CNN: Millennials Bring Socialist Ideology to US Voter Base

Millennials are OK with socialism, and that could impact U.S. policy as they begin to enter the political arena, CNN reported.

The lean to the left was found in a 2016 Gallup poll that found 55 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds held a positive view of socialism.

The roots of their discontent might be largely economic, CNN reported. For example, one bank study showed millennials have a net worth 34 percent below what is expected, and another found their home ownership rates have fallen.

For many cash-strapped millennials in debt, Democratic socialism is not radical, it is a way to fix a system that appears to have failed them, CNN noted, citing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Democratic socialist who won her primary in New York on Tuesday in an upset over 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y.

Ocasio-Cortez declared her race was about "people vs. money" in a campaign ad — and that theme might be echoed as more of her generation run for office, CNN reported.

"The message that we send the world tonight is that it's not OK to put donors before your community," Ocasio-Cortez said in her victory speech, CNN reported.

• Poll: 71 Percent of Millennials Want Third Political Party
• Study: Millennials Projected for a Decline in Middle-Age Health