The President who hoped to be the Democratic Reagan sees diminishing influence plus the highest state tax burdens.
YOUNG VOTERS HAVE MOVED ON TO THE NEXT WEBSITE
President Obama inspired a generation of young people to support his historic election in 2008. And in 2012 despite the struggles of his first term Mr. Obama still managed to win the support of a full 60 of voters age 18-29. But the man who once dreamed of being a transformative leader in the Reagan mold is inspiring few of those young people to follow his lead.
For all the talk about the movement that elected Mr. Obama the more notable movement of Obama supporters has been away from politics. It appears that few of the young people who voted for him and even fewer Obama campaign and administration operatives have decided to run for office. Far more have joined the high-paid consultant ranks reports the New York Times NYT -1.21 . Unlike John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan who inspired virtual legislatures of politicians and became generational touchstones Mr. Obama has so far had little such influence.
The Times quotes Harvard pollster John Della Volpe: If you were to call it an Obama generation there was a window...That opportunity has been lost. Mr. Della Volpes polling of 18- to 29-year-olds shows that only 35 now believe that running for office is an honorable pursuit. Were seeing the younger cohort is even less connected with Mr. Obama generally with his policies as well as politics generally he told the Times. The paper also quotes former Obama pollster Sergio Bendixen saying that Mr. Obamas onetime core supporters among the young went on to the next website and then the next click on their computer. I just dont see the generation as all that ideological or invested in causes for the long run.
This shift in attitudes among the so-called millennial generationthose born after 1980may reflect the fact that the Obama era has been a disaster for them. As noted in a recent report from the Pew Research Center millennials are the first in the modern era to have higher levels of student loan debt poverty and unemployment and lower levels of wealth and personal income than their two immediate predecessor generations (Gen Xers and Boomers) had at the same stage of their life cycles.
Young people are not expected to turn out in big numbers for Democrats this fall. The Beltway spin is that apathetic youngsters dont care enough to show up for midterm elections. But the kids also appear increasingly dissatisfied with the results of Democratic governance.
THE MOST TAXING STATES
As Americans face their annual tax filing deadlines taxpayers in a few northeastern states are suffering more than the rest. A recent report from the Tax Foundation tabulates total combined state and local tax burdens and finds that New Yorks various governments take the most from their citizens12.6 of income. The foundation used the most recent data available for fiscal year 2011 and finds that New Jersey and Connecticut punish their citizens almost as much. The Garden States governments grab 12.3 of citizens income while in Connecticut the burden is 11.9 of income.
In two of these high-tax jurisdictions governors are up for re-election this fall. Democrats Andrew Cuomo in New York and Dannel Malloy in Connecticut face the voters in November. And New Jerseys Chris Christie may be facing Republican primary voters nationwide in 2016.
