Christian Smith
Young Democratic voters are sounding the alarm and warning President Biden that his re-election bid could be in jeopardy if he does not change course on the issues that matter most to them, including the war in Gaza.
While they have angered Biden on a range of issues, from the cost of living to climate issues, the wave of protests on college campuses across the country has been the latest point of contention with the president.
“He will lose the election if he decides to roll the dice and assume that Gaza is not top of mind right now,” said Elise Joshi, executive director of Gen-Z for Change – which was once run under the name TikTok for Biden.
Joshi added that over the past six months we have seen “an increasing pace of concern” about the president.
The crisis in Gaza has been a turning point for many young voters and some polls show that support for Biden is fading.
Last month, a Harvard youth poll showed that support for Biden among voters ages 18 to 29 fell from about 60 percent in 2020 to 45 percent.
A CNN poll last weekend also found Biden trailing Trump by 11 percentage points in a head-to-head matchup among young voters.
Some say Biden is not addressing some of the issues that matter most to young voters.
“I don’t think the president is currently meeting enough with young voters,” said Kidus Girma, campaign director for the Sunrise Movement, a political action organization that advocates action on climate change. “We are paying attention.”
Girma said that “it is in the president’s interest to run with a progressive mandate” to speak to these voters.
On the Gaza issue, he said, it will all come down to Biden’s approach in the coming months.
“It is critical that President Biden recognizes the voices of young people calling for peace in Gaza,” said Girma. “Americans call for an end to unconditional military aid and a permanent ceasefire. The quickest way to end unrest on college campuses is to listen to the majority of Americans and the young students fighting for what is right.”
Biden criticized the recent protests on college campuses on Thursday, condemning vandalism and trespassing, adding that protesters at Columbia University and other campuses had the right to demonstrate peacefully.
“In moments like this, there are always those who rush to score political points,” said the president in a speech at the White House. “But this is not a time for politics. It’s a moment of clarity. So let me be clear…violent protests are not protected. Peaceful protest is.”
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest; It’s against the law,” Biden added. “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, closing campuses, forced cancellation of classes and graduations, none of these are peaceful protests. Threatening people, intimidating people.
“Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder,” he added.
Joshi criticized Biden’s comments, calling them “disgraceful.”
“To brand us as violent when it is the police who tear gas, shoot and beat students, especially knowing that he was elected in large part because of Black Lives Matter, is completely shameful,” Joshi said.
An aide who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign said the president’s comments reflect the public’s overwhelming opinion about the protests.
Biden campaign advisers say they have a “robust” operation to engage young voters and attract them to their column. Campaign advisors say they launched a youth outreach effort earlier than in previous cycles.
Since launching the campaign, they have also run digital ads targeting younger voters, including a current $30 million ad campaign.
The campaign also leaned on surrogates, including social media influencers, to continue to highlight the administration’s policy victories, and separately in March launched “Students for Biden-Harris,” a national organizing program that will help reach students on all campuses.
Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, said the Biden administration has actively engaged with the population.
“This is the first administration that not only invited young people to the White House, but also actively listened to us,” said Mayer, who has met several times with administration officials to discuss issues such as gun violence prevention and climate issues. “They are looking at young people as partners in government.”
Speaking of the protests at colleges, he said they are directed not so much at the administration but at the leadership of their universities.
Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy who also served as a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said the Biden administration has been “the most progressive administration of my lifetime,” reinforcing issues that are important to young voters, including student debt relief.
Still, he said of the government’s handling of the crisis in Gaza: “I don’t want to say it nullifies it, but it resonates in a serious way that tends to cloud the minds of some young people – and the minds of some older people.” ”. – all the good things he did.
Given the choice between Biden and former President Trump, Duss predicted that many of the young voters protesting the administration’s inaction in Gaza will return home to Biden during the election.
But he warned that Biden’s handling of the situation in Gaza “will be an obstacle” in his bid for re-election.
“It’s impossible to say how much of a hindrance this will be, but it will be a close election and even something that hurts him on the margins could make a difference,” Duss said.
