America’s new political war pits young men against young women
livemint.comCollin Mertz, a 23-year-old farmer in North Dakota, believes American men like himself have been targeted by liberals in the push for diversity. “It would seem the white male is the enemy of the left," said Mertz, who voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020 and plans to do so again in November. Lauren Starrett, a 28-year-old engineer in Cincinnati, feels a personal threat from conservatives seeking to scale back access to abortion and other rights.
“It’s kind of terrifying, really," said Starrett, who backs Vice President Kamala Harris. The forces of American culture and politics are pushing men and women under age 30 into opposing camps, creating a new fault line in the electorate and adding an unexpected wild card into the 2024 presidential election. Voters under 30 have been a pillar of the Democratic coalition since Ronald Reagan left office in 1989.
That pillar is showing cracks, with young men defecting from the party. Young men now favor Republican control of Congress and Trump for president after backing Biden and Democratic lawmakers in 2020. Women under 30 remain strongly behind Democrats for Congress and the White House.
They are also far more likely to call themselves liberal than two decades ago. Before President Biden ended his candidacy this month, Trump was winning support from a majority of men under age 30, according to a merger of Wall Street Journal polls in February and July. If that holds until Election Day, Republicans would win young men for the first time in more than two decades, voter exit polls show.
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