In 2008, millennials voted in full force. In 2012, they handed President Obama a decisive victory again. Obama easily won the youth vote nationally at 67 percent, or 23 million votes, and young voters made the difference in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to an analysis by the Center for Research and Information on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
The 2016 Democratic primaries proved that millennials are still a force to be reckoned with in the post-Obama electoral process. Bernie Sanders spoke to the average millennial on issues like college debt, jobs, minimum wage, and climate change. Since Sanders dropped out of the race, millennials have been reluctant to support his choice for president, Hillary Clinton. In fact, many would rather not vote, or vote for a third-party candidate rather than support Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump.
For evidence, look no further than the Harvard Institute of Politics, which recently pulled together a focus group of eight millennial voters from the Philadelphia area. One of the millennials supported Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The rest professed to be totally undecided — they were despondent about the election, and offended that they were being asked to choose between major party candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
The focus group was asked to assign terms they believed described Hillary Clinton and one participant named Amanda (the Stein voter), dismissed Clinton with the description “b—-, liar, false.”
Some have called it downright hatred of Clinton and everything she represents. Seventy-seven percent of 18- to 24-year-old voters find Clinton untrustworthy, compared to 65 percent of all likely voters.
Furthering the narrative that she doesn’t really care about millennials or their issues, in a recently released audio Hillary Clinton is heard on tape calling Bernie Sanders supporters “basement dwellers.”
Although it appears that this election is a lost cause for millennials, activists are not giving up. Planned Parenthood just announced the launch of a $30 million outreach effort designed to target millennial voters this election cycle, to the benefit of the Democratic Party.
Millennials were a powerful force in 2008, 2012, and the 2016 primaries because they felt inspired and hopeful for the future — as if they had a candidate who truly understood their plight. They don’t feel this way with Trump or Clinton. Whether or not millennials show up to the polls, they remain a powerful force because their presence (or absence) will benefit one candidate or another.
