When an ominous December poll from the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics found that enthusiasm among young voters was plummeting, I can't say I was particularly surprised. According to the survey, only 49 percent of 18- to 29 year-olds "definitely" plan on voting in this year's presidential election—a significant drop from the 57 percent who said the same during the fall of 2019, with particularly sharp declines among Black and Hispanic Americans as well as young Republicans. President Biden's approval rating among this age group, meanwhile, stands at an anemic 35 percent. I'm a college student on a liberal arts campus surrounded by fellow Gen Z voters (or…potential voters) with a lot on the line and I've definitely felt a heavy sense of political disenchantment.
I vividly remember the high-stakes atmosphere around the 2020 election, when even the least politically engaged among us knew that something meaningful and urgent needed to be done to remove former President Donald Trump from office. Four years later and almost certainly facing a choice between the exact same two candidates, we haven't reached a similar level of excitement or desperate frenzy—not even close. So I reached out to a few prominent Gen Z activists, organizers, and other young voters to find out what was behind the malaise and exactly what, if anything, could be done about it.
For many of my peers, voting feels bleak and pointless, especially when change can be excruciatingly slow and national politics looks hopelessly dysfunctional. But what some in professional political circles might mistake for juvenile apathy is actually the opposite: a desire for something better from our leaders and our political apparatus. In one of my conversations, activist and former Kamala Harris campaign staffer Deja Foxx used the phrase "earned optimism." Young voters' optimism, like our loyalty at the ballot box, absolutely must be earned. Otherwise, the same record-breaking youth voter turnout we've seen in the last few election cycles could very much be at stake. So if you're baffled, concerned, or simply curious about where young voters are coming from, read on. |
0 comments:
Post a Comment