NewYorkTimes


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AdamBonica
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Adam Bonica, a political scientist from Stanford University, writing for the New York Times, makes a convincing case that despite the seemingly constant, triumphant, and in-your face drumbeat of hate we’ve witnessed oozing from Trump supporters since 2016, that same fetid cesspool of racism and misogyny that so-called “mainstream” Republicans have eagerly lined up to immerse themselves in will likely end up drowning their party sooner than any of them realize.

The reason is simple demographics:

Once again, the nation is on the cusp of a generational revolution. As a group, millennials favor Democrats by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Millennials are unlikely to trend Republican as they age so long as the current hyper-polarized political environment persists. However, they will become more likely to vote. (A general rule of thumb is that turnout increases by about one percentage point with each year of age.) This makes it possible to in essence fast-forward the electorate to forecast how the generational advantage will change over the next decade.

Right now the Republican Party has wholly committed itself to parroting Trump’s established brand of virulent racism and his loud, sneering dismissal of just about all of the qualities Americans used to call “general human decency.” Their reasons for doing this all boil down to sheer expediency—Trump’s victory in 2016 has dragged them there. Because their base of support is fundamentally made of up selfish and ignorant human beings, they now visibly and publicly compete amongst themselves seeking the worst common denominator in terms of selfish and ignorant human behavior. This devolution has become the GOP’s sole selling point in an astonishingly short period of time, and at this point there seems to be no level of evil, bigotry, or cruelty too low, or too extreme, that they’re willing to embrace.

NewYorkTimes


Voting
AdamBonica
Share this article

Adam Bonica, a political scientist from Stanford University, writing for the New York Times, makes a convincing case that despite the seemingly constant, triumphant, and in-your face drumbeat of hate we’ve witnessed oozing from Trump supporters since 2016, that same fetid cesspool of racism and misogyny that so-called “mainstream” Republicans have eagerly lined up to immerse themselves in will likely end up drowning their party sooner than any of them realize.

The reason is simple demographics:

Once again, the nation is on the cusp of a generational revolution. As a group, millennials favor Democrats by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. Millennials are unlikely to trend Republican as they age so long as the current hyper-polarized political environment persists. However, they will become more likely to vote. (A general rule of thumb is that turnout increases by about one percentage point with each year of age.) This makes it possible to in essence fast-forward the electorate to forecast how the generational advantage will change over the next decade.

Right now the Republican Party has wholly committed itself to parroting Trump’s established brand of virulent racism and his loud, sneering dismissal of just about all of the qualities Americans used to call “general human decency.” Their reasons for doing this all boil down to sheer expediency—Trump’s victory in 2016 has dragged them there. Because their base of support is fundamentally made of up selfish and ignorant human beings, they now visibly and publicly compete amongst themselves seeking the worst common denominator in terms of selfish and ignorant human behavior. This devolution has become the GOP’s sole selling point in an astonishingly short period of time, and at this point there seems to be no level of evil, bigotry, or cruelty too low, or too extreme, that they’re willing to embrace.