Welcome to this week’s edition of “Stuff You Should Consume,”— a weekly compilation of interesting political content for Message Box readers. “Young Voters Are More Moderate Than You Think” by Lauren Harper and Hugh Jones, The Liberal Patriot Liberals still make up a minority of young voters. While you’re unlikely to hear it on the news, not only does the median young voter identify as a moderate, but the Harvard Youth Poll found that 18-29 year old Americans are a more moderate cohort than the public at large:
About the “moderate young adults”, two thoughts: this has always been so. While there are always loud people on both fringes, the youthful moderate middle is pretty large. I remember when I was in college, RFK came to speak at one of the large auditoriums on campus, as an anti-war candidate, and was met with booing. (He persevered, pointing out the inequity of ‘safe’ college students supporting a war they would never fight in and won at least a silent and respectful hearing).
Second example: when Mondale was running against Reagan in 1984, he seemed slightly less liberal than a Midwestern banker. I happened to be reading one of those “The Making of a President” books from the 60’s and Mondale was described as a “firebrand liberal”. Funny thing, his positions hadn’t changed. But twenty years had passed.
When we see young adults marching against guns or for abortion rights or for the rights of some minority, please take it as a sign that those issues are now mainstream and moderate.
So what we need are candidates who run solely on issues and leave any talk of political divisions or groups hermetically sealed in the back room. Such talk makes a candidate sound cynical and manipulative.
And everyone should read Dan's oped in the NYTimes (gift link, I Hope) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/opinion/joe-biden-kevin-mccarthy-debt-ceiling.html?unlocked_article_code=YEqenUBeVKCP3tMqqG-FY-H5KLtmW3XHRwWXHtnTIrXlfdCw6fZYlpSPksYXrCAKAQTgNtWIVhcqDlBk9XnL4u_ZC48iN26cRDh4pjdre0baQX-GfM-SDYqEuJhj4P5EQ1FuleXYK44FQF_d-F8hKN-VceaPV8rAyO2CBVv4ptZoT5Fhhl9l_u0I6vm2fSQyvYGo4D7HqpNaKAkIwLK1G8noVJIdHTztcfcc-Y1E5rIgU3k7JsmO_Nig5TNSkW6AE08MbiKQXQIWqAqn1Vg8Dr-EyzWBaTbei-HI8FV7h1kjOENxK4yUJu5twvGQjfyAnCwA_Z1JHh-Ls0shn-0G6a_7DLUdtV5zZZsOCp_sdg&smid=url-share
About the “moderate young adults”, two thoughts: this has always been so. While there are always loud people on both fringes, the youthful moderate middle is pretty large. I remember when I was in college, RFK came to speak at one of the large auditoriums on campus, as an anti-war candidate, and was met with booing. (He persevered, pointing out the inequity of ‘safe’ college students supporting a war they would never fight in and won at least a silent and respectful hearing).
Second example: when Mondale was running against Reagan in 1984, he seemed slightly less liberal than a Midwestern banker. I happened to be reading one of those “The Making of a President” books from the 60’s and Mondale was described as a “firebrand liberal”. Funny thing, his positions hadn’t changed. But twenty years had passed.
When we see young adults marching against guns or for abortion rights or for the rights of some minority, please take it as a sign that those issues are now mainstream and moderate.
So what we need are candidates who run solely on issues and leave any talk of political divisions or groups hermetically sealed in the back room. Such talk makes a candidate sound cynical and manipulative.
Also of interest: this NYT opinion article
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/opinion/joe-biden-kevin-mccarthy-debt-ceiling.html?unlocked_article_code=FsectUSs3QtEZYLXOr8Tku0dPK8j0NFQcZEv9XMpJq2ZOdSK1gi8MZwFGe3RHESaDgNlHQNuL42fDhxCCAomK13iP5dsir-uo4OUTqjb5AtbPNgb-WaCxh6NvEiCw6qS2G67kQxAdxE3uzkZtPXHREoSgbaEbsyqz2plOcTOvgWbwGZHwwvl0vwRJo0g978iP2iXCeBoP1cHWPxYGrxWL7xG1KK4w2Eb6N-6zrw0N8Zg_bYbOT5d3AUleiNgDfUP-460q94vVmTkk194s9GKp6SmMZ4BdMJlF0f8HuVidfJkaFLnKxnFH0gqXgRo15jdsAWOI0NtBGklJQw1ux_9Y5Zk7nFLEfnzuBi6i660eQ&smid=url-share
Nice job in the NYTimes today, Dan! (Or do we call you Daniel now?)
Dan, terrific op-ed in the NYT. 👍👍👍