1 in 4 millennials rather have meteor hit earth than see Clinton or Trump in office

Nearly one-quarter of Americans ages 18 to 35 would rather see a giant meteor strike the Earth than see either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House, according to the new UMass Lowell/Odyssey Millennials poll.The poll, was released Tuesday, asked respondents to choose their preference between Clinton as president, Trump as president, a random lottery to choose the president from all U.S. citizens, President Obama appointing himself to a life term as president or a giant meteor striking Earth and extinguishing all human life.Over a Clinton or Trump presidency, 39 percent of those surveyed said they preferred Obama to serve a life term; 26 percent preferred a random lottery to choose the next president and 23 percent (nearly 1 in 4) preferred a giant meteor strike.The national poll, conducted Oct. 10-13, asked millennials about their attitudes and opinions on the upcoming election, from some irreverent options to the candidates to serious issues such as race relations, immigration and the legalization of marijuana."We do not take our respondents at their word that they are earnestly interested in seeing the world end, but we do take their willingness to rank two constitutional crises and a giant meteor ahead of these two candidates with startling frequency as a sign of displeasure and disaffection with the candidates and the 2016 election," said Professor Joshua Dyck, co-director of UMass Lowell's Center for Public Opinion.By a 3-to-1 margin, millennials who are likely voters prefer Democrat Clinton to Republican Trump in a head-to-head race for president, 66 percent to 22 percent, with 12 percent undecided.When third-party candidates are included, Clinton gets 61 percent of likely voters' support, Trump stays at 22 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson gets 9 percent, Jill Stein of the Green Party gets 5 percent and only 3 percent are undecided. Get the WCVB News App

Nearly one-quarter of Americans ages 18 to 35 would rather see a giant meteor strike the Earth than see either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House, according to the new UMass Lowell/Odyssey Millennials poll.



The poll, was released Tuesday, asked respondents to choose their preference between Clinton as president, Trump as president, a random lottery to choose the president from all U.S. citizens, President Obama appointing himself to a life term as president or a giant meteor striking Earth and extinguishing all human life.


Over a Clinton or Trump presidency, 39 percent of those surveyed said they preferred Obama to serve a life term; 26 percent preferred a random lottery to choose the next president and 23 percent (nearly 1 in 4) preferred a giant meteor strike.



The national poll, conducted Oct. 10-13, asked millennials about their attitudes and opinions on the upcoming election, from some irreverent options to the candidates to serious issues such as race relations, immigration and the legalization of marijuana.



"We do not take our respondents at their word that they are earnestly interested in seeing the world end, but we do take their willingness to rank two constitutional crises and a giant meteor ahead of these two candidates with startling frequency as a sign of displeasure and disaffection with the candidates and the 2016 election," said Professor Joshua Dyck, co-director of UMass Lowell's Center for Public Opinion.

By a 3-to-1 margin, millennials who are likely voters prefer Democrat Clinton to Republican Trump in a head-to-head race for president, 66 percent to 22 percent, with 12 percent undecided.

When third-party candidates are included, Clinton gets 61 percent of likely voters' support, Trump stays at 22 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson gets 9 percent, Jill Stein of the Green Party gets 5 percent and only 3 percent are undecided.