Now that “hope and change” seems to be played out, President Barack Obama has come up with a new catchphrase for millennials – “idealism and optimism.”
In a speech at a Democratic National Convention fundraiser in Seattle, Wash. Tuesday night, Obama asked young people not to give up their natural idealism and optimism because of Congress.
“It can get depressing, right? It can feel as if, oh, nothing is working and everything is a crisis,” Obama said. “And when I talk to interns at the White House — and we have them in every six months or so — these amazing young people, hugely talented. They’re idealistic, they’re optimistic. And I say to them, don’t lose that optimism; don’t lose that idealism.”
The only problem is that it isn’t just Republicans in Congress —the president’s favorite scapegoat – that have young people turning cynical. Recent studies show that most millennials, the same age group that got Obama elected, believe that he is just as much to blame for the “crisis.”
An April survey from from the Harvard Institute of Politics found that millennials’ trust in government institutions — including the presidency — has tanked since March 2012. Only 31 percent of 18-to-34 year olds trust the federal government overall, with the level of trust young people have in the president suffering the most over the last 12 months.
Of those surveyed, only 32 percent trusted the president to do the right thing either most or all of the time. Even among Democrats, just 53 percent saying they trusted the president, compared with 64 percent in 2013.
A recent Reason-Rupe study of millennials and politics found similar results.
About 52 percent of those surveyed said they approved of Obama’s job performance in some capcity and 48 percent disapproved. However, nearly twice as many respondents strongly disapproved, about 21 percent, compared to the 13 percent that strongly approved.
Among those who say they voted for Obama in 2012, 21 percent say they now disapprove of him and only 23 percent “strongly approve” of his performance.
Politically independent millennials disapprove of Obama 53 to 46 percent, the study found.
Young people have given up on “hope and change.” If Obama wants millennials to keep their “idealism and optimism,” he’s going to have to earn it.
