The Role of Demographics: Voting by Generation

According to the sociologists, I’m a member of Generation Y. My age group is typified by our comfort with technology, our huge student debt and have a tendency towards extreme liberalism. We’re also making it out to the polls in record numbers this year. A lot of our support is going to Obama, but Generation Y isn’t just a bunch of lefties. In Mike Huckabee’s campaign, some of his most effective supporters are coming out of Huck’s Army — a group organized by the Harris brothers, who just happen to be 19 years old.

Generational issues are playing a huge role politics today. In the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama is winning a significant chunk of the ‘young’ vote — Generations X and Y. The San Jose Mercury News attributes his wins to those youngsters rebelling against the Baby Boomers, but I think it is far more thought out than the paper gives credit for. On many issues, Baby Boomers and Gen X and Y have opposing interests. Consider Social Security: Baby Boomers have been paying into the system for years and want to make sure that they get their fair share. However, members of Generation X don’t even expect to ever get Social Security — by 2016, more people will be drawing on Social Security than the taxes that Gen X and Yers pay can possibly cover. To put it mildly, anyone younger than the Baby Boomers sees Social Security as a scam.

There’s an added element of loyalty as well. One Democratic front runner (Barack Obama, born 1961) is a Gen Xer himself — some of us believe that if we just get one of our own age group into the White House, our concerns will receive equal attention. Hillary Clinton (born 1947), in contrast, is almost a caricature of Baby Boomer values. The candidates even stretch to the Silent Generation — those individuals caught between the G.I. and Baby Boomer generations — with John McCain’s candidacy (born 1936).

While one shouldn’t assume that the involvement of relative youngsters in voting guarantees a win for a younger candidate, Generation X and Y are shaking up the race. We’re putting our money where are mouths are and contributing both time and donations to our candidates of choice.

For the Baby Boomer point of view, I’d like to point you over to Jean at Small Business Boomers. Jean’s the one who got me thinking about the whole matter.