The youth vote was crucial to President Obama’s success in past elections, but have young voters grown disenchanted towards the Democratic Party in the past eight years? What will the presidential candidates need to do to capture the Millennial vote in 2016?
Over the past few months, candidates have been declaring their intent to run left and right, and soon they will be targeting colleges and universities to share their platforms with young voters. Students on two different college campuses, and opposite sides of the aisle, discuss whom they foresee as the strongest candidate to win the younger population.
Republicans have their work cut out for them in the next year if they want to win the 18-to 29-year-old age group. According to a Harvard Institute of Politics report, 55 percent of Millennials prefer a Democrat to sit in the White House, while 40 percent would rather see a Republican.
Nick Guthman, President of the College Democrats at American University, identified with Sen. Bernie Sanders when he came to speak at AU in April. He says Sanders’ sends a strong message to Millennials with his plan to make four-year public colleges and universities tuition-free.
“In the next 10 years, I believe the cost of higher education will be the most important issue, especially for young people,” Guthman said. “As a college student, I already feel the pressure of student loan debts, and it seems as though costs are only going to increase in the future. Sanders has proposed making college education free for all Americans, and I think his plan would be one of the surest stepping stones in moving this country forward.”
Morgan Stahr, another student and College Democrat executive from American University prefers Hillary Clinton as a president who will “fight for young females.”
“She [Clinton] is consistently promoting and encouraging young people,” Stahr said.
South of Washington D.C., in Lynchburg, Virginia, is Liberty University, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) chose to announce his candidacy in March.
Warren Martin, President of the College Republicans at Liberty, and Cassie Gagnon a College Republican executive, both shared their thoughts on which candidate they would like to see on the Republican ticket.
“I would love to see someone like Rick Perry with a strong economic strategy for restoring our economy and a strong national defense plan,” Martin said. “I believe that Rick Perry has plenty of experience in both areas and has proven that he is capable.”
Gagnon would rather see Scott Walker win the Republican nomination. Walker is, in her opinion, more relatable to young voters.
“He [Walker] is a young governor who has shown immense leadership,” Gagnon said. “His lack of degree is actually attractive to younger crowds because he has proven that college is not the only option if you want to grow up to be successful.”
According to the Harvard report on 18- to 29-year-old voters, Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead among potential Democratic primary voters, while there is still no frontrunner emerging among potential Republican primary voters.
This article is from Red Alert Politics’ Campus Correspondent Program. Would you like to contribute a story from your school? Apply here to be a Campus Correspondent for RAP!
