Did the hippies vote for Humphrey?

[buritobr]

It was a hard choice. Nixon could be worse.
But Humphrey was the candidate of the party of the president who was sending American boys to the war in Southeast Asia.

[MurrayBannerman]

Without looking at any outside information, my gut says that they just didn't vote.

[Indy Texas]

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

I doubt most of them were old enough to vote, since it was still 21 in 1968.

[buritobr]

OK, many hippies were younger than 21.


Using other words
Did the anti-war activists vote for Humphrey?

[MATTROSE94]

I assume that most anti-war activists in 1968 voted for either the Peace and Freedom Party or wrote in anti-war candidates such as Dick Gregory and Benjamin Spock as opposed to voting for Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace or Richard Nixon. In 1972, however, George McGovern probably won the hippie and anti-war activist vote by a landslide margin though.

[Dr. Cynic]

I assume that most anti-war activists in 1968 voted for either the Peace and Freedom Party or wrote in anti-war candidates such as Dick Gregory and Benjamin Spock as opposed to voting for Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace or Richard Nixon. In 1972, however, George McGovern probably won the hippie and anti-war activist vote by a landslide margin though.

Did poor McGovern a lot of good, didn't it?

[MATTROSE94]

I assume that most anti-war activists in 1968 voted for either the Peace and Freedom Party or wrote in anti-war candidates such as Dick Gregory and Benjamin Spock as opposed to voting for Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace or Richard Nixon. In 1972, however, George McGovern probably won the hippie and anti-war activist vote by a landslide margin though.

Did poor McGovern a lot of good, didn't it?

I guess, LOL!

[old timey villain]

I have a better question. How do the self described hippies of the late 60s and early 70s vote now? My guess is about evenly split today. Hippies were drawn to progressive causes and I expect a lot of them to still think that way. But at the same time I think a lot of them were just going through a rebellious phase and turned more conservative by the late 70s.

1968: 10/60/30 Nixon/Humphrey/None

1972: 10/90 Nixon/McGovern

1976: 30/60/10 Ford/Carter/None

1980: 30/40/15/15 Reagan/Carter/Anderson/None

1984: 50/50  Reagan/Mondale

1988: 45/55 Bush/Dukakis

1992: 30/40/30 Bush/Clinton/Perot

1996: 35/50/15  Dole/Clinton/Perot

2000: 50/50 Bush/Gore

2004: 55/45 Bush/Kerry (first time the R wins this group)

2008: 50/50 McCain/Obama

2012: 55/40/5 Romney/Obama/None

[Del Tachi]

I have a better question. How do the self described hippies of the late 60s and early 70s vote now? My guess is about evenly split today. Hippies were drawn to progressive causes and I expect a lot of them to still think that way. But at the same time I think a lot of them were just going through a rebellious phase and turned more conservative by the late 70s.

1968: 10/60/30 Nixon/Humphrey/None

1972: 10/90 Nixon/McGovern

1976: 30/60/10 Ford/Carter/None

1980: 30/40/15/15 Reagan/Carter/Anderson/None

1984: 50/50  Reagan/Mondale

1988: 45/55 Bush/Dukakis

1992: 30/40/30 Bush/Clinton/Perot

1996: 35/50/15  Dole/Clinton/Perot

2000: 50/50 Bush/Gore

2004: 55/45 Bush/Kerry (first time the R wins this group)

2008: 50/50 McCain/Obama

2012: 55/40/5 Romney/Obama/None

How does this group (comprised of the same individuals) go from 35% Republican in 1996 to 55% Republican in 2012? 

Or how does a demographic that was split 50/50 in an extremely lopsided election (1984) stay around 50/50 in a extremely close election (2000)?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Without looking at any outside information, my gut says that they just didn't vote.

This.

[old timey villain]

I have a better question. How do the self described hippies of the late 60s and early 70s vote now? My guess is about evenly split today. Hippies were drawn to progressive causes and I expect a lot of them to still think that way. But at the same time I think a lot of them were just going through a rebellious phase and turned more conservative by the late 70s.

1968: 10/60/30 Nixon/Humphrey/None

1972: 10/90 Nixon/McGovern

1976: 30/60/10 Ford/Carter/None

1980: 30/40/15/15 Reagan/Carter/Anderson/None

1984: 50/50  Reagan/Mondale

1988: 45/55 Bush/Dukakis

1992: 30/40/30 Bush/Clinton/Perot

1996: 35/50/15  Dole/Clinton/Perot

2000: 50/50 Bush/Gore

2004: 55/45 Bush/Kerry (first time the R wins this group)

2008: 50/50 McCain/Obama

2012: 55/40/5 Romney/Obama/None

How does this group (comprised of the same individuals) go from 35% Republican in 1996 to 55% Republican in 2012? 

Or how does a demographic that was split 50/50 in an extremely lopsided election (1984) stay around 50/50 in a extremely close election (2000)?

Because this group became more conservative through time. That was the point I was trying to make. Disappointment with the counterculture movement might have swung some of these people more to the right, as well as becoming more conservative with age.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Baby boomers are the swing generation, so I don't know why ex-hippies would vote to the right of baby boomers overall.

