The Kids are All Right
Don't Underestimate the Ways They Are Changing the Conversation
Before we were distracted by the Tennessee House’s outrageous (and likely unconstitutional) expulsion of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the body for violating “rules of decorum” — they’re back now — we saw thousands of young people in Nashville march to the capitol demanding action in light of the shootings at Covenant School.
Profane chants at the Governor1 were followed by them occupying the halls of the capitol and filling the House gallery (this is why the three Democrats were leading cheers). They were told that “nothing could be done”. Other lawmakers referred to them as “insurrectionists” or the modern-day version of the Occupy Movement.
I hate to break it to the conservatives, but this will not assuage the students’ concerns. Rather, it will inflame them and increase their number. Student walkouts over safety concerns have continued apace and I think it’s likely that it will be a regular occurrence, especially now that the weather is warming. They will march because it’s an important issue and they (along with their family members) demand to be heard.
Another of my stock speeches in my later years of teaching dealt with the difference between this generation (late Millennials and Gen Z) and mine (Boomer that I am). I would tell them that their generation didn’t understand that what they wanted to do (missions impact, social change advocacy, political change) was impossible. My generation would list the obstacles to success and the reasons why nobody would care. They, on the other hand, just dive in without fixating on the logistics or the probabilites.2 It’s downright admirable.
The young people aren’t just protesting. They’re expressing those concerns at the ballot box. I’ve been following Victor Chi and John Della Volpe, both excellent sources of news regarding the political lives of Gen Z. It’s pretty clear that an increased youth vote in the 2022 midterms was instrumental in turning the supposed Red Wave into the Red Trickle. These young students look at the policy changes espoused on the right (blocking Trans Rights, impeding reproductive rights, book banning, CRT/DEI hysteria) and are shocked.3 They are pushing back at the ballot box.
Dan Balz and Dylan Wells wrote in yesterday’s Washington Post on how these young people helped create the blowout election that put Judge Janet Protasiewicz on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Students were both motivated and organized to turn out and vote for a Supreme Court race. Granted, these students would be greatly impacted if the Dan Kelly had won. But they recognized the power they had as a voting block. Their story included data gathered by “Project 72 WI”, showing the change in vote in 2022 for Governor Evers to the 2023 vote for Protasiewicz.
As I mentioned last week, Charlie Sykes says that Protasiewicz would have won her race even without Dane county that is home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The increases in vote margin for the non-Madison schools is impressive (there’s probably a ceiling effect at UWM). If there were a less extreme candidate than Kelly in future races, there might be some reversion to the mean, but that’s not how Republican state politics are trending anywhere in the country.
Not only are they protesting and voting, they are running for office and, if elected, operating very differently than their counterparts of my generation. Representative Maxwell Frost is the first Gen Z member elected to Congress. The two expelled (and returned) from the Tennessee legislature are 27 and 28.
Another story in yesterday’s Washington Post by Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman4 profiled many of these political leaders. In addition to Frost, they talk about the filibuster in Nebraska's unicameral legislature that's been going on for a month, led by two young women and one man who have blocked all legislation in order to prevent a piece of anti-trans legislation moving forward. Young leaders are using their voice both inside and outside the legislature to call out extreme positions on LGBTQIA+ rights and book bans. Add to that the efforts of Amanda Litman’s “Run For Something” group, which is providing training for young people to run for even lower-level office. Sargent and Waldman allow Simon Rosenberg to explain what's going on.
As Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg told us, many of these younger Democrats “have only known a radicalized GOP and social media.” Time after time, they have argued that these battles are about something larger than ordinary policy disputes, involving intolerable affronts to people’s fundamental dignity and humanity. And while their procedural parries will mostly fail, they are hijacking media attention and shining it on the culture-war cruelties unfolding in their states.
While not directly related to polticial mobilization, there’s one additional data point I came across this morning. The Springtide Research Institute, which focuses on attitudes of Gen Z, shared data on their religious views. They found that 77% of them self-identified5 as “spiritual” and 67% as “religious”.
When seen in the context of PRRI data estimating the percent of Gen Z who are White Evangelicals is in the single digits and the general alienation from organized religion, this shows some promising possibilities. Maybe if the young people can exert the same influence on the religious world that they currently are on the political world, we’d all be in much better shape.
I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but Governor Lee is now talking about the need for legislative action on gun safety and is considering executive orders in the meantime.
In the immortal words of Han Solo to C-3PO, “Never tell me the odds!”
Not all of them — there are still those Charlie Kirk fans out there who have convinced themselves that they are the voice of their generation (narrator voice — they’re not).
I always enjoy reading each of them, but when they co-author a piece it’s always excellent.
I just saw a presentation of this outcome and don’t have the full sample or top line results.