Jonathan Chait: “How doomed are conservatives? Pretty doomed, if you look carefully at the Pew Research Survey’s close analysis
of the youth vote in the 2012 elections. The Republicans’ long-term
dilemma has generally been framed in racial terms, but it’s mainly a
generational one. The youngest generation of voters contains a much
smaller proportion of white voters than previous generations, and those
whites in that generation vote Republican by a much smaller margin than
their elders. What’s more, younger voters supported President Obama
during the last two election cycles for reasons that seem to go beyond
the usual reasons — social issues like gay marriage and feminism,
immigration policy, or Obama’s personal appeal — and suggest a deeper
attachment to liberalism. The proclivities of younger voters may
actually portend a full-scale sea change in American politics.”