So what's the plan?
The young people I've spoken with since Tuesday want to hear the presidential candidates' concrete proposals around issues and a timeline for action. Oh, and Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala.
Let’s start with the obvious… are you ready for it?
Taylor Swift endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris this week immediately after Tuesday night’s debate putting the stop to long awaited speculation over whether or not, and when, she would do so.
In a post on Instagram Swift said, “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice,” and advocated for the Harris-Walz ticket because of issues including “LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body.” But beyond sharing her support for the Democrats, Swift called out former President Donald Trump for promoting misinformation that the pop-star had endorsed him. “The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” she said, before encouraging her followers to do their own research and register to vote.
So, as everyone’s been asking, will the endorsement move the needle?
It’s unlikely that Swift changed the minds of voters who already knew who they planned to vote for in November. BUT, she posted a voter registration link on her Instagram story which led to more than 405,000 site visits to vote.gov as of Thursday afternoon. Beyond the Instagram, Swift encouraged voter registration on stage at the VMA’s, which could have contributed to the consistent surge in site visits and voter registrations even after her story was up for 24 hours.
This could encourage young people who hadn’t thought about voting, or didn’t know they needed to register, to do so — and that could make a difference when it comes to youth voter turnout in November.
Here’s what some of the young people I’ve talked to are saying about her endorsement:
"It doesn't necessarily sway my vote.. It'll encourage young people to not only register to vote, but show up to polls and actually vote.. She has her last leg of her tour in a few hot election areas (Indiana and Florida), I'm hoping she'll partner with a voter registration org."
"In 2008 what pushed Obama's momentum was him becoming a pop culture icon alongside his presidential run. That didn't happen with Hillary and everyone was stuck in the house in 2020.. For Kamala we're starting to see it happen with her with the TS endorsement."
And from a young conservative, who’s a Swiftie:
“Personally, I don’t care about celebrity political opinions! Still a T Swift fan lol.”
What’s the plan?: Post-debate reactions
I’ve been in touch with more than three dozen young voters from across the country since Tuesday night. This includes 18-27-year-olds in key states: PA, NC, TX, VA, FL, OH, CA, MA, NY, IL, KY, OK, NJ, IL, OR, and CT.
The vast majority of them thought Kamala “won” the debate (though they said they aren’t sure that’s a productive way of looking at it) and said the debate wasn’t as bad as they thought it could have been (they had a really low bar, and honestly, who can blame them?). But overall, they’re looking to hear more about the candidates’ “plans” for the issues that were addressed.
While I spoke with a cohort of Trump voters, most of the young people I’ve been in touch with are planning to vote for Harris. That said — and this is key for Democrats to hear —they really want to know more about how she will address the topics she says she’s prioritizing. There were certain issues they felt were brushed over (gun violence, climate change) that I’ll get into below. But big picture, they felt that while they mostly understand the issues Harris champions, they want to know more about her concrete proposals to tackle them.
Harris articulated her policy proposals far more than Trump — who said he has “concepts of a plan” when it comes to healthcare in particular. But many of these young people aren’t voting for him anyway. And if they are, regardless of what she’s shared, they’re still craving more from Harris.
As Kyla from California, who plans to vote for Harris, told me in a listening session last night: "Having a timeline for when we're actually going to address these issues would be really awesome and helpful. And also actually making the commitment, like, 'We are going to do this XYZ.'"
Meanwhile, Cat from Texas (who lives in D.C.), said: “I generally know what Harris stands for. I know where she sits on a lot of the issues… But I just want to know how.” She said simply saying she will sign a bill into law “is not a great case for a president.” Cat also plans to vote for Harris.
“I would have preferred if she had spoken about Supreme Court reforms, or if she had spoken about how we're going to work with whatever Congress we end up getting… What tangibly is she going to do? What is the next step for her? What is the plan to work across the aisle and with Republicans on things that they're never going to agree with?,” Cat asked.
“I think our generation is sick of compromising and getting nothing that we wanted or getting an inch and giving a mile. And I think to me, I want to know what the plan is,” she said.
As mentioned, the desire for more info from Harris wasn’t isolated to those who plan to vote for her. Joshua, who’s 23 and from Oklahoma, went into the debate undecided about who to vote for, but now plans on casting a ballot for Trump.
That said, he’s looking for more information: “I think Kamala needs to discuss her policies more in this week,” he said.
As part of my post-debate recap, I asked young people to describe the debate in three words. Here’s what they shared:
The top issues
I asked the young people I connected with to list the top issue they’re focused on ahead of November. Here’s what they said, in order of frequency of mention.
ECONOMY, HOUSING, COST OF LIVING, PRICES
GUNS
ABORTION
IMMIGRATION
CLIMATE
Top concerns while watching debate
I also asked for the young people’s top concerns while watching the debate. Here are some of those replies:
Annie, 27, MA: “Trump going unchecked talking about nonsensical lies (eating pets), misogynistic comments (“your boss”)”
Alyssa, 26, NY: “Trump’s racism being given legitimacy and a platform. Concern that Harris wasn’t taking enough responsibility.”
Ciarra, 23, PA: “Wanted to hear about climate change, gun violence, and reproductive rights.”
Ethan, 22, OH: “Climate change, gun violence, abortion”
Preeti, 19, MD: “My top concerns were the lack of clear policy positions from either candidate and the explosive use of misinformation.”
Will, 18, VA:“I wanted Harris to be confident. I was worried she might let Trump “bully” her and abuse the rules to control the conversation. I was pleased that she did not let this happen. Rather, she took control of the conversation, going on the attack and getting Trump noticeably agitated.”
Love your reporting on this election and appreciate this insight. This really raises questions for me about how we also educate Americans (but particularly young people) on how substantive change happens, which is typically through Congress and legislation. Hopefully even while people want to hear more from Harris on their policies, they are also looking at down ballot races and working to elect members of Congress who want to break the gridlock and get bills passed. For most young voters, they have only been exposed to the least productive Congresses in our history. Perhaps Harris benefits from pulling a Truman and reminding voters that Congress has done very little and that needs to change.