posted December 23, 2011 01:43 AM            

Fortunately for President Obama, the current crop of political opposition candidates aren't attractive enough to sway the Millennials. They've already been deceived by a generation of baby boomers who convinced them that cows really can dance over rainbows. They've got a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to the future and aren't looking to be dealt sugarcoated political hypocrisy. Apathy is their biggest gamble. With many within our population growing discontent and restless over the current state of country and the world, if concessions aren't made to tempt this voting crowd away from apathy, the President stands to lose a major stake in the voting pool and possibly the election.

"In the last four national elections generational differences have mattered more than they have in decades. According to exit polls, younger people have voted substantially more Democratic than other age groups since 2004, while older voters have cast more ballots for Republican candidates in each election since 2006. The latest national polls suggest this pattern may well continue in 2012... One of the largest factors driving the current generation gap is the arrival of diverse and Democratic-oriented Millennials... This group holds liberal attitudes on most social and governmental issues."(November Pew Research Survey)

"Of course, the Millennial Generation's continued clear support for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party is not a sure thing. Both the president and his party must convince Millennials that they can effectively use the government to fix the problems confronting their generation and the nation. But electoral politics is a two-way street. To win Millennial support, the Republican Party has to persuade Millennials that it and its potential presidential nominees are a viable alternative. So far, there is little in the Pew research (or any other poll) to suggest that they have done much to accomplish that undertaking. If anything, the GOP's push to the right on both economic and social issues makes that increasingly unlikely...

In the end, the Democrats' biggest Millennial concern is not likely to be the generation's partisanship or opinions on issues, but its political engagement...

posted March 21, 2012 11:57 AM            

"Meet The Millenials"
"In a country riddled with divisions, there is one which may come to dominate all of the others. Ironically, it is the schism most neglected by the chattering classes; one which receives scant attention from business pundits and political savants, right and left. It is the new generation gap. There is a growing wedge between the concerns of the electorate's youngest members and the interests of its oldest...

We will hazard a guess and predict the Millennials — the generation of Americans born between 1981 and 1993 — will help the Democrats retain the White House in 2012. If current trends continue, these young voters will be one of the few demographic slices the Obama campaign can take for granted. True, disenchantment with politics as usual in Washington and apathy of youth may depress their turnout on Election Day; but the margin presently favoring President Obama over Mitt Romney (or Gingrich, or Perry, or Paul, or any other conceivable Republican contender) is twenty percent according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center.

While the Obama campaign can count on the Millennials's support, this backing will come at a price. No, this generation does not endorse doing away with Social Security and Medicare; support for both entitlements is high among Millennials. The difference is they are more likely to contemplate thorough overhauls to keep both programs going. In contrast, the 65 plus generation is the guardians of the status quo in this debate. No change is their starting point in any negotiations to salvage the two programs. Though exceptions may be made for more generous benefits."
http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/guest/AI-120103-Meet-the-Millennials.php

Interesting Pew Research data about the Millennials.

"Generations, like people, have personalities, and Millennials - the American teens and twenty-somethings who are making the passage into adulthood at the start of a new millennium -- have begun to forge theirs: confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and open to change.

They are more ethnically and racially diverse than older adults. They're less religious, less likely to have served in the military, and are on track to become the most educated generation in American history...Whether as a by-product of protective parents, the age of terrorism or a media culture that focuses on dangers, they cast a wary eye on human nature. Two-thirds say "you can't be too careful" when dealing with people...

They are the least overtly religious American generation in modern times. One-in-four are unaffiliated with any religion, far more than the share of older adults when they were ages 18 to 29...

Millennials remain the most likely of any generation to self-identify as liberals; they are less supportive than their elders of an assertive national security policy and more supportive of a progressive domestic social agenda. They are still more likely than any other age group to identify as Democrats." http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1501/millennials-new-survey -generational-personality-upbeat-open-new-ideas-technology-bound

Interesting piece that looks at civil participation between the Boomers and the Millennials.

"Two Special Generations: The Millennials and the Boomers"

"The Baby-Boomers and the Millennials are both worthy of special attention. They are large groups: there are 77 million Boomers and 82 million Millennials. Millennials are showing strong interest in civic participation and reversing some of the declines observed among youth since the 1970s. Meanwhile, the Boomers are reaching the period of life when typically we see the highest levels of civic engagement, thanks in part to resources such as savings, networks, community ties, and knowledge that accumulate over time. The two generations are linked in that most of the Millennials’ parents are Boomers.

The Millennials so far appear to be considerably more civically engaged than their immediate predecessors, “Generation X.” The voting turnout of young adults (ages 18-29) almost doubled in the 2008 primaries and caucuses compared to the most recent comparable year (2000).21 There were also substantial youth turnout increases in 2004 and 2006. Youth volunteering rates are higher in the 2000s than they were in the 1990s.