Young Voters Backed Democrats in Midterms | City Journal
The outcome of most enduring concern in Tuesday s election was the Left s total victory among the young. About 60 percent of those 18- to 29-years old voted Democratic. The young are generally less likely to vote than other age groups, doubtless in part because they have more interesting uses of their time than the old. But about 30 percent of that demographic showed up, easily enough to be decisive in the close races for the House and Senate, the latter determined by a razor-thin majority in Nevada.
It is true that minority youth voted for Democrats in larger proportions than non-minority youth, but Republicans still did less well among younger white voters than older white voters. The profile of the Republican party is aging. As a result, the real great replacement Republicans should worry about comes from the grim reaper. If everyone alive in 2024 votes exactly as he did in 2022, it s very possible that the Republicans will lose the House because of the voters who died in the interim. Add in the younger voters who will have turned 18 by that year, and that loss is even more likely.
Worse still for Republicans, evidence suggests that people tend to stick with the political paradigm with which they understood the world as they came of age. Yes, some of the young may be mugged by reality and change their views later in their lives, but much voting is naturally impervious to subsequent social reality. Given that the chances are vanishingly small that an individual s vote will change the result of an election, citizens often vote in ways that make them feel good about themselves, rather than carefully calculating the policy effects of their votes. A person s self-image is set early on, and much of the rest of his or her life is devoted to defending that image, even at the expense of self-scrutiny.
Insightful piece by the great John McGinnis. Depressing, but insightful.