They have been blamed for killing restaurants, power lunches, napkins, and a host of other minor industries loved by Boomers. Now they are being blamed again, as USA Today says it was Millennial apathy that caused the victory of Biden.
Young voters cheer Bernie Sanders’ anti-establishment message. They turn out in throngs at his rallies. And they form the core of his grassroots efforts to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
But their fiery passion did not translate into the robust turnout he needed on Super Tuesday to win a number of key states, notably in the South where a strong showing by former vice president Joe Biden has made the nomination contest a two-man race.
Exit polls for five southern states that Biden won – Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia – found that young voters did not show up at the polls in the numbers they did in 2016. (source)
They are likely correct in their assessments. Biden is the Boomer Democrat candidate, and the Boomers came out as they always to do vote, and in larger numbers, while the Millennials stayed home.
Frankly, what reasons do the Millennials have to vote?
There is a lot of criticism that one can say about Millennials, including that they can be selfish, lazy, and little different in many ways than from their Boomer parents. However, a lot of them are poor, overworked, frustrated, in debt, and many know they can never own a home, let alone think about having a family. Many are concerned with survival, and given that they hold only about 3% of the nation’s wealth (Boomers by comparison hold 57%), what motivation do they have to vote?
This election will be the Boomer’s last “hurrah”, and they are going to get old and die because of age. Old people die, and their children, who are impoverished and generally annoyed and miserable, are going to likely vote in a candidate who will be more socialist because they want “their piece” of the “pie” that they believe they have been denied. This is not to justify socialism, but to say that actions have consequences, including unintended ones, and that people sometimes make bad decisions when they are frustrated, demoralized, and feel as though they have been mistreated and do not have a place in their own society any more.
2020 is likely going to be a Trump win and rather insignificant. It is election year 2024 that one will have to pay attention to.