The Democratic primary’s generational divide

Can a millennial candidate ride older voters to victory?

People wearing campaign buttons.

Pete Buttigieg is the youngest candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries, and if elected, he would be the youngest president in history. On the campaign trail he often talks about America's need for "a new generation of leadership" to replace the "failures of the old normal." Yet none of this seems to be very appealing to voters in his own age bracket. Polls have consistently shown that Mayor Pete appeals overwhelmingly to the over-50 crowd.

The sole millennial candidate in the race, then, is a hit with boomers, while the oldest candidate in the race, Senator Bernie Sanders, who is more than twice Buttigieg's age, is the preferred candidate for under-30 voters. This fact, that a 78-year old who recently suffered a health scare is far more popular with millennials than the 37-year-old candidate with boyish looks, tells us a lot about the generational divide that has consumed the Democratic Party in recent years.

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Conor Lynch

Conor Lynch is a freelance journalist living in New York City. He has written for The New Republic, Salon, and Alternet.