Friday, February 19, 2016

Why Millennials Aren't as Important as They Think They Are



The old folks still run the show... and for good reasons.

Every campaign tries desperately to covet the millennial (youth) vote.  But that might not be as important as was once believed.

A recent article in the Boston Globe explains:


"The reason Hillary Clinton was able to win in Iowa despite this enormous youth deficit is because senior citizens greatly outnumbered millennials at the caucuses — and the seniors broke for Clinton in big numbers."
Millennials also begin to impose an intelligence deficit within the core of a campaign when they become overly involved.  Immature decisions like tweeting your plans to be unfair to certain voters as a precinct captain can damage an entire campaign beyond repair and that's exactly what a young Bernie Sanders supporter named Leslie Conlon did in Nevada:



Young people are very passionate and everyone knows that passion can drive a campaign, for better or for worse.  But if you want to be taken seriously on issues involving Social Security and healthcare, you need adults at the helm of your campaign.



Due to the political naivete of some Bernie Sanders supporters in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton is making gains on the left and right.  Millennials who were raised on computers and smartphones don't understand or take seriously the idea that eyes are always watching them.  They believe that older adults are oblivious to their behavior on social networking sites... That is why they occassionally over-explain themselves in public forums such as "REBRN"  (a social bulletin board for Bernie Sanders supporters):



Lastly, there's a problem with the new media definition of "millennial". Virtually all polls of millennials and all media coverage about them are near-unanimously white and straight... This presents a false narrative that makes their influence seem much less negotiable than it is. As other races and LGBT persons are added into the umbrella term, their opinions become a lot more uncertain to outward appearances.

The most glaring example is a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that reveals young African Americans in South Carolina support Hillary Clinton... and makes it equally clear that, unlike their white counter-parts in New Hampshire, they do NOT support Bernie Sanders.

The Boston Globe story went on to explain:

"Clinton is still expected to show her real strength in the South and Southwest, where her broader appeal among minority voters should give her a bump. The current polling in South Carolina bears this out — with Clinton leading by 20-points."
In short, while Bernie Sanders is struggling to herd his kittens, Hillary answered a very important question at the MSNBC/Univision Town Hall last night:




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