Status: 04.11.2022 05:39 a.m
Before the midterm elections, the Democrats are intensively courting young voters. But unlike in 2020, they are finding it difficult to convince the young. And that has a lot to do with the President.
For a long time it looked as if the Democrats around US President Joe Biden would suffer a painful defeat in the congressional elections on November 8th. Then the Supreme Court’s abolition of the nation’s abortion law in the summer gave new impetus to the Democratic campaign.
But that seems to have vanished now because other issues are more important to Americans: rising prices for gasoline or food, for example.
Hannah Beauchamp-Pope feels the frustration every day. The 21-year-old psychology student is running for political office for the first time in her life and wants to enter the Wisconsin state legislature for the Democrats. In the dorm at her university in Green Bay, she goes door to door trying to convince her fellow students about herself and the Democrats.
The current incumbent is more of a block on the leg: “For many, he’s just too far removed from their daily lives, they don’t feel understood by him.”
Promise not fulfilled?
When she asks what issues are on the minds of her potential voters, she hears the same thing over and over again: abortion rights and college tuition. In both cases, Biden did not keep what he promised. “Older voters are often worried about the economy or about crime,” says Hannah. “For younger voters, it’s all about their freedom.”
The congressional elections on November 8 are seen as a mood barometer for the incumbent president. The outcome depends on whether Biden is still able to act in the second half of his term or not. All 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 out of 100 Senatorial seats are up for election.
The Democrats could lose their majority in both chambers of Congress. One group of voters who are supposed to prevent this are the young voters. The almost 80-year-old owes his office to you. But the young quarrel with the old man in the White House.
The road to a mandate is difficult: campaigner Beauchamp-Pope canvassing voters in a student residence.
The difficulty of motivating
Traditionally, the governing party has found it more difficult to motivate its supporters. Many are fed up and lethargic after winning the elections just two years ago. Joey Van Deurzen knows that too. The 20-year-old IT student is also standing for the Democrats in an election for the first time.
On every free weekend he goes from door to door in his constituency to distribute flyers and drive his own base to the ballot box. An app on his cell phone shows him where Democrats live.
Knocking on Republican doors makes no sense. He can’t convince you anyway. “We have to fight for each individual,” says Joey. “There’s just too much at stake.”
An app shows him the way: Joey Van Deurzen goes from house to house in his constituency at the weekend.
High student debt
He received $2,000 in seed money from his party. The first 3,000 doors add $3,000. Money that he could also use privately. He’s already owed $60,000 for his IT degree. Millions of students in America are like him.
Joe Biden tried to score with them – with an announced haircut for student loans of up to $ 20,000. A $300 billion election gift just in time for the Midterms, but which was initially stopped in court by lawsuits from Republican-governed states. “A lot of people have been waiting for this,” says Joey. “I can’t imagine what will happen if he can’t keep that promise now.”
Students as an important group of voters
A concern shared by Tammy Baldwin. She’s a senator in Washington and came home to encourage candidates like Joey. “We have to try to reach the 18-year-olds,” she says, “those who are going to vote for the first time.”
The 120,000 students at the 13 universities in Wisconsin are also an important group of voters. “They can decide whether they want to vote where they grew up or where they study – we promote the latter.” This should also have something to do with the fact that Wisconsin is one of the most competitive states. Recent opinion polls put the Republicans just ahead.
Former beacon of hope suffers loss of trust
In the 2020 presidential election, 18 to 30 year olds accounted for around 15 percent of the vote. Two-thirds of that went to Biden. A survey by the “New York Times” shows how great the loss of confidence in the former hope is now. A total of 94 percent of Democratic voters under 30 would like Biden not to run again in 2024.
You can also see this report in the Mittagsmagazin – today from 1 p.m. in the first