Issues are motivating young people - not politicians
Issues are motivating young people - not politicians
Since Thursday, more than 1,000 young progressives have shown interest in running for state & local office. And a look at how young people have responded to the recent CBS News/YouGov and CNN polls.
It’s been quite a few days. As theories flurry about the state of the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden’s debate performance, I’m hearing from young people that no matter what happens, the reasons they plan to vote remain the same. As I’ve reported for years, issues are what motivating young people — not politicians. They’ve never loved Joe Biden (or former President Donald Trump).
That said, young people — like everyone else — have questions.
Asked how they felt about the debate, the latest respondent to an informal survey I put out on Friday wrote:
“Angry that these are the options we have for POTUS.”
The three words they used to describe the situation were:
“F*ing shit show.”
More than 1,000 young progressives consider running for office
Meanwhile, since Thursday’s debate, more than 1,000 people have expressed interest in running for office with Run For Something — the organization that supports young progressive candidates for state and local office. According to the organization, those interested are from all 50 states, almost all under the age of 40.
“A lot of Democrats may have been left demoralized by the debate, but that doesn’t change the fact that we need to show up in November and fight to protect our democracy in every state and every office,” Run For Something founder and CEO said in a statement.
"We are incredibly proud and inspired to witness the growing enthusiasm among young people who realize how dire this moment is for our country and are stepping up to do something about it. The fact that this next generation understands the stakes and sees running for office as part of their civic responsibility is truly heartening. Building a pipeline of young future leaders is necessary to the important task of ending the gerontocracy. The present is bleak, but the future is bright,” Litman said.
This isn’t the first-time a shocking political event has boosted Run For Something’s interest numbers. After January 6, 2021, thousands of young progressives expressed their interest in running for state and local offices. I wrote about it for CNN Politics at the time. In 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision had a similar affect. And in 2023, after the protests for gun safety and expulsions of Democratic Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, Run For Something had its biggest week of sign ups so far that year.
When it comes to young, down-ballot candidates — a Social Sphere poll commissioned by Run For Something earlier this year found that 61% of Democrats in swing states said they were more likely to vote if there was a young progressive candidate running down-ballot.
Post-debate polls: Youth vote edit
According to the new CNN poll, amongst registered voters 18-34, in a head-to-head match up between Biden and Trump, voters prefer Trump 47% to Biden 41%. Amongst registered voters 18-34, in a head-to-head match up between Harris and Trump, voters prefer Harris 42% to Trump 41%.
Per Sunday’s CBS News/YouGov poll of registered voters: 66% under 30 say Biden should not be running and 64% under 30 say Trump should not be running.
Compared to all other age groups - young voters are the most supportive of a Biden run and the least supportive of a Trump run.
An aside on trust…
Beyond the discourse around the presidential election this week — there were two major Supreme Court decisions: the presidential immunity decision and the “Chevron deference” decision.
When it comes to talking about the Supreme Court, it’s important to note:
The most recent Harvard IOP youth poll found that young Americans’ (ages 18-29) trust in the Supreme Court declined 31 points in the past decade — and 9 points in the past year alone.
A Gallup Walton Family Foundation poll from last year found that just 17% of Gen Zers ages 18-26 trust the Supreme Court "a great deal/quite a lot."
That was BEFORE the recent rulings on Immunity and Chevron.