A new national poll by the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Odyssey reveals that nearly 1 in 4 millennials — 23 percent — would rather see a “giant meteor striking Earth and extinguishing all human life” than have Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the White House.
The answer to the tongue-in-cheek question asked of nearly 1,250 young adults, ages 18 to 35, paints a clear picture of millennials’ disgust with the 2016 election.
Joshua Dyck, co-director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Public Opinion, wrote and analyzed the independent, nonpartisan poll. Dyck says in a statement:
“We do not take our respondents at their word that they are earnestly interested in seeing the world end, but we do take their willingness to rank two constitutional crises and a giant meteor ahead of these two candidates with startling frequency as a sign of displeasure and disaffection with the candidates and the 2016 election.”
Dyck noted that millennials have been “abandoning the GOP in large numbers” since 2008. He says millennials now identify as Democrats by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, which could spell trouble for the Republican Party in future elections
“The nomination of Donald Trump appears only to have made things worse for Republicans. … Since party identification is something that people tend to carry with them throughout their lives, the GOP is not just digging a hole in this election, but also setting the stage for future losses as millennials get older and become a bigger part of the electorate.”
Here are some other highlights from the millennial poll:
- Millennials who are likely voters prefer Clinton (66 percent) to Trump (22 percent) by a 3-to-1 margin.
- Thirty-nine percent of millennials surveyed say they’d rather see President Barack Obama serve a life term as president than have Clinton or Trump in the White House.
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