The likely match-up between presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton isn’t one that leaves young voters with a good taste in their mouth. Conservative author and columnist Kristin Tate thinks that Trump may be able to exceed his low expectations with the demographic, however.
This may include young voters who don’t normally vote Republican. Trump has already discussed his plan on appealing to Bernie Sanders supporters and his cross-over appeal.
As Tate noted:
Tate also called on the Republican Party to unify in order to defeat Hillary, particularly since “2016 should be an easy win for Republicans.” And, Tate doubts her ability to win over key demographics. “Hillary is a weak candidate. I don’t think she’ll mobilize women and minorities and young people the way Obama did and this is really the Republicans election to lose,” she continued.
While Hillary has lost the youth vote in most state primaries, Donald Trump may be the answer to her youth voter problem, as polls indicate. Young voters have notoriously low voter turnouts, however, including in 2012 and 2014.
Underperformance from young voters could hurt Hillary though, and almost certainly if she can’t court Sanders’ young supporters. A poll from McClatchy-Marist indicated that 1 in 4 Sanders’ supporters would abandon Hillary in the general election. Sanders has expressed doubt that Hillary will be able to win over the demographic and has told his supporters that they’ll need to think for themselves come November.
Columnist E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post suggested that if Trump has a path to the White House, it’s with young voters not turning out for Hillary.
Hillary may also have a problem with young voters in the swing states, as noted by Professor Carlos L. Yordan of Drew University.
