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How To Win The Millennial Vote

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Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S. and the biggest portion of the electorate. It’s hard to predict, though, how they will vote in November.

On Think, Krys Boyd talked about millennial voting habits with Paul Taylor, former executive vice president of the Pew Research Center. His essay “It’s a Millennial World Now: Twelve Things to Know” appears in the summer 2016 issue of the Bush Institute Journal, “The Catalyst.”

The KERA Interview

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Paul Taylor on

… who Millennials vote for:

“It’s a very liberal and big D, democratic voting bloc, but you ask them, 'What are you? Democrat? Republican? Independent?' Fifty percent of Millennials say they’re independent. We’ve never seen that degree of allergy to the two major parties.”  

… how they feel about the government:

“They look with some perhaps deserved skepticism or cynicism towards what somebody my age would think of as the anchor institutions of society. Politics and government hasn’t been putting forward a particularly attractive face over the last 10 or 15 years.”  

 … what makes them different:

“They are our transitional generation to a majority non-white America. About 43, 44 percent of Millennials are non-white. And for them diversity and pluralism isn’t a challenge to be overcome. It is the beating heart of their core set of political and social values. And I think that will hold their generation and their country, our country in good stead as they mature into middle age and beyond.”  

… how they will vote in November:   

“They’re liberal. We saw that certainly this spring with the Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton race where 70, 75, 80 percent of young adults voted for Bernie Sanders. But an interesting question two and a half months from now is will they show up to vote. If they show up to vote I suspect the overwhelming number of them will be supporting Hillary Clinton. I’m not sure the turnout will be as great as it had been for Obama."