The Pew Research Center reports that younger people have voted more Democratic since 2004, while older voters have voted more Republican candidates 2006. In 2012:
Millennial voters are inclined to back President Barack Obama by a wide margin in a potential matchup against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, while Silent generation voters are solidly behind Romney. Baby Boomers and Generation X voters, who are the most anxious about the uncertain economic times, are on the fence about a second term for Obama.
Other findings:
- Non-whites have been far more supportive of the Democratic Party in the last several decades. Among members of the Silent generation today, 79% are non-Hispanic whites; among the Millennial generation, just 59% are non-Hispanic whites.
- Millennials are the least likely to say the U.S. is the greatest country in the world – 32% hold this view. The share rises with each successive generation, with nearly two-thirds of Silents (64%) saying the U.S. stands above all other nations. This comes in spite of the Silents’ discomfort with many of the societal changes they have witnessed in the past 50 years. Within the Silent generation it is the oldest members who feel most strongly about America’s greatness – fully 72% of those ages 76 to 83 say the U.S. is the greatest country in the world.
- Millennials also are less likely to express strong patriotic sentiments than are older generations. A large majority of Millennials (70%) agree with the statement “I am very patriotic.” But even larger percentages of Gen Xers (86%) Boomers (91%) and Silents (90%) say they are very patriotic.
