It’s no secret that the Millennial generation is the most politically independent generation in the US. Pew Research found in March 2014 that half of Millennials consider themselves independent of the Republican and Democratic Parties, and the number hasn’t gone down since.
Most Millennials don’t only consider themselves independent of the two major political parties, they want to break up the two-party duopoly as well. According to a recent NBC News/GenForward poll, 71% of Millennials think the two parties are not doing an adequate job and a third party is needed.
The results of the survey were released only a couple months after a Gallup poll found that 61 percent of all likely US voters believe the same — a record high. It is easy to see how Millennials are a key driver of this trend.
Here are some key findings of the NBC News/GenForward poll:
- 6 in 10 respondents disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job;
- 59 percent have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party, and 42 percent have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party;
- 8 in 10 white, male respondents said a third party was needed — the most of any specific race and gender demographic in the Millennial generation;
- 74 percent of independent Millennials said a third party is needed; while
- 75 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaners, and 67 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners said the same thing.
This could make for an interesting midterm election as a record number of third party and independent candidates run for elected office, and the number of representation outside of the two-party duopoly continues to grow.
You can check out the full results of the NBC News/GenForward poll here.
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