Young voters between 18 and 29 could change the political landscape, says a youth organization activist.
Writing in
Forbes, Corie Whalen Stephens, a spokeswoman for Generation Opportunity, writes that millennials, who came of age during the President George W. Bush years and were inspired by Barack Obama, are now showing signs of disappointment.
For example, she notes, a
Harvard poll showed that under 50 percent of young voters approve of the job the president is doing.
Millennials are more independent than their elders, a
Pew Research poll has shown, with 50 percent of 18-29-year-olds choosing not to identify with any party, compared to 34-39 percent among older generations.
Another
poll shows young voters are largely non-partisan and socially liberal, yet lean fiscally conservative.
"This ideological mix provides free-market advocates with both an opportunity and a major challenge," Stephens writes.
"If politicians want to reach a generation that sees Republicans and Democrats as similar appendages of a
corrupt system . . . they need to start with first principles," she writes.
"If freedom is the cause of millennials — as it seems to be in many facets — it must be said at every turn that true social freedom is impossible to achieve without economic liberty.
"An entire generation disillusioned with traditional institutions is open to this message," she adds.