Anti-Trump, but not fully for Biden: Will Gen Z vote?

[brooklynite]

Politico

When Bernie Sanders — political darling of Generation Z — ended his presidential candidacy, Joe Biden spoke to his supporters: “I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country.”

Roughly three weeks from the election, a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll and interviews with two dozen youth voting experts and grassroots organizers suggest he’s had only mixed success with that message. The youngest citizens are eager to make a difference, driven by strong anti-Trump sentiment and the tumult of 2020. But they’re not fully sold on a Biden-led Democratic Party and still have concerns about voting.

The poll surveyed 1,000 eligible Gen Z voters, people between 18 and 23 years old, and found that they were twice as likely to vote for Biden as President Donald Trump: 51 percent to 25 percent. Meanwhile, registered voters of all ages had just a 6-point preference for Biden. Two-thirds of Gen Zers disapprove of the job Trump is doing in office, with many pointing to the Black Lives Matter protests and the pandemic as reasons why they were more likely to vote for Biden.

But Biden isn't inspiring much loyalty: 45 percent of Gen Zers supporting him said they were mainly voting against Trump, while only 26 percent of registered voters said the same. Slightly more Gen Z respondents view Biden unfavorably than favorably. It’s a tilt of 3 percentage points, but young organizers at local nonprofits and campuses across the country said the sentiment rings true. They’ve often heard distrust of the former vice president and the Democratic Party establishment on the ground.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Nothing wrong with voting against Trump.

[demmiblue]

2. I agree.

Someone needs attention, though.

[dawg day]

3. It's like-- Guys, you want a country/planet when you're ready to have a family?

You don't have to love Biden. Just vote for him and save your future.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. They may be a wee bit pissed that their elders let it get this bad. I don't blame them. It will be

good when they start to run for office themselves.

[LisaM]

8. You could say that about many generations.

The generation that got us into Vietnam, for instance. Voting is pretty much the only response.

I have only had my top primary choice as the candidate twice, but it never made me too petulant to vote. I knew what was at stake (And both of them won the popular vote and not the presidency, but again, that doesn't mean I stopped voting).

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Yes, but a dying planet is the worst yet.

[LisaM]

14. It's been bad since the industrial revolution.

But if that is the criterion, why not get excited about Gore or Kerry, who were both extremely strong on environmental issues?

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Gen Z wasn't eligible to vote then.

[LisaM]

9. You could say that about many generations.

The generation that got us into Vietnam, for instance. Voting is pretty much the only response.

I have only had my top primary choice as the candidate twice, but it never made me too petulant to vote. I knew what was at stake (And both of them won the popular vote and not the presidency, but again, that doesn't mean I stopped voting).

[JI7]

13. What elders ? Old black people aren't to blame. More young white people vote for trump

than old black people.

[Autumn]

5. A lot will, because they know Trump must go. But many of them don't like Biden and Harris.

They feel no loyalty at all to the Democratic party.

[onecaliberal]

6. My two gen Z kids enthusiastically voted for Biden/Harris

[My Pet Orangutan]

7. 17yo to grandfather 'Will you please vote Biden for me?'

As Trump stumbles, voters finalize their choices, and Biden’s lead grows

Ralph Willard, a 77-year-old retired management consultant and a lifelong Republican, is also breaking from long-standing tradition this year. He hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, a decision he still regrets.

In 2016, he opted for a Republican, but not the party’s nominee, writing in Mitt Romney’s name. The resident of Cary, N.C., just outside Raleigh, finds Trump unsuited not just for the presidency, but for most any position.

“He’s dangerous,” Willard said. “I think he’s just horrible.” Until recently, he had planned to take the write-in route again.

But about a week ago, during a family dinner, his 17-year-old daughter, Olivia, urged him to reconsider: “She looked at me with almost tears and said, ‘Will you please cast your vote for me?’ ”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-trump-stumbles-voters-finalize-their-choices-and-bidens-lead-grows/2020/10/11/0ed19f6e-0a7f-11eb-991c-be6ead8c4018_story.html

[Progressive dog]

11. Older voters know that you have to learn to make alliances that can make a difference.

Not voting is like a child throwing a tantrum, it doesn't help and it angers those you think should defer their position to yours. it gives your enemies more power and your friends less.

[JI7]

12. Young people don't vote because they don't pay attention to politics

It might be a bit different this time around becsuse they have been affected with things like schools closing. Having to cancel spring break and other get togethers and events.

[LAS14]

16. You don't have to be enthusiastic about Biden to be enthusiastically against Trump.

That's what I'm counting on!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. The youngest voters typically don't vote.

A lot of them go on to vote as they get older.