A dissipating liberal youth?

Yesterday, I attended an interesting forum at the Center for American Progress that hosted multiple Harvard University researchers from its Institute of Politics who recently conducted a national poll of 2,923 18-24 year olds between March 8 and March 26.

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Some General Highlights: (the most interesting)

Note: There was a 31% increase in voter turnout among 18-24 year olds from 2004 – 2006. The Harvard researchers actually attributed the victories in 2006 of Jon Tester in Montana and Jim Webb in Virginia directly to the sizeable increase in turnout among 18-24 year-old voters. Without them they said, “the Republican incumbents would still be in office.”

The poll showed that young Democrats favor Obama for President over Clinton (35%-29%), and young Republicans favor Giuliani for President over McCain (31%-18%).

It also showed that young people are as dissatisfied with the job President Bush is doing in office as the rest of the nation, with less than one-third (31%) approving of his performance.

Likewise, the poll indicated that a measly 13% of young adults believe the country is heading in the “right direction” while 59% say the President has led us “off track.”

With this too, half of young people today (50%) say that either “Iraq,” “the War,” the “War on Terror,” or “domestic security” is the most concerning national issue, with no other issue registering higher than six percent (6%) including education, health care and global warming.

Nearly 6 in 10 young adults (58%) favor either decreasing the number of troops (29%) or removing all US troops (29%) from Iraq.

Surprising to note too, is that when asked “which of the following do you think should be the next foreign policy priority for President Bush,” among college undergraduates, the obvious first priority was Iraq (29%), but the second was “dealing with the genocide in Darfur” (19%). Likewise, among 18-24 year olds not in college, the results were strikingly similar with 22% stating Iraq as the first priority, with Darfur as a close second with 16%. No other issue including “fighting terrorism” or “Iran” was even close in preference. In most national polls, Darfur in contrast, is barely even on the radar screen.

Almost 3 in 4 young people (74%) state that the US should let the UN and other nations take the lead in solving international issues.

Young adults today have a very “internationalist” mindset, with a majority saying they are considering working or studying abroad, while nearly 2 in 5 (37%) say they favor globalization.

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So those are some of the more interesting results of the poll. However, the most interesting result of the poll I thought was the subject of a “New Ideology” that has emerged among the younger voters in our country. In general, most people in the United States usually regard young people as the most liberal among our society, with college campuses serving as “bastions” of liberalism. However, the results of this Harvard poll were at least for me, surprising.

Included among the study’s “10 Things Politicians Should Know About Young People,” number 10 was this:

“10. Traditional labels like “Liberal” and “Conservative” are no longer sufficient to describe the political view of young people, since a majority fall outside the traditional liberal-conservative divide. Many young people—whether very religious or staunchly secular—are still developing their political beliefs and therefore make up a critical part of the political center, which candidates on both sides of the aisle would be unwise to ignore.”

Researchers’ conclusion from the survey:

“Through data, both quantitative and qualitative, we now know that the traditional political ideology of the last century does not neatly fit this generation of young Americans. Forty percent (40%) of 18 to 24 year-olds in our survey report that they are “Independent”—not Democrats or Republicans and 46 percent describe their political views as “moderate”—not liberal or conservative.”

As it turns out, barely one-third of young people (35%) describe themselves as “Traditional Liberals” with more than half of the rest (54%) falling into the middle of the political spectrum, either as Secular Centrists (37%) or Religious Centrists (17%). I guess the best news is that barely 1 in 10 young adults (11%) would describe themselves as “Traditional Conservatives.”

So here we are, 35% Liberal, 54% Moderate and 11% Conservative. So my questions is who the hell are these so-called “Moderates” and where did all the liberals go???

The researchers said that the moderates are “defined as much by moral and religious views as by politics.” So with the Religious Centrists, thy apparently are more concerned about “the moral direction of the country.” And though the majority of them are morally against homosexuality, there are in fact the most supportive of universal health care of any other group within the 18-24 age range and are “known to be very green” on environmental issues—these being traditionally liberal stances.

And by contrast, the “Secular Centrists do not believe that political issues should be cast in a moral light and are generally less supportive of government’s role in providing health care and protecting the environment. However, they generally support domestic gay partnerships.” These people, the poll stated, are “the least dispassionate about their political views” and are “the least likely to vote.”

So there you have it: A generation of young moderates in a politically divided world.

Maybe it’s because there are so many decisive issues out there today. Maybe it’s because people simply just don’t care anymore. Or maybe, as members of a generation raised by the rebellious “baby-boomers,” we’re rebelling against society’s common assumptions and refuse to be simply “labeled” or confined to certain ideological designations.

As the researchers concluded:

“Democrats seeking the Religious Centrists must openly talk about their faith and position some issues in starkly moral tones. Republicans seeking the Secular Centrists must respect their views on domestic gay partnerships and inspire them to get engaged and vote in local and national elections. If engaged, this new center could well make the difference in 2008.”

So after thinking about it, although I am personally a die-hard liberal, and will stand firm on most progressive issues out there, I don’t know if this emergence of a “youthful moderate” demographic is entirely a bad thing. Here we have 54% of young people openly refusing to stand labeled by the right or the left. Rather, they have decided to conform to their personal held beliefs, and have actually created an environment in politics where the Democrats can no longer take those among them, who vote, for granted, and the Republicans will have to start paying attention. And in light of the 31% increase in voter turnout among them, it may have come to the point where the once young, liberal, yet apathetic voters of our country, have transformed into a more mature, headstrong, moderate demographic that demands that be attended to by both ideologies among both parties. To do otherwise, as Mr. Allen of Virginia and Mr. Burns of Montana found out, could be fatal.

With all of this, it does encourage me however that among the Moderates, each of the two groups held some aspect of traditional liberal views one way or the other. And with that, I find myself content with our 35% liberal base, and 54% more who are at least smart enough to consider both sides, and hopefully in the end, find that the liberal side is in fact, the way to go.