Politics: 'That's grandma and grandpa's job'

Seniors vote. Young kids not so much.

This popular notion is now pretty much engrained in the political dialogue underscored by the fact that in 2010, 61 percent of the voters were over the age of 65 and 21 percent between the ages of 18-24.

The political wizards at Harvard have published a survey of the later group and it makes you wonder, who will run the Democracy after all those seniors have gone to the big polling booth in the sky?

Of the 2,000 surveyed, 68 percent say they are registered to vote but 57 percent voted while one out of four didn't bother.

Asked if they considered themselves to be "politically engaged", check out these findings: 78 percent said no and they think 79 percent of their friends aren't either.

This doesn't mean they don't have opinions. But many are not motivated to act on them.

For example 50 percent approve of what the president is doing. Fifty-seven percent disapprove of the Democrats in Congress and 77 percent say the same thing about the Republicans.

President Obama successfully tapped into this voting segment the two times he ran but in the first off year election when he returned to the college campuses to urge the kids to help him win back the Congress, they stiffed him.

In the 2016 GOP race, younger voters do not appear to be moved by anybody. Twenty-two percent favor Donald Trump and 20 percent like the brain surgeon. However, when asked if they were enthusiastic about anyone of the candidates, only 28 percent said yes.

On the Democratic side, it is apparently no fluke that Bernie Saunders is capturing some of the Obama magic much to the chagrin of you know who.

Hillary Clinton gets 35 percent of the youth vote while Mr. self-avowed socialist gets 41 percent.  Eighty-eight percent of the sample, however, are very or somewhat engaged by the two contenders in strong contrast to the Republican cast of candidates.

These results maybe in large part because 36 percent of the 18-24 year olds are Democrats, 21 percent GOP and 40 percent are independents.

Even so when it comes time to put their money where they mouths are, 85 percent claim they would not kick in 10 bucks or less to any candidate. Seventy-two percent would not attend a rally and getting them to click on a website contribution? Ha. Eighty-four percent say no way. And how about knocking on a few doors? Seventy-eight percent would rather not.

And finally 57 percent get it that politicians do impact their everyday life, but most of them won't do much about influencing who those pols are.

Apparently in their Democracy, that 's grandma and grandpa's job.