By Douglas Esser
Pollster John Zogby says the percentages are against the Republican Party – not just in the next presidential election but for good.
As a political party the GOP is “hopelessly on its way to extinction,” Zogby told an audience April 27 at University of Washington Bothell. “Demographics are against the GOP.”
Millennials, the 18-37 generation — now the biggest single group in the electorate — is heavily Democratic. Latinos, African-Americans and people who work in information fields that he calls the creative class, also are growing in size or in the percentage of the group that votes Democratic, Zogby says.
It’s not always that they find the Democratic Party attractive, but many are repelled or afraid of what they hear from the other side, he says. Which brings us to Donald Trump. Zogby says Trump started off as a “vanity candidate” who was surprised to find his rhetoric appealing to a middle class that’s losing ground. The slogan “Make America Great Again” appeals to people who want their old world back, he says.
As for some of Trump’s polarizing rhetoric, “It’s worrying,” he said. As for Sen. Ted Cruz, “God help us all.”
Zogby, founder of the Zogby Poll and Zogby Analytics, says he’s a liberal Democrat who will work for anyone. He also identifies himself as an Arab-American.
As a pollster he’s more sensitive to minority perspectives, said Assistant Professor Karam Dana, director of the UW Bothell American Muslim Research Institute. AMRI co-sponsored the lecture and Dana moderated a question-and-answer session.
Photo: Karam Dana, right, questions John Zogby.
Chancellor Wolf Yeigh welcomed Zogby and his insightful analysis. He knows Zogby from his time as President of the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica, which also is where Zogby Analytics is based.
Zogby says he has made frequent trips to the Northwest for conferences and speaking appearances, but it was the first time on the UW Bothell campus.
“It’s beautiful,” he said.
Demonstrating his capacity to remember percentages, he also knew that 56 percent of the students are non-white, and he considered the diversity remarkable on a suburban campus.
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Marc Studer photos, video
