A more millennial Washington takes shape

America may have gotten its oldest president ever on Wednesday, but there’s no question the power structure of Washington has become far more millennial at the same time.

This was the second election with millennials projected to break turnout records, and the generation that is approximately ages 25 to 40 today is well positioned to have a significant impact on policymaking in the near future and for years to come, said Abby Kiesa, deputy director at the Tufts University Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

The results of the 2020 election showed that if young voters are given clear information on how and where to vote, even if it is constantly changing because of a pandemic, that they will show up, Kiesa said. She added that this year “exemplified for us that young people’s political participation is really about increasing access — and not apathy at all.”

According to the Pew Research Center, a millennial is someone born between 1981 and 1996, though defining the cutoff points isn’t “an exact science,” according Michael Dimock, the center’s president. Here’s more from him:

Most Millennials were between the ages of 5 and 20 when the 9/11 terrorist attacks shook the nation, and many were old enough to comprehend the historical significance of that moment, while most members of Gen Z have little or no memory of the event. Millennials also grew up in the shadow of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which sharpened broader views of the parties and contributed to the intense political polarization that shapes the current political environment. And most Millennials were between 12 and 27 during the 2008 election, where the force of the youth vote became part of the political conversation and helped elect the first black president. Added to that is the fact that Millennials are the most racially and ethnically diverse adult generation in the nation’s history.

And all of these things combined with a summer in which police violence, a pandemic and an economic downturn dominated headlines and shaped how millennials engaged the electoral process.

“Millennials have seen a succession of one institutional failure after the next, and so the time for bold governing is long overdue,” said Torres, who said he hopes to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

“I’m a pragmatist at heart. It is in my nature to seek compromise and coalition-building whenever possible,” he added. “But I have moral boundaries that I refuse to cross, and I’m hardly alone in that sentiment.”

More than 40 percent of eligible millennial voters participated in the 2018 midterm elections. And while it will be a month at the earliest before the total number of millennials who voted in 2020 is known, those who study the topic are confident that it will be historic given all the other data points showing how much voter participation increased in the election.

Following a summer of protests and an increase in voting registration across the country, millennials are believed to have played an influential role not just in Biden’s election but in sending the most diverse group of lawmakers to Washington in history. As much as it is a privilege for lawmakers such as Torres to be a part of that group, the election was about more than just representation and comes with somewhat of a mandate, he said.

“There’s a generation of leaders who are more progressive and more disruptive as well as every bit as diverse as America itself,” said Torres, who was the youngest person on the New York City Council before joining Congress. “Millennial politics bring us closer to realizing the vision of America as a multinational, multiethnic inclusive democracy.”

But not all millennials are liberal — in Washington or across the country. And young conservative voters have sent their share of conservatives — some of them also millennials — to Washington to back the politics championed by Donald Trump.

Boebert has already made a name for herself among Trump’s most die-hard supporters for her willingness to fight the battles that he was known to engage in while in the White House — such as attacking the mainstream media and those on the far left — and her focus on cultural issues related to LGBT rights.

And although there is data to support that millennials’ views on some issues, such as climate change, are clear, what is also clear is that Republican millennials are in Washington to take stances that young conservatives support.

Despite how polarizing American politics seem to be, this moment provides millennials a chance to take the lead on something that seems to be of interest to many Americans regardless of their age: bipartisanship.

Discussions about unity are prevalent among those on the left and the right following the violent insurrection at the Capitol, two months after one of the most divisive elections in recent history. But that could be a challenge given the fundamentally different worldviews of many Americans — millennial voters included. Efforts are being made by some of the next generation of leaders to show America — and the world — how to govern and lead an increasingly diversifying nation.

Buttigieg, who served as a Democratic mayor of a city in a conservative state, spoke about the path to unifying in this moment that leaders such as himself and other millennials can take.

“Government and everything in American society has to do a better job of delivering results and delivering a better life for Americans,” he said Friday on ”The View.” “The more we do that, the more unified and trusting I think Americans can be as systems become more trustworthy.”