In 1952, the Peanuts comic strip introduced a new gag: Lucy pulls a football away from Charlie Brown at the last moment.
In 1972, the Democratic Party started its own ritual. There were 25 million new voters because of the youth vote, thanks to the 26th Amendment. Kids protesting Vietnam would swing the election in George McGovern's favor. It was Richard Nixon who won in a big way. Most young voters didn't register to vote, and they were more Republican than expected.
Democrats have been running for the youth vote. I remember 2004, when another war president was supposed to be ousted, and 2016 when Hillary Clinton wanted young voters to go to the polls. Barack Obama brought a surge of young voters in his 2008 landslide, but it may not have been decisive and definitely didn't stick, as youth turnout cratered in the 2010 elections.
In November of 2022, there was a high turnout of 18 to 29 year olds, the first with Joe Biden in the White House. The low approval ratings of the Democratic president did not matter. Gen Z is showing up in big numbers. The Democrats are being pushed in a progressive direction. Climate change, abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, gun safety will not be fixed in one election cycle. For the long haul, they are in it.
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Before the votes were counted to determine control of Congress, the GOP was hysterical about Gen Z's involvement in future elections. Ted Cruz was worried that Democratsgoverning as whacked-out lefty nut jobs had excited young voters. A host for a right-wing youth group warned that Gen Z wouldn't vote for them. The founder of a far-right advocacy group suggested raising the voting age to 21 after saying that Gen Z is destroying this country at the ballot box.
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It's right for the right to be concerned. According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 26% of eligible 18 to 29 year olds showed up at the polls. The number was higher in swing states. It's not much, but it's the second highest turnout for young people since Trump took office.
Sixty-three percent of Gen Z voted for Democrats in House races in '22, the same as the 65 percent who supported Biden in 2020, according to an exit poll.
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Without the youth vote, John Fetterman wouldn't have defeated Dr. Oz in the Democrats' only Senate seat flip of the year. In Pennsylvania, the vote for Fetterman was more than enough to get rid of Oz's Boomer supporters. The Georgia Senate vote is one of three important Democratic elections where young voters tipped the balance.
More than half of Gen Z is under the age of 18 and three national elections make a trend that no politician, pundit, or party can ignore. According to the States of Change project, the Baby Boom generation will only make up 25% of the electorate in four years. Generations X and XII will hold steady at 25 percent. 45 percent of the electorate will be taken by Gen Z and their peers, who are 40 years old or older.
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That means what? It is possible that no U.S. president will be re-elected without the support of this younger, more activist cohort. Democrats have learned to keep the youth vote on board with popular policies like Biden's student loan forgiveness. There will be more of the latter from this administration.
The first Gen Z member of Congress will be 25-year-old Maxwell Alejandro Frost. Medicare for all, affordable housing, environmental justice, and creating a "national task force" to end the gun violence that has become the leading cause of death for children were all part of the progressive platform run by Frost.
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It suggests we can expect more fights for obstructionist Democrats in the future. Republicans are likely to be destroyed at a national level if they continue to pursue populist distraction. The kids know how to use the internet and you can't keep saying that crime is higher in blue cities than it is in red states. It's not possible to raise race-baiting issues with the most diverse generation in U.S. history.
Donald Trump is a nightmare for your brand to be associated with. Ron DeSantis will go down in flames if he keeps denying climate change in the face of hurricanes and if he signs abortion bans. It won't work on a generation that is constantly having to correct their parents' Facebook posts. The bloc has learned how to fact-check on the fly.
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Is the Republicans going to listen? That is a good question. The GOP has a lot of success with older voters. The Democrats' constant pursuit of young voters has been laughed at by the party. They have been mocking and legislating against younger voters because they have been ignoring the top concerns of younger voters.
The 2024 race will look very different if something changes inside the GOP. It's possible that Republicans are running up to the youth to vote like Charlie Brown.
It is possible that U.S. politics in the future may be a battle between centrists and progressives. It's hard to find Gen Z support for Nancy Pelosi's claim that the country needs a strong Republican party.
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On your side of the field is the ball. Lucy waits.
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