If kids could vote, they'd reluctantly elect Clinton


In every year but two since 1940, Scholastic's poll of school children's pick for president has accurately predicted the outcome on Election Day. This year, the under-18 crowd is 52 percent for Democrat Hillary Clinton and 35 percent for Republican Donald Trump.
Another 13 percent of the kids who participated took advantage of the option to write in an alternative candidate, a rate Scholastic says is "unusually high." Among write-in options, Libertarian Gary Johnson, Green Party nominee Jill Stein, and Sen. Bernie Sanders were the three most popular names.
The survey of 153,000 children is not scientifically representative, but only in 1948 and 1960 has this poll failed to predict the winner of the presidential election. Intriguingly, if this year's results are viewed by state, neither major party candidate wins Washington, D.C., and literally all of the states Trump wins form a contiguous mass sandwiched by two large blue regions that even include Texas (TEXAS!).
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Can Texas redistricting save the US House for the GOP?
Today's Big Question Trump pushes a 'ruthless' new plan, but it could backfire
-
'No one should be surprised by this cynical strategy'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Intellectual property: AI gains at creators' expense
Feature Two federal judges ruled that it is fair use for AI firms to use copyrighted media to train bots
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department
-
Cuomo announces third-party run for NYC mayor
Speed Read He will go up against progressive Democratic powerhouse Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled