A growing discontent from young voters
For years, Loretta Green has voted at her Southwest Atlanta precinct wearing the same custom T-shirt emblazoned with a photo of her first voter registration card, dated to 1960. The front of it reads: "This is why I vote." Since gaining the legal right, Ms. Green, 88, has participated in every possible election. This November will be no different, she said, when she casts a ballot for President Biden and Democrats down the ticket. But conversations with her younger relatives, who have told her they're unsure of voting or considering staying home, illustrate some of the challenges Mr. Biden's campaign faces in reassembling his winning 2020 coalition, particularly in key battleground states like Georgia. While Ms. Green and many older Black voters are set on voting and already have plans in place to do so, younger Black voters, polling and focus group data show, feel far less motivated to cast a ballot for Democrats or even at all. "To me, voting is almost sacred. Look at what people went through. The struggles. The people that allowed themselves to be beaten," Ms. Green said of the civil rights movement that ignited her determination to vote in every election. "I think there are some young Blacks who probably feel like it didn't even happen." Black voters have long been Democrats' most loyal constituency, and high turnout from this bloc is crucial to Mr. Biden's re-election. Any drop-off in support could imperil his chances of winning in November. And surveys have shown a striking generational divide within this bloc, driven by what many young people see as broken campaign promises and what party leaders have suggested is a difficulty in communicating Mr. Biden's accomplishments to voters. There is still time for Democrats to close this gap. But growing discontent from young voters, especially concerning the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza — illustrated in an April New York Times/Siena College poll that shows just 4 percent of voters under 45 strongly approve of Mr. Biden's handling of foreign policy — underlines the scale of the response that may be required of the president's re-election campaign to bring young voters back into the fold. The stark difference between how older and younger Black voters respond to Mr. Biden and Democrats further highlights how different the messages to these voters will have to be. "It is a generational divide. They don't know the people who fought and died for their rights," said Terrance Woodbury, a Democratic pollster, whose polling has found a nearly 30-point gap in support for Democrats among Black voters 18 to 49 years old relative to Black voters over 50. The latter group, he said, "does know those people. They saw that fight. Some of them were in that fight."
Young Black voters point to higher costs of living, crises abroad and the old ages of both major candidates — Mr. Biden, 81, is the oldest U.S. president, and former President Donald J. Trump is 77 — as reasons for their discontent. They also say that they feel their lives have not improved under Mr. Biden's presidency and that they have seen little of his campaign promises to lower housing costs, relieve student loan debt and promote racial equity.
These gripes are not unique to young Black voters. In polls, focus groups and interviews, record numbers of Black Americans across ages and genders have expressed disenchantment with Democratic leaders. And the generation gap in support for Democrats is not unique to one race. While most young voters support Democrats and turned out en masse during the 2020 presidential and 2022 midterm elections, many have also said they are deeply dissatisfied with the party and see less reason to turn back out for them. "I can understand," said India Juarez, 46, a Southwest Atlanta resident and Democratic voter. "You've got two people who really should be retired, enjoying their golden lives." Still, for older Black voters, many of whom see Mr. Trump as a threat to their fundamental rights, stopping him and other Republicans from reclaiming power in November outshines their frustrations with Democrats. By an overwhelming majority, Black voters continue to support Democratic candidates and some encourage the younger people in their lives to do the same. Read the rest of the story here.
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Friday, April 19, 2024
Race/Related: A generation gap dividing Black voters
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