Millennials: Political parties don’t represent us

Third-party candidates are sure to rejoice at the news of the latest GenForward youth survey which dealt a major blow to Democrats and Republicans. Only 28 percent of all voters, ages 18-30 believe that the two main political parties do an “adequate job of representing the American people.” Seventy-one percent say a third party is needed.

The survey reveals particularly bad news for the Republican Party, as 60 percent of young people say it does not include “a variety of people with different perspectives,” and when it comes to if the Party “cares about people like you,” 66 percent say no. The numbers are even higher for minority groups.

The numbers are nearly flipped for the Democratic Party, with 64 percent of young people saying the party does have people with different perspectives. Democrats only have a slight majority though when it comes to young people feeling like the Party cares about them, at 53 percent, while 45 percent say otherwise.

A plurality of young voters, at 37 percent, say that they consider themselves Democrats. Of the 30 percent who say they are independents, at 40 percent still say they don’t think of themselves as closer to one party or another.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has yet to receive strong support in the GenForward survey, but has been polling well in other polls among young voters, doing better than Donald Trump.