Only 1 in 4 Millennials Plan to Vote This Fall

Democrats got some polling news today that might be even scarier than yesterday's approval numbers. Only 23% of voters age 18 to 29 say they "definitely" plan to vote in the 2014 midterms, according to a new Harvard Institute of Politics poll spotted by the Christian Science Monitor. Not only does that demographic lean left, but young Democrats are particularly disengaged, with just 22% locked in to voting, compared to 32% of young Republicans. The reason: Overpowering cynicism. "Trust in every institution we tested is down," the poll's director says.

Roughly three in five agreed that politicians "seem to be motivated by selfish reasons," and the percentage who trust President Obama to "do the right thing" has dropped from 39% in November to 32%. In other polling news, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found Americans are quite weary of international entanglements, with 47% saying the US should be less active globally, a dramatically higher mark than in past decades. Only 19% want America to be more active. The public is sending a message to Washington, one pollster said: "You need to take care of business here at home." (More millennials stories.)