White millennials are equally divided between supporting Republicans and Democrats in this year’s critical midterm elections, as a campaign urging people to “Walk Away” from the Democratic Party has picked up steam online.
Young people do not like President Donald Trump, but whites between the ages of 18 and 34 said they are equally likely to vote for a Republican as for a Democrat in the elections for Congress this November. A full 39 percent said that “if the election for U.S. Congress were held today,” they would vote for the Republican in the district where they live. Another 39 percent said they would vote for the Democrat.
This represented a nine-point shift away from Democrats since 2016. That year, only 33 percent of young white voters said they would elect a Republican to Congress, while 47 percent said they would choose a Democrat.
Young white men made the greatest shift toward the GOP. In 2016, nearly half of them (48 percent) said they would vote for a Democrat, while only 36 percent said they would vote Republican. This year, 46 percent said they would choose a Republican, while only 37 percent said they would vote Democrat — a 21 percent shift in favor of the GOP.
The poll surveyed 16,000 registered voters between 18 and 34, with a 1 percent margin of error.
Democrats have been hoping for a “blue wave,” resulting from Americans across the country voting against Republicans as Trump’s party. Indeed, midterm elections tend to favor the party out of power, and Republicans do hold the House, the Senate, and the presidency.
However, there are signs that Republicans may win the 2018 midterm elections as the anti-establishment underdog. How? By campaigning against the excessive Trump derangement syndrome across the media, Hollywood, and college campuses.
This is the premise of the “Walk Away” campaign. Brandon Straka, a gay man from Nebraska, identified himself as “The Unsilent Majority” and launched a campaign urging people to reject the Left — for the same reasons he became a liberal.
In the “Walk Away” viral video, Straka denounced racism, misogyny, “tyrannical group think,” junk science, “hate,” and “a system which allows an ambitious, misinformed, and dogmatic mob to suppress free speech, create false narratives, and apathetically steamroll over the truth.” He said he became a liberal for these reasons, and he “walked away” for the very same reasons.
“For years now, I have watched as the left has devolved into intolerant, inflexible, illogical, hateful, misguided, ill-informed, un-American, hypocritical, menacing, callous, ignorant, narrow-minded, and at times blatantly fascistic behavior and rhetoric,” Straka declared.
Straka’s video has racked up more than 492,000 views on YouTube and nearly 2 million views on Facebook.
Some millennials might be rejecting the Left as it pushes for control over the way people think, but others merely prefer the economic growth associated with the Republican Party.
Terry Hood, a 34-year-old African American who works at a Dollar General store in Baton Rouge, La., told Reuters that while he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, he will consider a Republican for Congress this year.
“It sounds strange to me to say this about the Republicans, but they’re helping with even the small things,” Hood said. “They’re taking less taxes out of my paycheck. I notice that.”
President Trump powerfully turned the “blue wave” narrative on its head last month, predicting a “red wave.” Perhaps he was on to something.
Click “Load More” to watch Straka’s video below.
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