I continue to ache at what happened in this election. Oh, sure, I’ve been disappointed by election results before (2000 comes to mind), but I’ve never been genuinely afraid for our country this way.
That’s why this map did my heart a world of good. It’s a graphic of how the 18 to 25 age group voted. Nearly all blue, with a few small exceptions. This is what the future thinks. This is why I love writing for young people.
Please note I don’t mean that I don’t respect conservative ideals, or that I think that all people should be progressives. I think healthy debate is good, and makes us all refine our thinking. This man is not a conservative. He is a danger unprecedented in our history. This map shows that young people heard this man’s rhetoric and hate speech and decided that wasn’t their America. I can’t wait to live in theirs.
Yes, people get more conservative as they age. But as old idealists like me prove, not all of them. This new generation has grown up believing in equality and women’s rights to a degree that mine didn’t. They take things for granted that I saw flourish with incredulous eyes. They saw this candidacy and rejected it outright. The future is theirs. It makes me hopeful.
