4303-979a-7b49449a77c4/53824082684_f2a441a5d7_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1667%2C0%2C2666%2C3999&w=400)
Henry Louis Gates Jr. — one of America’s leading public intellectuals and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard — explains the i...
![In Defense of Misfits: The Transcendence of an Unconventional Life](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/87df6db6-1f1f-4b05-95dd-118770600fd1/53823661837_0b1ee54615_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=4%2C0%2C8248%2C4640&w=400)
A nonbinary comedian challenges us to question our notions of self, gender and society, and opens our eyes to what we may gain in the process.
![Supercommunicators: The Science of Conversation and Connection](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4439f33b-44f3-4ce3-918c-6b7713b6017a/53825026550_67fcc31319_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=18%2C0%2C1562%2C879&w=400)
Why do some conversations succeed while others stumble? The neurology and psychology of communication offer surprising explanations for why human connection goes right or wron...
![Can We Disagree Better?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/867d54ef-2bf9-4bb5-995d-f35c23e375d0/53821131222_ca1376075a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C187%2C5360%2C3015&w=400)
Americans feel more polarized than ever, but two governors from opposite sides of the aisle have made it their mission to show otherwise.
![Women Investing in Women](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/29942e24-e2ab-4f83-94d2-b907fbaf4615/53823873613_23991edd49_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3100%2C4650&w=400)
Women are twice as likely to invest in female-led businesses. Explore the ways women approach wealth building and investment, and how they create opportunities to build financ...
![Are American Women Going Backwards?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a4f70e43-9976-4d6c-936d-6ffb4f1b3993/53824046585_143bcae259_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C462%2C4651%2C2618&w=400)
The rollback of reproductive rights, the push to end no-fault divorce, and gun laws that allow domestic abusers to own a firearm are turning the clock back on women’s rights....
![A Friendship Forged Across the Aisle](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7f68fce4-96b1-496a-9a3c-24bc903170c0/53823888468_306343aebd_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Former Senators Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison discuss the bipartisan work that defined their careers, suggest ways for today’s elected officials to find common ground,...
![The Court Decides](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/44f5f558-fb15-4b8c-8704-3d09fe95fc55/53822899936_81b46589e0_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=4%2C0%2C8248%2C4640&w=400)
As the Supreme Court concludes another contentious term, it is once again reshaping the legal landscape. With cases on abortion, gun rights and social media — and potentially...
![Pushback: The Perils (and Power) of Corporate Commitments](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4740a973-6c0d-4f57-9c35-796fdd369fa2/53823862693_2b19d6cc7e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C3100%2C4650&w=400)
With ESG caught in the political culture wars, business executives must decide to speak up or stay quiet about climate, diversity and democracy. What do employees and citizens...
![The First AI Elections](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/99577b3a-ea63-463d-ab41-661af8afde41/aielections.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C279%2C5443%2C3062&w=400)
Two billion people worldwide are set to vote in elections this year, amid global conflict, societal mistrust, broken information ecosystems — and the truth-destroying disrupti...
![The Secret of Making Hits](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/008361bf-2540-4a00-8e1f-69739f370ce8/53822660989_e5265f0505_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C307%2C5880%2C3308&w=400)
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
![Forgiveness in Times of Turmoil (podcast recording)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6a39dfbb-1abd-4ee5-9416-2290484c22f4/53823968189_21a4f4f910_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
As the stakes of political confrontation have escalated, the issue of forgiveness is complicated. Should one ever hold the line rather than look for avenues of reconciliation,...
![Choosing Our Families](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/3812d6cd-ff04-4feb-b0a9-ab271b9c5849/53823337075_48dbca4089_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=2293%2C0%2C3669%2C5503&w=400)
Marriage rates have been decreasing for decades, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t finding new ways to create family ties that bind. Family bonds in the LGBTQ community and...
![King of the Deal](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6ae1f900-5437-49d6-b9b1-b2a8d361dd92/53823958184_0494f8c2a2_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
From one of the highest perches in the entertainment industry, the CEO of sports and entertainment behemoths Endeavor and TKO takes us on a journey of leadership and leverage....
![A Vision for Tech Equity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d6b710dc-4837-4bae-aedc-b17d43cbe3ee/techequity.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=4%2C0%2C8248%2C4640&w=400)
The innovative philanthropist who paid off the student debt of the entire graduating class of Morehouse College class of 2019 talks about how to ensure all communities benefit...
![What Images Teach About Racial Justice](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b952ab2d-c640-4a57-8279-6c7d03238fb9/53820187272_5aeee651ba_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Images communicate truths, and also lies. Learning to pay attention to photographs can help us discern. An art and cultural historian and a visual artist host a master class o...