Liberal politics has woven its way into virtually all areas of American life. Corporate America, professional sports, the entertainment industry, schools, and even subtle things never previously given much attention to such as commercials on our televisions are now filled with social messaging to promote an agenda on the masses. Due to this, people that previously considered themselves non- or a-political are being exposed to subtle, yet noticeable political messaging. While irritating and intrusive, the silver lining for conservatives is that it has expanded the conservative movement to a portion of the population that likely didn’t consider themselves “conservative” prior.
It is no secret that young Americans tend to lean more liberal. There are many different circumstances you can credit (or blame) for this. The most known and obvious is the indoctrination that takes place at colleges and universities. Young men and women who go to college for the first time are understandably highly impressionable due to a lack of life experience. That isn’t a knock or an insult, it’s a fact of life. 18-year-olds are not expected to have their worldview figured out yet, that comes with experience. However, they are forced to enroll in courses that are instructed overwhelmingly by left-leaning professors. Some students can see through the skewed narratives they are fed for years and maintain their existing conservative viewpoints. Or, if they did not previously view themselves as conservative, could come to that conclusion on their own.
However, large demographics of people being told the same thing repeatedly over the course of time is more likely to result in the majority going along with and believing something as opposed to refuting it, it’s simply easier. Remove politics for a moment. The path of least resistance is far more common than going against the grain, basic human behavior proves this. If this applies to everything, it certainly applies to political ideology, perhaps more than any other area of life when you consider how impossible it has become to avoid politics even if one desires to. Of course, not every young person goes to college, but even in non-educational settings liberalism wedges itself into society.
There is no doubt that the liberal movement has had a significant head start. Thankfully, that head start is not the end-all-be-all. In fact, it is beginning to have the reverse effect of what it intends to. Numbers now suggest that this in-your-face liberal virtue signaling is resulting in an increase in Americans who identify as conservative, and not just from the usual suspects. Just recently, a Gallup poll revealed the highest percentage of Americans identifying as socially conservative since 2012. Diving deeper into the numbers, it also showed that 38% of those polled identified as “conservative” or “very conservative” compared to just 29% of those polled who identified as “liberal” or “very liberal.” To compare, a poll last year revealed 34% identified as liberal while 33% identified as conservative.
Keep in mind, these figures were released after mainstream news declared that the reversal of Roe v. Wade was going to result in a massive blowback to the right for decades because people were so deeply enraged by the decision. But according to this poll, it appears leftist causes being carved into every corner of American culture are having a lot stronger of a social impact on Americans than the Supreme Court returning decisions regarding abortion laws back to individual states, where it should have always been.
The Gallup poll polled people between the ages of 30-64. But other reports show an even younger demographic trending conservative. Younger voters still undoubtedly lean left. But in 2008, voters between the ages of 18-29 voted 62-33 in favor of Barack Obama compared to John McCain. That same demographic is now 30-44 years old, and in this year’s midterms, they voted in favor of Democrats by just FOUR percent. In 15 years, an entire voter bloc shifted from 34% in favor of Democrats to just 4%. And comparing the 2008s group that was +34 in favor of Democrats to today’s 18–29-year-olds, that lead has cut to 28 points. That is still a substantial lead but cutting into 6% of a specific group is not insignificant. Furthermore, when you focus on the 18–24-year-old portion of that group, the Democrat lead lessens to 25%. Again, it is significant, but the trend is moving to the right. Lastly, 47 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 identified as liberal as recently as 2017. Today, that number sits at 34 percent, a 13% cut in just 5 years is noteworthy.
One last piece of evidence showing Americans on the whole prefer conservatism: Undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8 percent from 2019 to 2022. Tuition costs rising and suffocating student loans in addition to all the leftist ideology pushed in schools that is known to all has absolutely deterred young high school graduates from enrolling in college and has led them to smartly pursue future career paths that don’t require accruing 6 figures worth of debt by the time they are barely legal to consume alcohol.
In conclusion, all of these figures prove two things. One, Democrats still have a grip on the youngest bloc of voters, without question. But two, their lead is becoming less and less as time goes on. While on the surface, Democrats have no fear of losing this group overall, (fair) elections are not determined by individual voter blocs won, but rather the votes themselves. In elections that are determined by a “hair,” this trend would undoubtedly aid conservatives, of course only if elections are returned to an even playing field.
The significant percentages of voters defecting from Democrat voting show that the conservative movement, particularly amongst young Americans, is growing. The party that supports the indoctrination of children and young adults in schools, woke corporations force-feeding LGBTQ ideology, “family-friendly” drag shows, and canceling anybody who has ever done anything just slightly politically incorrect is, while infuriating to witness, aiding in growing the conservative movement.