Millennials Leaning Right

CNN weighs in with positive research findings, drawn from metasurveys of huge data bases, which look at political attitudes among millennials, those born between 1980 and 1994.

The data showed that, as entering college students, 23% of millennials identified as leaning far right, compared to 17% of Baby Boomers and 22% of Generation Xers.

Less than half -- 47% -- of millennials identified as "middle-of-the-road," compared to 50% of Baby Boomers and more than half -- 53% -- of Generation Xers.

I see a trend line where conservative Boomers are 17%, Gen Xs are 22%, and Millennials are 23%. As conservatives we have to like that directionality. It is also true that increasing numbers of the population as a whole, unlike the millennials, self-identify as independents.

In 1989, only about 30% of adults identified as independent, but by 2014 that number rose to about 46%.

Although the article is careful not to say so, my back-of-the-envelope arithmetic suggests that if more millennials are leaning far right and fewer are independent, but more are not ending up on the far left, the balance must be in the moderate left and right. If true, not a bad outcome, not a bad trend. More polarized, yes, but in our favor.

As a retired professor, I have to wonder if the left-leaning academy is ready for roughly a quarter of "entering college students" to be "far right?" The obvious answer is "can't even imagine readiness." The culture clash should be interesting.