In the midst of political polarization throughout the country and the lack of faith in the bipartisan system to solve people’s problems, a great The number of younger Americans says they have abandoned national republican and democratic parties.
The new NBC News Stay Tued survey, driven by Surveymonkey, asked 19,682 American adults about the current state of us. Politics as president Donald Trump approaches his first 100 days in office. The results show that 64% of independents have an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party and 71% have an unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party. Those high unfavorable numbers were also almost the same among the independents of generation Z.
Meanwhile, Gen Zers and Millennials were more likely than generation X and Baby Boomers to identify as independent. And it is in these uncertain conditions that many voters are entering politics without strong ties with traditional parties.
Corruption and corrosive politics were a great concern among other independent young people who spoke with NBC News, including Nathan Gong, 19, who is a student at the University of Texas in Austin.
“It is a bipartisan problem” that the members of the Congress have to spend so much time collecting funds “instead of legislating and being serious about solving problems for their voters,” Gong said.
Gong grew with parents who emigrated from China. He said he still has many of his traditionally conservative and libertarian beliefs, but now he identifies as independent.
“The Republican Party, I think they have a long way to go, especially when they reach younger voters and different populations that have traditionally voted republican,” Gong said.
When asked about the Democratic party, Gong said he gone too far in some areas.
“I think when [Democrats] A type of game game with empathy and you do many things in the name of being understanding and helping people, but you are only losing contact with what most people, which the average American, the average person wants, “said Gong. He added:” I think many of these problems surround the identity can be a bit much. And I think that was reflected in many recent elections. “
Jack Nagel, 26, an independent resident of California who works for “Good Party”, a startup that helps independent candidates to run and serve in office, in an interview that “would describe the Democratic Party as frozen.”
“They are not doing anything to get in the way to what Trump is trying to achieve and they don’t have a clear message for voters,” Nagel said.
“When they grow, they teach you that the United States is this headlight of democracy worldwide and strong democratic values,” Nagel said. “You see the growing polarization and decreased action by our elected officials.”
However, Nagel’s frustration with the Democratic party has not attracted him to the Republican Party.
“I would describe the Republican party as dominated by an individual at this time, and we all know who he is, and that is President Trump. I don’t think they are also providing any kind of vision beyond who he is,” Nagel added.
“I would consider me politically homeless, since I don’t have a party that speaks of my values and beliefs,” Nagel said.
The new survey found that 65% of the independents of generation Z believe that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans fight for people like them, and 78% say that the country is on the wrong way.
The survey also revealed that 67% of all independent voters disapproved of a way of disapproving the way Trump is handling his work as president. Almost half (48%) of the Zers generation disapprove strongly, and the women of generation Z have the greatest disapproval.
Independent voters bowed closer to the Democrats and progressive than the Republicans and conservatives when considering the president’s work performance in their first three months.
And observing how the Zers gene on Trump’s actions in its administration so far, a plurality of 28% of the voters of the Z generation described feeling “furious.”
The independent voter Natasha Mizell, 25, said she has been disappointed with Trump. She is a first -generation American who grew up with conservative parents from Cuba, but now she leans a little more progressive.
“Many times the comments that the president will make are not professionals and many times they can create a greater division between people, and I think that coming from the president can send a signal to the rest of the country in this is fine to act in this way,” said Mizell.
She said that extremism has moved away young people to want to choose between the two ills.
“Although we at this time favor both parties at the federal level, I think my generation is ready to assume that and change that,” Mizell added. “I think that at this time, we are ending in a way that when it comes to presidential elections, you must choose the least of two ills. But at the local and state level, we can have that option and be able to promulgate changes and choose the independents that reflect our real opinions.”
Although a record part of independent voters participated in the presidential elections of 2024, the independents cannot participate in all elections in the 50 states, since many have primaries of closed parties. Fald presidential campaigns of third -party or independent candidates have also contributed to skepticism about the viability of a third -party candidate who wins nationwide.
Nagel said he believes that the solution lies in a new generation of elected officials and focuses on obtaining more independent to administer and vote at the local level.
“The deck is stacked against the independents, there is no doubt about that. But what we are doing at the local level to advance the candidates who feed on people, independent, anti -corruption will pave the way for reform at the state level and, hopefully, at the federal level,” Nagel said.
