(ProsperNews.net) – Democratic candidates are being urged to re-engage with young people as party chiefs worry the youth vote may be slipping away. There are several recent indications of this, one of which was a survey that found only 38% of young Americans approve of President Biden’s performance in the White House. The poll, conducted by Harvard in April, showed that only around a quarter of voters aged 18 to 29 approved of the President’s handling of the economy, while just one-third were happy with how he dealt with the war in Ukraine.
Cheyenne Hunt, a 25-year-old who hopes to enter Congress, said the Democrats should beware of taking the youth vote for granted. “There’s less of a sense of loyalty to a particular party,” she said. She added that young people are more likely to engage with a passionate candidate who is willing to work hard and represent their interests.
The number of young people formally identifying with the Democrats adds credibility to Hunt’s remarks. That figure has fallen from 39% in 2019 to 35% in 2023. The figure for Republicans is relatively stable, with 23% supporting the GOP in 2019 and 24% in 2023.
Turnout figures among the 18 to 29 age group are also slightly down for 2024. In 2019, 55% of that age group said they would definitely vote in the 2020 Presidential election, but this has dropped to 51%.
In Europe, trends suggest that young people are increasingly right-wing. For example, Surveys in Britain show that voters under 22 were becoming far more conservative than voters just a few years older. Similarly, in France, support for Marine Le Pen is growing among voters under 35. In the last French election, Le Pen secured a higher vote share among the 25 to 34 age range than Emmanuel Macron, a candidate usually seen as attractive to younger voters.
Some commentators suggest that liberalism is so mainstream that conservatism is becoming an attractive form of rebellion for the young.
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