[Mb-civic] Young Voters-Anew Progressive Majority

[Michael Butler]

A New Progressive Majority
Today¹s young voters can lead the Democrats back to power

 By  Ben Hubbard
 Web Exclusive: 11.12.04

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 If there¹s a silver lining to last Tuesday¹s election result for
progressives, it¹s that young people, ages 18 to 29, turned out in record
numbers and voted decidedly for the more progressive candidate, John Kerry.
It¹s the only age group Democrats won and one of the few voting demographics
to actually increase its support for the Democratic candidate from 2000.

 News of Kerry¹s success among young people has been buried in the larger
result: President George W. Bush¹s victory by more than 3 million votes.
Many also have focused on the fact that, in exit polls, a plurality of
voters said that ³moral values² was the most important issue.

 Much like conservatives during the dark winter of 1964 after Barry
Goldwater¹s loss to Lyndon Johnson, progressives are now checking their
pulse. Everyone is asking: What¹s the long term vision? What do we stand
for?

 The logical conclusion -- especially among partisan insiders with a
propensity for triangulation -- is that the United States is a center-right
country and that Democrats need to move to the right if they have any hope
of being more than a bicoastal minority. Disassociate from the battle over
gay marriage, the thinking goes; concede to social conservatives on
late-term abortions and parental notification; cower in the wake of Tom
Daschle¹s defeat and shed the party¹s supposedly obstructionist image; give
the president his Supreme Court nominee, no matter how radical and out of
step.

 This would be a tragic mistake. As Harry Truman said, if you run a
Republican against a Democrat that acts like a Republican, the real
Republican wins each time.

 The successful party of the future will heed one result from last Tuesday:
that young people -- the leaders and voters of tomorrow -- favored Kerry by
a 10-point margin nationally, a 14-point margin in Ohio, an 18-point margin
in Florida, and a 32-point margin in Pennsylvania.

 By all accounts, this demographic is different than the rest of the
country. They¹re not so divided on the issues that divide the country.
Sixty-three percent support civil unions or legal partnerships between
homosexuals. More than half of 18- to 24-year-olds support a woman¹s right
to choose. And a majority of college students -- many of whom consider
themselves conservative -- support affirmative action and believe health
insurance is a right that government ought to provide. The issues that today
shade America red and blue are not dividing the next generation.

 At the same time, there¹s also evidence of increased religiosity among
America¹s young people, especially among blacks and Latinos. But it¹s not
necessarily the kind of religious belief that pushes others into the
so-called ³religious conservative² camp. Community service, as well as
church attendance, is at an all-time high. Young people are acting on their
deeply held convictions about caring for the needs of their families, their
communities, and the poor, according to Harvard¹s Institute of Politics.

 Moreover, this is the most tolerant generation in American history. More
than any other age group, this one reflects the world we¹re actually living
in. They have gay and ethnically and religiously diverse friends. While some
may choose abstinence, they¹re not naive enough to believe abstinence alone
is a remedy to unwanted pregnancies. They¹re making moral and value
judgments based on reality: that government should reward love and fidelity
regardless of the genders involved; that politicians have no business
regulating a woman¹s body; that our leaders have an obligation to leave the
world better off for the generations that follow; that America's historic
commitment to ethnic, religious and racial equality compels us to stand up
for suffering people at home and in places like Sudan.

 These are fundamental progressive values that the next generation already
shares. To be sure, Democrats face a challenge today, but the challenge is
not about figuring out what they stand for; it¹s about sticking up for what
they stand for and explaining to Americans why their stance is the moral
one.

 Today¹s young voters could be the core of a progressive majority in 2028.
Twenty-four years from now, today¹s youth will be middle-aged. And while old
age, children, and a mortgage may tarnish their idealism, it¹s hard to
believe that it will undermine their tolerance or transform their values.
The party of the future will be the party that best reflects the values of
this emerging majority. The Democratic Party shouldn¹t let this year¹s
setback undermine a very promising future.

 Ben Hubbard, 24, is Campus Programs Director at the Center for American
Progress. 

 Copyright © 2004 by The American Prospect, Inc.  Preferred Citation:  Ben
Hubbard,  "A New Progressive Majority",  The American Prospect Online, Nov
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