The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up)

The GOP’s leading millennial pollster offers an eye-opening look at America’s shifting demographics and reveals how these changes will affect future elections.

The American electorate is undergoing a radical transformation. Cultural factors are reshaping how a new generation of voters considers issues. Demographic shifts are creating an increasingly diverse electorate, and technological advances are opening new avenues for voter contact and persuasion.

Kristen Soltis Anderson examines these hot-topic trends and how they are influencing the way youth, women, and minorities vote. Blending observations from focus groups, personal stories, and polling results, the Republican pollster offers key insights into the changing nature of American politics. The Selfie Vote introduces you to tech-savvy political consultants and shows you how these hip young pollsters and consultants are using data mining and social media to transform electoral politics—including tracking your purchasing history. Make some purchases at a high-end culinary store? Crave sushi? Your choices outside the ballot box can reveal how you might vote. And anyone interested in the future of politics should know where these cultural trends are heading.

Data-driven yet highly readable, The Selfie Vote busts established myths about campaigns and elections while offering insights about what’s ahead—and what it could mean for American politics and governance.

Whether it's the rise of craft beer and ride-sharing apps, the decline of unions, or the emergence of selfies, cultural and consumer trends that define the millennial generation can tell us surprising things about where America—and the Republican Party—is heading.

The American electorate is undergoing a radical and rapid transformation, and politicians are struggling to keep up with the changes. Cultural shifts and emerging technologies are reshaping how a new generation of voters considers issues, and are providing new avenues for voter contact and persuasion. Luckily, we have Kristen Soltis Anderson to explain how these converging developments are revolutionizing the science of elections and American politics in general.

In The Selfie Vote, Anderson, a pollster and political consultant, examines how these hot-topic trends are influencing the way America votes. Blending observations from focus groups with personal stories and polling results, she introduces us to tech-savvy political consultants and shows how these young, cutting-edge campaign operatives are using data mining and social media to transform electoral politics.

Just as data analytics have reshaped the consumer landscape, they have also made it possible for political campaigns to know you as a consumer—not just that you are a Democrat, or that you live on Spruce Street, or that you voted in the last presidential election. They can know if you like technology; if you have high-end culinary tastes; if you have a gun; if you like to knit; and, as a result, they can make very good educated guesses about if and how you'll vote.

Today's campaign consultants are poring over your purchasing history and mining your Facebook page for clues to your values and preferences. And for each of these relatively minor lifestyle or consumer choices people make, there are bigger ones—the decision to own a home, go to church, buy a car, join a union, invest in stocks, get married—that speak volumes about who we are and what we value and believe. Following these trends can tell us a lot about where our nation's politics are heading.

The best operatives take a page from advanced marketing techniques. That piece of campaign mail you got last week talking about how a particular candidate slashed education funding? Your next door neighbors probably didn't get the same brochure.

Anderson's illuminating, fact-based, and highly readable book busts established myths about campaigns and elections while offering insights into what's ahead—and what it will mean for the future of American politics.

Millennials are poised to become the largest generation in the electorate. From selfies and Snapchat, to same-sex marriage and Social Security, Kristen Soltis Anderson has mined popular culture, polling crosstabs and her own personal story to produce a compelling portrait of how this historic transition will challenge both parties-but especially Republicans who have struggled to connect with this massive and increasingly decisive generation. Anyone who wants to understand how Millennials are reshaping the political balance of power won’t find a more engaging or insightful tour guide. - --Ronald Brownstein, Editorial Director of Strategic Partnerships at Altantic Media

“Anyone who wants to understand how Millennials are reshaping the political balance of power won’t find a more engaging or insightful tour guide. ” - Ronald Brownstein, Editorial Director, Strategic Partnerships

“Yes, yes, The Selfie Vote is smart, funny, and a pleasure to read, from beginning to end. But it’s also important. Too many of us believe that millennials are just like older Americans, only they’re a lot more likely to use emoji. As Kristen Soltis Anderson vividly demonstrates in these pages, growing up in a more urban, diverse, and entrepreneurial America has shaped the worldview of younger Americans in surprising and powerful ways, and this has enormous implications for our political future. If you want to know where our country is heading-to get elected, to sell widgets, to do anything at all-you’d be wise to read this book.” - Reihan Salam, executive editor of National Review

“Kristen Soltis Anderson has written a fresh and compelling portrait of the Millennial generation and how Republicans can win its votes. Fluent in polling, politics, and policy, Ms. Anderson makes a strong case that Republicans can attract young people by applying conservative principles to modern problems. Her knowledge of changing demography and voter analytics makes her insights especially valuable. Republicans would do well to listen to this talented young voice.” - Karlyn Bowman, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

“As Kristen Soltis Anderson vividly demonstrates in these pages, growing up in a more urban, diverse, and entrepreneurial America has shaped the worldview of younger Americans in surprising and powerful ways, and this has enormous implications for our political future.” - Reihan Salam, executive editor of National Review

“Anderson has written a fresh and compelling portrait of the Millennial generation. Fluent in polling, politics, and policy,she makes a strong case that Republicans can attract young people by applying conservative principles to modern problems. Her knowledge of changing demography and voter analytics makes her insights especially valuable. ” - Karlyn Bowman, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute