Do you think the youth (very young) can impact this election?

[Farmgirl1961]

The young are very good at making a judgement about people. My hunch is that the majority of children in the US do not like Donald Trump. They would probably say things like: "He is mean. He is a bully. He lies." Not that parents necessarily tell their children who they plan to vote for (maybe some do and some don't), but I'm wondering if the youth are influencing their parents NOT to vote for Donald Trump.

Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence on this? I know that the HRC campaign had some really good ads where kids were watching TV and listening to Trump's vitriolic talk -- has it made a difference?

[liberal N proud]

1. If they vote

If they vote they could destroy the entire American experience.

If the younger voters vote 3rd party as is predicted, they could throw the election Trump's way. If that happens, I truly believe if Trump becomes President, he will be the last US Democratically elected President. The American experiment will come to an end.

[MADem]

3. I don't think she's talking about young adults.

I think she's talking about little kids coming home and influencing their parents.

In any event, the "youth vote" doesn't often show up, they can't be counted on, and the young kids take their cues from their parents.

[liberal N proud]

6. With minors, I don't think they will have any affect

Hate is a learned characteristic, parents teach their children to hate and that is why it is so difficult to purge hate from our society.

[MADem]

2. Are you talking about children, pre-teens?

Childrens' sense of right and wrong come from their parents, often as not.

The odds are that kids with Trump - humping parents have been "carefully taught" to hate immigrants and minorities. They probably adore the orange blowhard and have "Make America Great Again" hats, to boot.

[bettyellen]

5. Sadly I agree.

[Farmgirl1961]

4. I was talking about children

Children know right from wrong and I think most children see right through Trump. It is true that children are influenced by their parents and so if the parent spews hatred, so goes the child. I'm not talking about the white supremacists; I'm talking about the other sector of uneducated white males (and some white females) who are scared who are believing Trump's BS...but might be influenced by their children saying "Mommy, daddy...Trump scares me. He's a mean guy...." Maybe the parents would brush it off, but that's what I'm wondering.

I know that children can change their parents behavior by the things they learn at school. Children remind their parents about the importance of recycling and saving the planet...so maybe they can help?

[MADem]

8. Lots of kids go with their parents to the Trump rallies.

Who knows how many KKK or neo-Nazi events feature the little ones as well?

I don't think those types of parents listen to their kids--they TELL their kids what to think.

I have family in the teaching profession--what they hear, parroted by little ones, from their parents runs the gamut from amusing to horrifying.

[karynnj]

7. You might have a point

Consider a young, largely apolitical mother of a couple of young kids in an area where the norm is to vote Republican. Now imagine that
there have been times that she was compelled to turn off Trump speeches because SHE is embarrassed that her little ones are watching. I think that is the type of person that the Hillary team was thinking of when they put out the ad with the theme that kids are watching. I do think that queasiness when he starts hateful speech could really be a turn off to these people.

As to anecdotal evidence - I have one group of cousins, who had a father who was pretty right wing. The cousin I still am in contact with said back in the primaries she could not vote for Trump and hoped Bernie would win our nomination. It will be a tough choice for her - I pass bad Trump things to her.

[politicaljunkie41910]

9. I really don't think that they pay that much attention to politics. My kids all have jobs

and work hard. They're not political except for when Obama was running. Yes we are Black. Yesterdaopy I did post the NY Times Op-Ed on Hillary endorsing her for President, on my kids Facebook Page for them and all their friends to see, since my kids are very popular amound their peers. Two of them also happen to live in states with tight races; Nevada and Georgia.

Personnally, my kids are great people. They are smart, college educated, hard workers, leaders not followers, and genuinely great role models to their peers. But even my near perfect children are not that interested in politics even though their mom is a Political Junkie and has been since my first year of high school. Admittedly, my interest in politics came from my joining a debate team prior to entering my Freshman year in high school. As a young black girl, from a poor family, growing up in Los Angeles I joined the debate team that summer before high school because of the places that the debate teams traveled to. It meant getting to travel to different places in California. My kids having grown up in family in a higher income bracket didn't need to go to the lengths I had to in order to be able to be exposed to different surroundings.

My 2 sons played sports so they remain physically active with their gym memberships and have play stations that they use to unwind when they need to. None of my kids watch a lot of TV. My oldest son is a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep and has kids so that leaves little time for following politics, and the same could be said for their peers. Although we are black, my kids were raised in predominately white neighborhoods, and attended white schools, and the vast majority of their friends are white. Their friends are no different. They don't watch a lot of TV and they play video games for relaxation (when they have the time). The listen to music on their headphones during their workouts, and when they go running. They don't subscribe to newspapers, and get their news on their cell phones or computer alerts. I think this is typical of their generation. My daughter, the oldest, is probably the more political of the bunch, though not a whole lot. My guess is that the mellinnial generation is more interested in their relationships and spending time with their friends, rather than watching tv or reading newspapers.