[Del Tachi]

I have a better question. How do the self described hippies of the late 60s and early 70s vote now? My guess is about evenly split today. Hippies were drawn to progressive causes and I expect a lot of them to still think that way. But at the same time I think a lot of them were just going through a rebellious phase and turned more conservative by the late 70s.

1968: 10/60/30 Nixon/Humphrey/None

1972: 10/90 Nixon/McGovern

1976: 30/60/10 Ford/Carter/None

1980: 30/40/15/15 Reagan/Carter/Anderson/None

1984: 50/50  Reagan/Mondale

1988: 45/55 Bush/Dukakis

1992: 30/40/30 Bush/Clinton/Perot

1996: 35/50/15  Dole/Clinton/Perot

2000: 50/50 Bush/Gore

2004: 55/45 Bush/Kerry (first time the R wins this group)

2008: 50/50 McCain/Obama

2012: 55/40/5 Romney/Obama/None

How does this group (comprised of the same individuals) go from 35% Republican in 1996 to 55% Republican in 2012? 

Or how does a demographic that was split 50/50 in an extremely lopsided election (1984) stay around 50/50 in a extremely close election (2000)?

Because this group became more conservative through time. That was the point I was trying to make. Disappointment with the counterculture movement might have swung some of these people more to the right, as well as becoming more conservative with age.

Hippies did get more conservative, but those who were still liberal by, say, 1984 or 1988, have probably stayed that way.

Instead, you have a group going from 35% GOP to 55% GOP in less than a twenty year span of time which didn't begin until the mid 1990s.

[Heimdal]

I am pretty certain that most hippies wouldn’t have voted for Humphrey. Humphrey was to heavily associated with the war in Vietnam and Lyndon Johnson. Humphrey’s nomination was secured by people like Mayor Daley of Chicago, whose police had beaten up a lot of anti-war activists and hippies during the Convention.  A lot of anti-war activists and hippies regarded Humphrey as a man of the “Old politics”, just like Richard Nixon.

[Nichlemn]

I have a better question. How do the self described hippies of the late 60s and early 70s vote now? My guess is about evenly split today. Hippies were drawn to progressive causes and I expect a lot of them to still think that way. But at the same time I think a lot of them were just going through a rebellious phase and turned more conservative by the late 70s.

1968: 10/60/30 Nixon/Humphrey/None

1972: 10/90 Nixon/McGovern

1976: 30/60/10 Ford/Carter/None

1980: 30/40/15/15 Reagan/Carter/Anderson/None

1984: 50/50  Reagan/Mondale

1988: 45/55 Bush/Dukakis

1992: 30/40/30 Bush/Clinton/Perot

1996: 35/50/15  Dole/Clinton/Perot

2000: 50/50 Bush/Gore

2004: 55/45 Bush/Kerry (first time the R wins this group)

2008: 50/50 McCain/Obama

2012: 55/40/5 Romney/Obama/None

A few turned Republican (Norm Coleman is a notable example) but to nowhere near this degree. Romney didn't even win 45-64 year olds as a whole by this margin, and ex-hippies would certainly be at least somewhere more Democratic than their age cohort. It's important to get beyond generalisations like "Boomers were hippies" and now "Boomers are conservative". These are (mostly) not the same people! There were a significant number of young conservative Boomers (e.g. Mitt Romney) who would tend to be disproportionately Republican today, and there are still a significant number of Boomer liberals today.   

I suspect a large majority became relatively mainstream Democrats. I'm guessing they voted about 75/20/5 for D/R/other in 2012. However they possibly voted up to 20% for Nader in 2000.

[Cranberry]

I don't think the Hippies voted for Nader.
First they became typical Democrats, and after Clinton they turned Republican as they turned older.

[old timey villain]

Well, it was just a guess. You guys might be right.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

We're talking about a tiny minority here, people.

[bore]

We're talking about a tiny minority here, people.

Yeah, if we really want to know, we could just ask him...

[All Along The Watchtower]

The results were not statistically significant (small sample size).

[Lurker]

Cope1989's estimates are really quite absurd (not to offend), for the reasons Sibboleth, Snowstalker and others point out.

Of course, considering how "the 60's" is treated in popular culture, it's not that odd that some would believe that Hippies represented far greater numbers than they actually did.

[Randy Bobandy]

I remember reading somewhere that someone said, in 1968, that they figured the revolution would proceed more quickly if everyone voted for Nixon. That said, I believe that all the hippies probably voted for Nixon. If not...probably Pigasus.

[SingingAnalyst]

I'm sure a few voted for Humphrey as the lesser of 3 evils, but some voted for Nixon. Most stayed home, and a few wrote in Gregory or Cleaver. I think the only thing we can say for sure is that none to speak of voted for Wallace. In university counties in MI, the Democratic percentage goes (1964-68-72): Washtenaw 62-42-51; Ingham 62-41-45. Humphrey polls low in each case.

[bobloblaw]

It was a hard choice. Nixon could be worse.
But Humphrey was the candidate of the party of the president who was sending American boys to the war in Southeast Asia.

There werent as many hippies as you think. The 1960s looked more like Maybury RFD than Woodstock