Poll: GOP Losing Youth Vote

From SFGate:

Poll: Young voters disenchanted with Republican party
… A Democracy Corps poll from the Washington firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner suggests voters ages 18 to 29 have undergone a striking political evolution in recent years.

Young Americans have become so profoundly alienated from Republican ideals on issues including the war in Iraq, global warming, same-sex marriage and illegal immigration that their defections suggest a political setback that could haunt Republicans “for many generations to come,” the poll said.

The startling collapse of GOP support among young voters is reflected in the poll’s findings that show two-thirds of young voters surveyed believe Democrats do a better job than Republicans of representing their views - even on issues Republicans once owned, such as terrorism and taxes.

And among GOP presidential candidates, only former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani registers with more positive views than negative with young voters, the poll shows.

The anti-GOP shift for this generation - which is expected to reach 50 million voters, or 17 percent of the electorate, in 2008 - represents a marked contrast from their predecessors, the Gen Xers born in the mid-’60s to mid-’70s whose demographic represented the strongest Republican voters in the nation, pollster Anna Greenberg said.

Today, “on every single issue, Democrats are doing better with young people - no matter what the issue is,” said Greenberg.

Catherine Brinkman, 28, of Foster City, who heads the California Young Republicans, said she hears from many of her Republican friends who say, ” ‘Look at our (presidential) candidates compared to the Democrats: They have Hillary, everyone knows her … and you have this phenomenal (senator) out of Chicago, who is African American and energized.’ ”

The perception is that “we’re still selling the same old white guys,” Brinkman said.

Another sign that should the GOP continue to use its base pandering strategy it will relegate itself to being the minority party within a decade. However if the Republican leadership is actually paying attention to changing attitudes, demographics, and calls from party members for moderation we might just see a kinder gentler GOP just in time to keep that from happening. My bet is that they spend a few years as a minority before they wise up.

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