Gen Z Men Trending Conservative is No Surprise
Plus: A funny CNN image, and more praise of How Democrats Can Win Back Men
A recent NYT article titled “Many Gen Z Men Feel Left Behind. Some See Trump as an Answer.” by Claire Cain Miller was just the latest report on the trend of young men trending Republican. This is a topic I touched on in my book, How Democrats Can Win Back Men, and it’s not surprising. The Democrats have failed to focus on men’s issues for years, including in the 2024 Democratic Party Platform which mentions women 82 times and men only 4 times as I wrote about last week. How would you not expect young men to lean conservative when the Democrats largely do not even speak to them? And it’s important to note that they are not more conservative than older age groups. They’re just following the trend of middle-aged and older men.
Let’s look at the four age ranges polled in the August NYT/Siena in six battleground states as shared by Miller. All four groups of men fall within a fairly narrow range in favor of Trump/Republicans (percentages approximate):
Ages 18-29: +13 for Trump
Ages 30-44: +13 for Trump
Ages 45-64: +19 for Trump
Ages 65 and above: +12 for Trump
It’s the 45-64 age group that falls farthest to the right. Now imagine this: what if Democrats focus more on male issues and knock a few points off of Trump’s lead among men in these all-important swing states? Wouldn’t that be a smart strategy? It could affect the outcome of the election, but I have yet to see or hear it.
During my years of research, I’ve seen hundreds of quotes of men of all ages saying that they don’t believe that the Democratic Party represents them. And I get it. I sometimes feel that the Democratic Party only cares about me in two ways — they want my vote, and they want my money. What about my issues? For the most part, they don’t seem interested.
For instance, when is the last time the Democratic Party brought up the fact that men’s life expectancy has been decreasing compared to women, with the longevity gender gap now at an alarming 5.9 years? I’ve also been arguing this point on my Substack and in my book, and a very similar argument was recently made in the Washington Post by Richard Reeves in his piece, “Men are having a health crisis. Why aren’t we paying attention?” Will Harris bring this up at the debate?
I hope the Democratic Party will shift its strategy and begin actively focusing on men’s issues. That’s why the subtitle of my book is: Why Understanding Male Voters and Their Issues is Vital to Democratic Victory. I don’t believe most Democrats even understand a lot of the issues men and boys are dealing with. So first the Democrats need to understand the issues of men, and then they can address them. It’s both wise political strategy and makes for better policy, as well.
I Wasn’t On CNN, But My Book Title Was
Check out this screenshot from a CNN story on Fareed Zacharia GPS from Sunday, August 11:
No, that’s not me on the right, but it should be! That’s writer Derek Thompson from The Atlantic. I’m not sure if they saw my book or not, but I thought it was interesting that they used my title in this segment which aligned very closely with the views I expressed in my book. Great minds think alike, I guess! You can watch the full segment on Facebook. Thanks to a reader from New York State for finding that!
More Praise for How Democrats Can Win Back Men!
I was thrilled to receive positive feedback from an author and researcher for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect, Dr. Michael Gurian. Founder of The Gurian Institute and author of numerous books on psychology and education, Dr. Gurian provided the following feedback:
While written for one political party, I believe this book is useful for all readers. Mark Sutton details many of the issues faced by boys and men across the political and social spectrum. His book is well written and well researched. I highly recommend How Democrats Can Win Back Men.
--Michael Gurian, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Wonder of Boys and Saving Our Sons
You can read more from Dr. Gurian at Michael Gurian’s Substack. Thanks Michael!
And finally, my book was mentioned by Sean Kullman, author of the Substack In His Words, in a post called: “Bash-ing Testosterone: The Politics of Ideas and Identity.” Sean covers a lot of the issues of the day from a well-informed perspective — In His Words is an informative and insightful Substack.
Thank you for reading, and if you have had a chance to purchase the book, please feel free to leave a review on Amazon.
I found myself explaining this - "How would you not expect young men to lean conservative when the Democrats largely do not even speak to them?" - to a female colleague this week who genuinely didn't understand what young men might see in Trump. (I also recommended your book to her!)