The Course of History

I was thinking recently that "Generation Y" was being touted as conservative-leaning in the press a couple of years ago. But that was before the right actually had their big successes of the last few years. And by 'big successes,' I mean perfect disasters for the nation. Here's my prediction: Generation Y will be as liberal as Generation X. This post from MyDD gives me a reason for confidence in that assessment. My hope is that the fascistic tendencies of the current GOP will have far-reaching consequences that bode well for Democrats. After all, the current crop of youngsters who are just now becoming politically aware are seeing the GOP at their worst. Like I said, as fascists. They stand a much better chance of equating Republicanism with Nazism than I did as a pre-teen under Reagan. At least then we were justifiably afraid of nuclear war-- but these guys are pushing fascism at a time when we don't face any enemy capable of reducing our country to ash.

Pay special attention to the group that has the highest self-identification as Republicans-- the folks who had their eyes on the left as hippies and radicals, in the late 1960s. They still stand to be a massive voting block, but it goes to show you that events you witness in youth can shape the way you vote for decades. After all, there was a complete 180 shift with the next generation.

Racial Self-Identification by Year of Birth
      77-94   65-76   46-64    30-45    Pre-30
White    61      63     73        80       86
Black    15      13     12         9        7
Latino   17      17     10         7        4
Asian     4       5      3         3        2 

Religious Self-Identification by Year of Birth
           All   77-94   65-76   46-64   31-45   Pre-30
Catholic     23     20     20      23      21       21
Other Xtn    53     42     43      55      61       70
Non Xtn       9     11     11       8       7        4
None         14     23     23      11       7        5

Ideological Self-Identification by Year of Birth
     All    77-94   65-76   46-64   30-45   Pre-30
Lib    19     31      25      17      13       19
Con    38     30      33      42      47       35
Mod    36     34      39      36      33       39

Partisan Self-Identification by Year of Birth
     All    77-94   65-76   46-64   30-45   Pre-30
Dem    37     39      40      31      40       47
Rep    34     28      31      40      34       35
Ind    28     31      28      28      26       16