President Joe Biden may go down in the political history books as the man who permanently damaged the Democrat Party brand.
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
According to a new analysis, Gen Z — younger Americans between the ages of 18-29 — are starting to bail on the party in droves after feeling like they’ve been “betrayed” by what Democrats claim to offer and what they actually deliver.
Or, in this case, fail to deliver.
Recent polls indicate a decline in the number of young people identifying as Democrats. Simultaneously, President Biden has experienced fluctuating support from this demographic, which played a crucial role in his victory over former President Trump in the 2020 election, The Hill reported.
Further raising concerns is a recent analysis conducted by John Della Volpe, the polling director at the Harvard Kennedy Institute of Politics. He highlighted potential challenges the party may encounter in appealing to Gen Z voters.
“Nearly every sign that made me confident in historic levels of youth participation in 2018, 2020, and 2022 — is now flashing red,” Della Volpe wrote in his analysis of 2024, the outlet reported, adding “the ground is more fertile for voting when youth believe voting makes a tangible difference.”
Cheyenne Hunt, a 25-year-old Democrat and TikTok influencer, who is vying to become the first female Gen Z member of Congress, issued a warning that Democrats should not underestimate the importance of engaging with her generation.
“There’s less of a sense of loyalty to a particular party, I think, and more of a sense of really taking a look at the system and feeling left behind and forgotten — and young people engage with passionate candidates who are going to jump in there and do the dirty work to advocate for our best interests,” Hunt told The Hill.
According to Hunt, Gen Z, in particular, has experienced disillusionment with the political system, resulting in both increased political mobilization and decreased affiliation with traditional parties. She emphasized the necessity of reaching out to this demographic “where they are” to address their concerns effectively.
The candidate for California’s 45th district went on to tell The Hill that, with her 2024 campaign’s approach to young voters, “we’re not playing the game like this is business as usual.”
The Hill tried to put a ‘not so bad’ spin on its story:
In 2019, 39 percent of respondents in the Harvard Youth Poll reported identifying as Democrat — and the figure fell slightly to 35 percent this spring. The share of youth voters identifying as independents or “unaffiliated with a major party,” on the other hand, climbed from 36 percent in 2019 to 40 percent this year. The share of youth voters identifying as Republican saw a statistically insignificant shift from 23 percent to 24 percent.
A four-percent decline is not “slight.” That is pretty significant, especially given that young voters identifying as Republicans climbed, albeit a percentage point. Also, ‘unaffiliated’ young voters climbed four percent as well.
Meanwhile, The Hill added, “The share of younger voters who say they’ll ‘definitely’ vote in the 2024 race is now at 51 percent in the Harvard poll, down from 55 percent who said the same at this point in the 2020 race.”
Volpe wrote “daylight’s burning” for the Democrats, who need young voters “to win today and maintain and grow an electoral edge in the years ahead.”
Meanwhile, as Fox News reported, high school senior boys are becoming more conservative while girls are becoming more liberal:
Psychotherapist Thomas Kersting joined “Fox & Friends” Tuesday to share his thoughts on the “Monitoring the Future” survey and explain what he believes is behind the results.
Kersting explained that the numbers go beyond politics and are a reflection of the way the left has talked about men in recent years.
“12th-grade boys are kind of seeing through this. We’re creating this idea that if you’re a male, there’s something wrong with that and that you’re bad,” he told host Steve Doocy.
“Then you have politicians out there saying, like, the number one problem in America is White men and things of that nature. So I think young, 12th-grade boys are kind of seeing through this.”