Andrew Sullivan has a column that dove tails in with the Economist story I referenced earlier. A shortened version of Andrew's London Times column appears here: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/07/the-kids-are-al.html#more. What it finds is good news overall for gays and not such good news for the GOP and the anti-gay Christianists. Here are a few highlights:
Does this make the next generation more conservative? On some issues, the answer seems to be yes. Take abortion. The underthirties are marginally more opposed to abortion than their parents: One in four want it made illegal altogether. Thirty-seven per cent of the underthirties are pro-choice, compared with 39% of the population; 38% of the underthirties want more restrictions.
The young are also slightly less likely to support gun control than their elders, even in the wake of the college shootings at Virginia Tech. A solid 43% of the underthirties, moreover, believe being gay is a choice, compared with only 34% of the general population.
So are they a more Republican generation than Democrat? Here’s where the surprise is. Despite their marginally more conservative views on the war and Iraq, the underthirties are strikingly more committed to the Democratic party than at any time since the high-water mark of young Republicanism in the Reagan Eighties. Bush has turned out to be a reverse-Reagan.
Hopefully, the Democrats can capitalize on this and totally rout the GOP in 2008. As I have said many times now, I believe that a 2008 election disaster is key to any chance of the GOP returning to its historic principles. Time seems on the side of those wishing to undo the damage of the last seven years.
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