Millennials Moving To The Center And Right (Op-Ed)
“Why must every generation think their folks are square? I swore when I was small I’d remember all I did wrong back then. I hope that I recall that all before the baby’s due.” – John Sebastian
Image Credit: ITU Pictures / CC
By William Haupt III [Tennessee Watchdog Journalist, Columnist, Author, and Citizen Legislator via The Center Square] –
One of the most puzzling and questionable enigmas of modern American political parties is that the Democrats have had majorities that controlled Congress, much longer than Republicans have. At one time Democrats controlled the House for 36 consecutive years and 56 of the last 60 years. It’s also hard to believe they have controlled the Senate for 50 of the past 60 years.
On the other hand, America has elected more Republican presidents than Democratic presidents. Between 1789 and 2016, 46 Americans have been sworn into office as the president of the United States. Of these, a larger number belonged to the Republican Party than those affiliated with the Democratic Party. There have been 19 Republican presidents and 17 Democratic presidents.
There is nothing more self-indulgent than the Democrats talking about their emerging permanent majority. In 2008, Democrats were convinced that millennial voters would propel them from one victory to another; because Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden promised to “fundamentally transform” America. And this generation would give progressives perpetual control over the government.
Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, said during remarks at the National Press Club, “This is the end of the Republican conservative era” after Obama’s victory. Overzealous Democrats predicted that this was not just about “change.” It was about an America moving further left of center that would lead to the creation of a permanent progressive majority.
Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster, raved about the emergence of a new liberal progressive era for America. He bragged that the Republican conservative movement crafted by Newt Gingrich had been “buried and crushed” by this new generation of young progressive and identity voters.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama
What all of these liberal pollsters and Obama supporters failed to realize is that Democrats saw Obama as an opportunity to take back the White House since he was an identity candidate running for president during a recession. Liberal media loved him and camouflaged his many indiscretions. He won because many Blacks that never voted in their life turned out in mass to put him in office.
Obama’s entire presidency was designed by beltway Democrats. They surrounded him with party watchdogs like John Kerry, Susan Rice, Larry Summers and the Clintons. Obama appointed leftist Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve, who floated his anemic recovery with zero interest rates.
Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment was taking away our free market healthcare on Christmas Eve Dec. 24, 2009. When he said, “You can keep your doctors if you wish and the only difference you will see is lower premiums,” identity and millennial voters jumped for joy.
“You will like it. Once we pass the bill after you read it and find out what’s in it.” – Nancy Pelosi
Most of us grow up sooner or later, like it or not. Fifteen years after the left predicted a perpetual progressive dynasty, it looks like they went to a carnival fortune teller with a broken crystal ball.
Now that the bills are coming due, many of those who thought Obama’s “change” was the second coming of the Enlightenment are changing their tune. Many are changing their political parties, too.
A recent New York Times report shows a shift towards the right among the same voters who drove the bus for Obama’s victory tour 15 years ago. Looking past the liberal talking points, this is part of a larger pattern for millennials. According to surveys achieved by the Roper Center over the last decade, voters under 50 have shifted to the right. This is unique since it’s mostly one generation.
It’s common for those who voted for liberals to move to the center or to the right as they get older and more educated about politics. As they mature and enter the job market, they recognize: To reap the harvest of capitalism they must patronize the system that they were once told was bad and evil.
“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.” – Ramana Maharshi
Contrary to political folklore, considering data fed to us by the liberal media and liberal pollsters, the era of Democratic dominance is already here? The left leaning Financial Times recently wrote that “millennials are shattering the oldest rule in politics by not moving to the right as they age.” Catalist, the Democratic data firm, agreed. They claim that Democrats haven’t lost any of the millennial vote.
But the millennials of 2008 are not the same as those of 2016. Some of the issues that drove the millennial vote in 2008, like the war in Iraq, same-sex marriage and progressive anti-capitalism mantra are no longer issues for them. This is especially true for millennials who have gone to work for large successful corporations. These businesses depend on profits made in the free markets.
With most millennials facing the real world for the first time when they graduate from college, the social issues that attracted them to the Democrats are now actually working against them. They have turned to the Republicans’ colorblind messaging on race and the party’s focus on lowering the debt. They want inflation controlled and free speech protected from a progressive big government.
A poll of over 1,400 people sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and Reality Check Insights after the November 2020 elections revealed that a plurality of millennials consider themselves centrists. Over 50% are politically independent. A total of 16% are conservative and 30% identify as liberal. These numbers don’t coincide with the current propaganda from the progressive agitprop machine.
“The trouble with our Liberal friends is that they just know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan told us, “You are not entitled to your own facts.” Progressives showed us their vindictiveness when they vowed to avenge Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton in 2016. In the 2020 election, they made social media censor conservative free speech and told liberal media to slander Trump and the GOP. They used all mail in balloting to eke out a Biden win over populist Donald Trump. Now they are twisting facts about their supporters to hide Biden’s many failures.
For at least 20 years, liberal academics and pundits have argued that a coalition of young voters, particularly Blacks, Hispanics, and women would enshrine Democrats as the eternal majority. But that was then and this is now. Today, the Democratic Party consists primarily of identity and special interest groups. This is forcing aging millennials to go to the right to meet their sociopolitical needs.
“When people show loyalty to you, you take care of those that are loyal to you. That’s how it is in politics. If politicians don’t stay loyal to you, you don’t stay loyal to them.” – Solon of Athens, 501 BC
About the Author: William Haupt III is a retired professional journalist, author, and citizen legislator in California for over 40 years. He got his start working to approve California Proposition 13. His work also appears in The Center Square, The Western Journal, Neighbor Newspapers, KPXJ 21 (Shreveport, LA), Killeen Daily Herald, Aberdeen American News, InsideNova, Kankakee Daily Journal, Monterey County Weekly, Olean Times Herald, The Greeneville Sun and more. Follow William on Twitter @iii_haupt.
