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"Out of the Running: Why Millennials Reject Political Careers and Why It Matters" By Shauna Shames

Millennials have been blamed for being lazy, for never looking up from their smartphones, for not voting, and complaining on Facebook instead. And for not stepping up to run for office.

But they're not that bad. That’s at least according to Shauna Shames. She who wrote a book about millennials, and why they don’t want to run for public office, called “Out of the Running: Why Millennials Reject Political Careers and Why It Matters.”

She says it’s not because all millennials are apathetic and don’t want to get involved. For the book, she surveyed more than 800 young people — and interviewed 50 of them — about potential careers in politics.

And she chose young people at schools that have traditionally served as the pipeline into state or federal office, like Harvard Law’s Kennedy School of Government.

She said there are still some “political animals” among these millennials that were just born to run for office, but, in general, most told her the costs outweigh the benefits for them.