Organizers tell Teen Vogue that young voters are most interested in Harris’s policies, not her marketing efforts. “Young people just want to know that they can afford rent [and] pay for school,” says Michelle Ming, political director of the youth-led immigrant advocacy network United We Dream Action. “They’re not really looking for someone who is going to be the, like, ‘brat’ candidate, or whatever.”
In a mid-October statement, climate organization Sunrise Movement pointed to anticipatory swing state poll numbers as evidence that Harris has more work to do to get out the youth vote. “Harris is losing ground with young people,” the statement read. “To win this election, VP Harris must change course. The campaign urgently needs to work to energize and turn out millions of young voters.”
“Instead of splitting hairs for a small fraction of the undecided middle-aged, white, conservative voter base, she could be electrifying the Democratic base by talking about how she will take on big corporations, tackle the climate crisis, and end US military support for Israel’s assault on Gaza,” the statement continued.
Sunrise communications director Stevie O’Hanlon says, “The Harris campaign has generated a lot of momentum on the internet and reached people who were not reached by the Biden campaign.” Still, the climate organizer is among many activists who believe memes alone won’t make Gen Z vote for the Democratic nominee.
“Our young people have been burned before by politicians,” O’Hanlon says. “We’ve worked our hearts out to try and elect someone and then seen them walk back promises, make backroom deals, put the interests of big donors ahead of what our generation needs. Young people are rightfully skeptical of vague promises from politicians and want candidates to make clear commitments that we can hold them accountable to.”
Organizers in Pennsylvania and Georgia with “Ceasefire First, Votes Next” have echoed the sentiment that US military support of Israel is a major concern among young voters. Halah Ahmad, spokesperson for Listen to Wisconsin, tells Teen Vogue, that they have been working “to conduct pledge campaigns calling for action toward an anti-genocide agenda as a condition for our votes.”
“Harris’s campaign seems to be leaning toward conservative, pro-war voters, particularly given the actions and rhetoric of this Democratic administration to support escalating warfare by Israel, which can’t be seen as wholly separate from Vice President Harris as the presumptive leader of the party,” Ahmad says.
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