Posted on 05/08/2020 1:54:50 AM PDT by Drew68
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden is in no danger of losing young voters to President Donald Trump. But he faces a lack of enthusiasm among Millennials and Gen Z voters with the potential to decide his fate if they stay home or vote for a third-party candidate.
Many of these voters preferred Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary and perceive Biden as a blank slate. They aren’t sure that he’s a change agent or that his policies match the scale of their problems. Some worry about his age and fitness. Most seem open to supporting Biden to stop Trump but need to hear more from him.
That’s the conclusion of new focus groups that delve into the mindset of Millennial and Gen Z voters who self-identify as Democrats or independents in 11 battleground states. They were conducted in late and mid-April by the political consulting firm Global Strategy Group on behalf of NextGen America, a youth-focused progressive advocacy group.
The good news for Biden is that many voters are persuaded by the argument that his views aren’t so far from those of Sanders, and by endorsements from leaders whom young people trust, including Sanders himself. Biden also benefits from the contrast with Trump, who is immensely unpopular among young Americans.
“On the other hand, there are clear warning signs,” the firm wrote in a PowerPoint presentation on the findings. “For now, perceptions that Biden is too close to corporate interests or that he is dishonest often appear linked to more general perceptions of him as a ‘typical’ or ‘career politician,’ rather than someone who is particularly bad.”
'Blank slate isn't going to cut it'
Some voters brought up recent sexual assault allegations against Biden as a concern, while others cited his past ties to credit card companies. The focus groups found that Sanders-to-Trump crossovers are an “idiosyncratic and marginal group” — more prevalent are wait-and-see voters who aren’t committed to turning out and potential third-party defectors, an unusually large group in the 2016 election.
Biden has sought to appeal to young voters by moving toward Sanders' platform on free public college and adopting bankruptcy overhauls pushed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. At virtual fundraisers recently, he called himself "a transition candidate" interested in elevating younger voices, and said he recognizes that "I have to make sure you know I’m listening" to avoid a 2016 repeat.
His campaign responded on Thursday.
"As President Obama has said, Joe Biden is running on the most progressive platforms in modern history and laid out bold ideas to tackle climate change, expand health care, and make college affordable," Biden spokesman Matt Hill said in an email. "Joe Biden knows that young Americans are a driving force of the progressive movement and will work hard to earn their votes, unite our country, and ensure we achieve the ultimate goal we all share: defeating Donald Trump."
Young voters are economically anxious as the first two generations in U.S. history that risk being worse off than their parents, coming of age in the Great Recession and the coronavirus outbreak. They worry about basic economic security, high costs of education and health care, and climate change. They vote irregularly compared to older generations but their attitudes can make or break campaigns.
For Biden, there is tension between his outreach to these young voters and his pitch to older, suburban and moderate Americans who aren’t looking for radical change but rather a safe alternative to Trump. He leads Trump in recent polls, but his low-key campaign isn't reaching many young people.
Won’t work. Trump will have an army of vote verification officers covering every county in the country, all coordinating with command control real time.
Amash could actually take some of those voters (from anecdotals I’ve seen in social media) but I don’t think many are overly enthusiastic about him either. It seems he’s an alternate choice who “doesn’t suck as much” as the other two.
The vacuous hope and change crowd of the young Democrat left is having a hard time accepting old and confused as the new political war cry of their 77 year old standard bearer
When an article leads with a premise like this, the author assumes it’s taken for granted as a truth. Is it a truth?
Tech savvy is what has been winning elections and Biden can barley do a virtual townhall. How will he stand against the Internet when the election really kicks off?
Twice now.
Vote Blue, No Matter Who.
It becomes the verbose edition of a push-poll.
That is how they wound up with Joe Biden.
Seriously, what young adult can get excited about the thought of a creepy septugenerean pawing and sniffing all over them?
Can you imagine the party being run by Bernie and AOC?
Many think that would make them easy to beat, but the media would take their brand of socialism into the mainstream in ways we could not fathom.
Couple that with the indoctrination of the youth and you have assured socialism within a generation.
Well, he is always smelling them.
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