(Editor's Note: The following column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party or candidate on the part of Newsmax.)
A survey completed by McLaughlin and Associates on Aug. 25, 2023 among 1,000 likely general election voters and 160 likely voters under the age of thirty shows major losses for Biden and big gains for Trump among younger voters.
In the 2020 election, Biden defeated Trump among under 30 voters by 60-36 but, in McLaughlin’s survey, his margin has dropped to 53-42, a decrease of 13 points.
The economy is the big reason for the change.
By 55-38, under 30 voters say the economy is getting worse, not better. (Nationally all voters say its getting worse by 64-32).
42% of the under 30 voters say they are "struggling to keep up and, another 41% say that while the state of the economy has "impacted" them, they are not struggling.
Only 17% reported feeling no impact from the economy.
Despite their growing disaffection for Biden, young voters differ sharply from the rest of the country in their overall philosophy of government.
Asked if they would prefer a "smaller government with fewer services or a larger government with many services," voters under 30 choose larger government by 54-24. This trend contrasts sharply with the opinion of all voters who favor smaller government by 46-35.
But young people are not socialists. By 46-30, they describe themselves as believers in "free market capitalism" as opposed to "big government socialism."
But despite their leftist bias, disappointment in Biden’s economic record is driving them to switch to Trump.
Dick Morris is a former presidential adviser and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris' Reports — More Here.