People tend to form their lifelong political attitudes In their late teens/early 20s.

Trump might be over (for now.) But the young people who formed their political identities in reaction to his cruelty and incompetence will be around for decades. They will remember him forever.

A lot of my book is about how popular Presidents attract young people to their party, and unpopular Presidents repel them. Young Americans rejected Trump at the ballot box (twice) by two-to-one. This is a huge problem for the GOP.

Think of it this way:
According to Pew, ppl born in 1942 came of age under Eisenhower, a popular R prez. These people tended to vote R for the rest of their lives.

Ppl born just 8 years later, in 1950, came of age under Nixon, an unpopular R prez. They leaned Dem. Forever.

Before you "well, actually" me: Are there some young people who have been radicalized by online right-wing media and are part of the growing far right? Yes. Are they the majority? Definitely not.

Political events-- and esp political FIGURES-- tend to be stickier than we think.

That's why tons of Boomers still talk abt Reagan, or think of politics the way they did during the Reagan years-- bc those were their formative years, when they developed their political identity

So: the Trump era was an era of mass youth mobilization. Young people voted in record numbers, marched for climate and racial justice, advocated and organized. They built a political identity that may stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The irony is that a lot of these young people had become bored/disillusioned with politics under Obama, and could easily have stayed that way if not for Trump.

Trump provoked a Democratic base of young voters that may well have stayed dormant. Now they're awake.

By the way: yes there are young Republicans. Yes, I cover them extensively in my book, which is literally all about this phenomenon: https://www.amazon.com/Ones-Weve-Been-Waiting-Generation/dp/0525561501