Posted on 01/09/2007 4:34:27 PM PST by qam1
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Generation Next is more optimistic, more tolerant and more likely a Democratic voter than its predecessor, according to a new study.
The group's tilt toward the Democratic Party is far different from the previous younger generation, known as Generation X, who grew up during the Reagan administration of the 1980s and was more inclined to support Republicans.
``This portends a significant political impact as they get more engaged,'' said Scott Keeter, a researcher from the Pew Research Center. ``If they carry their party leanings with them, that will make a big difference.''
Forty-eight percent of young adults age 18 to 25 said they were Democrats or leaned that direction while 35 percent said they were Republican or leaned that way in 2006, according to Pew polling.
The study also found a great acceptance for same-sex marriage. Forty-seven percent of those age 18 to 25 favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry while 30 percent of those 26 and older favor gay marriage.
While they are a generally optimistic group, large majorities think that casual sex, binge drinking, illegal drug use and violence are more prevalent among young people today.
Asked about their generation, most say getting rich and being famous are top goals.
The study found that the young adults:
_Are less inclined to vote than older generations, though young voter turnout was up significantly in 2004. About 54 percent of those from 18 to 24 voted in 2004, and 74 percent of those 25 and over voted, Keeter said.
_Have more liberal views than other generations on questions of race and homosexuality and immigration.
_Read the newspaper and follow the news on television and radio less than those in older generations.
_Keep in close touch with their parents, both for advice and for financial help.
_Are inclined to use online social networking sites like Facebook and My Space. More than half had used one of these sites.
_Tend to most admire people they personally know rather than the famous. Entertainers were twice as likely to be named as political leaders.
_Have gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color or had a body piercing.
The study, a collaboration of the Pew Research Center and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, is based on Edison-Mitofsky exit polls, past Pew polls and a Pew survey of 1,501 adults, including 579 people from ages 18-25, taken Sept. 6-Oct. 2. The study had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 5 percentage points for the young adults.
And a lot younger!
In other words.....
"Kids these days!!"
Maybe so but most young people are idiots who lack the benefit of being in the real world for a while.
Let's see how their views change after they've had a chance to get out in the world and work for a while and pay taxes.
Oh hell, yes, I'm a member of this group and my views on many things, including the current government, changed dramatically after I got a taste of the real world over the past eighteen months...and yes, my first paycheck was a huge shocker (with the amount of taxes taken out).
My fellow "Generation Next"-ers (if that's what they are calling us these days) have things way too easy.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Really, nothing to see here.
Yes, narcissistic, craving-attention, lazy and ignorant. That definately sounds like it could be an emerging democrat base.
Xer Ping
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
Convenient that this "report" came out after the Dims sweep the mid-terms.
Glad to see that you've seen the light.
I first become aware of politics during the Reagan presidency in my teen years. I was a young child during the Carter years and comparing quality of life and the morale of the nation between Carter and Reagan made it a no-brainer for me.
I was in college during the first Clinton term and was a devout listener of Rush which further solidified my conservative views.
In summary, I was fortunate enough to never go through the liberal stage of life. I guess I have no heart as they say.
Wow....the "good news" today just keeps on comin'!
What do we expect from the indoctrinated yewts who are edumacated in the public schools (a few even can SPEAK English)..
/sarc
Ahh, my generation... Old enough to remember Clinton as a "pimp", too young to care about his policies. Four years with a Democrat as president ought to fix this. The only question is whether we can afford it.
Newsflash: 18 year olds are liberal.
10 Years ago, a Lallapalooza if you asked an 18 year old what he/she thought about gun rights I gauruntee that their answer would differ vastly from that of the same 28 yo today.
I am 29. I am pretty right today, not so much in 1997.
Drew Garrett
IIRC, that was Churchill, not Reagan.
Actually, the funny thing is that I used to consider myself a "moderate" with the beliefs that, well, maybe sometimes government intervention is a good thing.
After getting attacked by a fellow student in college who stockpiled an arsenal of medieval weaponry in his dorm room, suffering through the death of one parent, and working jobs to pay for my family after my dad quit his job last year, including the federal and state income taxes, I finally realized one thing.
The government doesn't give a damn about me except to shake me down to collect its exorbitant taxes.
I grow more conservative by the day.
I really hate to say this, but the the best thing that can be done for my generation is to get rid of government "need-based" financial aid in colleges and the welfare system. The ones who deserve to attend college will find a way in, and the rest, well, they may actually see the light.
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