Politicians are corrupt, say 65 percent of young voters in a new Blueprint poll, reports Shelby Talcott in Semafor. Only 7 percent disagree."America is in decline," say 64 percent (10 percent disagree) of the 18-30-year-olds.
Young voters "see a dying empire led by bad people," said Evan Roth Smith, Blueprint’s lead pollster.
Blueprint's polling is designed to advise Democrats on the most effective ways to reach voters and win elections.
While 45 percent expect their lives to be better than their parents' lives, with the rest divided between "about the same" and "worse." However, a majority -- Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — believe "the country is going downhill," writes Talcott.
Remember Reagan's "shining city on the hill" and Obama's "hope and change?" Now, half of those polled think the U.S. is at risk of becoming a fascist country and could be described as a "hellscape," "dystopia" or "dying empire," according to the poll.
Of course, on the flip side, 48 percent say: "I'd rather be born in America than any other country in the world" with only 22 percent disagreeing.
Pessimism could be bad for Democrats, Blueprint warns. "There’s some evidence Trump tends to do better with voters who have low trust in institutions, as Eric Levitz writes in Vox. That could explain Trump's gains with young and nonwhite voters.