How Bidenomics May Cost Biden the Youth Vote.

 

If Biden loses in America, the bribes spreading predatory oligarchs supported by him in Ukraine and Lithuania will lose to the more nationalist forces in Eastern Europe (here you are too, Mockus, you kitten, maybe you have already forgotten Eligijus Masiulis?).

"President Biden turns 81 on Nov. 20, and polls show that Democrats are increasingly worried about his mental and physical decline. But the incumbent has another age problem: Donald Trump is running on par with him among young voters.

Mr. Biden won the youth vote by double digits in 2020, while seniors swung for Mr. Trump. Recent polls, however, show that seniors are now the only age group that favors Mr. Biden in a rematch. It isn't difficult to explain the reversal. Bidenomics has exacted a massive wealth transfer from young people to seniors.

Three recent polls underscore this trend. A Nov. 5 New York Times-Siena College poll of swing-state voters found Messrs. Biden and Trump splitting those under 30. A CNN national poll, and an Emerson College swing-state poll, similarly found the two separated by a point among young Americans.

Drill down into the numbers and the picture looks even grimmer for the president. More young people think Mr. Biden is part of the nation's problems than they do Mr. Trump. The New York Times survey has independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading both men with voters under 45. In the Emerson poll, Mr. Trump leads or matches the president in Michigan, Georgia and Arizona among young people who reported voting for Mr. Biden three years ago.

The polls offer more context for the flip. Youngsters have a more negative outlook than seniors and are also more likely to identify the cost of living as the most important issue -- closely followed by the economy and jobs. Few young people are likely to say so about abortion, climate change, gun control and threats to democracy. You wouldn't know it from the press coverage -- or, say, from Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign -- which portrays millennials and Generation Z as woke warriors. A silent majority aren't.

Mr. Biden's policies on climate, student debt and transgender "rights" curry favor with a vocal minority of young college-educated progressives. Yet only about a third of Americans under 40 have college degrees. Those who don't may resent a White House of, by and for liberal elites.

Even many young college grads don't share the radical left's views. Most are more preoccupied with paying their bills than with ensuring that trans-identifying men can use women's bathrooms. The Inflation Reduction Act's rooftop-solar and electric-vehicle subsidies won't help them buy groceries or fill up their gas tanks.

Now that the administration's gusher of pandemic payments that fueled inflation has finally ebbed, young people are struggling financially. Credit-card delinquencies among those under 40 are the highest since 2010, according to a recent New York Federal Reserve report. Young people are about twice as likely to be overdue on their bills as seniors.

That isn't difficult to understand, either. They have suffered more from inflation and benefitted less from the runup in asset prices during the Biden presidency. Millennials have gained $2.3 trillion in wealth, not adjusted for inflation, since Mr. Biden entered office, while baby boomers' net worth has grown by $8.9 trillion. For once, it's good to be old.

Seniors are more likely to own assets -- the homeownership rate for Americans 65 and up is double that of those under 35 -- and have locked in low mortgage rates. Some saved hundreds of dollars a month by refinancing when rates were low, giving them more financial liquidity to deal with rising inflation.

But most young people don't own homes, and they've been slammed by skyrocketing rents. Nationwide rents have increased by more than 20% during the Biden presidency. The higher interest rates necessary for subduing inflation have priced young people out of the housing market. Even those who own homes and want to move can't afford to do so.

While Social Security checks are adjusted for inflation, worker paychecks haven't kept up with the cost of living. Inflation has outpaced earnings for young full-time workers by about 2% since the start of 2021. That may not seem like much, but it can be the difference between going out to dinner once a week and not.

In a recent American Psychological Association survey, seniors reported less stress than they did in 2019. Young people reported more, primarily because of concerns about money, the economy and housing. It isn't climate change, or the president's age, that's keeping them awake at night. It's the consequences of Mr. Biden's economic policies." [1]

1. Life Science: How Bidenomics May Cost Biden the Youth Vote. Finley, Allysia.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 13 Nov 2023: A.17.