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Joe Biden CAN Win Over Young Voters — Here are Five Ways
Joe Biden might have lost voters to Bernie Sanders during the primary, but he has unique strengths heading into the general to draw an unprecedented number of young voters
Bernie Sanders has taught an entire generation that Democrats are the only thing standing in the way of Medicare for All, free public college, higher minimum wage, and the Green New Deal. Those that have fallen for his destructive claptrap now believe Democrats are the “corporate establishment” controlled by the “elite,” and he’s managed to convinced millions of them that Democrats aren’t concerned about the well-being of everyday Americans.
Never mind that without Democrats we wouldn’t have Medicare, Medicaid, the Peace Corp, consumer protection, and environmental protection. Never mind that without Democrats, FEMA, Veterans’ Benefits, the GI Bill, UN, and NATO wouldn’t exist. Without Democrats there would be no PBS, no NPR, no Head Start, no school lunch and breakfast programs. Before Democrats took action, women and young people were not even allowed to vote. Yet, Bernie Sanders preaches about the evils of Democrats, even as the families of his hardcore disciples continue to rely on SNAP, the program Hillary Clinton created, and the ACA, that was put in place during the Obama/Biden administration,
Bernie keeps telling his starstruck supporters they have to get everything they want, that they have to have it instantly, and that he’s the only man in Washington who wants to give it to them, with the implication that if he’s not on the ballot that they might as well not even vote. Untold numbers took that sermon to heart, and the absence of those young liberals on Election Day is what put Trump in the White House.
Of course, his defenders will say that Bernie never told them to stay home or vote third party, but it’s no surprise that appears to be the message coming through to a good many of his supporters. Is it any wonder? On Election Day 2016, Jane Sanders herself retweeted a Jill Stein voter and told her followers: “How we vote is not as important as that we voted.” Now, as Bernie once again fails to prevail in the primaries, millions of his acolytes are once again threatening not to vote if Bernie isn’t the nominee — unless they see proof that Biden has been cornered into adopting Bernie’s ideas. Bernie himself has warned Joe that he won’t get the young voters if he doesn’t. Well, guess what. Turns out Bernie didn’t get those young voters either, because even if they felt the Bern not enough of them showed up to vote.
If some miracle were to happen and Bernie (whom Trump could easily beat) ever managed to salvage his crippled primary bid and ultimately get elected, his supporters would watch in horror as not a single one of his promises ever came to fruition. They apparently think they can camp out on the steps of Congress and FORCE people like Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell to go all in for Socialism. Even though nearly none of the candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists got elected in 2018, they still resent all the moderates that did get elected. They think it is a matter of BELIEVING. If you BELIEVE hard enough it will come true, like Dorothy clicking her heels together and saying “there’s no place like home.” They think if they clap hard enough, Tinkerbell will perch on Bernie’s shoulder. But the fact is, President Bernie would be, without a doubt, the old guy behind the curtain trying to maintain the grand illusion of Oz.
We know that there are millions of voters who feel Bernie in their heart but will vote for Biden because it’s the right thing to do. The majority of them did just that in 2016, even though it was hard and no doubt it is hard watching Bernie come so far, lead in all of the polls, take such a massive fall after Super Tuesday. That is understandable. What is NOT understandable is how Bernie and his supporters continue to threaten Biden and his supporters that they better do what they want or they won’t show up. Here’s hoping they are a small minority.
In the event that Bernie’s core support from college-aged students don’t bother voting to save the country from Trump, Biden can still drive the youth vote.
Here are five ways he can:
ONE) Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke have all endorsed Joe Biden. They might not be getting the Bernie club specifically but they are energizing their own loyal battalions of young voters all the same. They will be out on the campaign trail with Biden because they’re eager to help him — not just to rally the youth vote but to show the American people that we are united in our desire to remove a dangerous president from office. Add to that, Barack and Michelle Obama and you have a powerful coalition of brands that can energize young people in ways I bet the electorate has never seen before.
TWO) The activated youth groups led by young people coming out of the shooting at Parkland are mobilized behind Biden. Those kids will be out on the campaign trail fighting like hell to bring out the young people for someone they KNOW cares about them. The media isn’t talking about this because they have been, for four years now, enamored with the telegenic youth who are feeling the Bern, but the Parkland kids will gravitate to Team Biden, considering one prominent parent has recently endorsed. They’re smart enough to know the truth of Bernie’s baffling stance on guns, including the fact that he voted to protect gun manufacturers and sellers from lawsuits over mass shootings.
THREE) Biden should get credit as the guy who not only advocated for the Violence Against Women Act, but who also toured campuses with Lady Gaga against campus sexual assault. This could give him push with young women — even though Team Trump will be hitting the disinformation button hard on this front, trying to turn young women against Biden. But facts are facts.
Bernie and his supporters have gone out of their way to demonize Biden in this regard, even though there was never any counter attack at them by either Hillary in 2016 or Biden in 2020. It has always been a one-way attack machine. But it was especially disheartening to see them go after Biden in such a sick way, straight out of Salem in 1692 so that so many young people now see Biden, who is an affectionate man with everyone, as somehow “inappropriate.” Smart women will be able to measure that hysteria against these facts.
FOUR) Young voters aren’t stupid. They want to get rid of Trump as much as anyone else. True, many of them flipped to Trump, voted third party, or stayed home in 2016 but there is zero evidence they have the same fury and outrage against Biden that they directed against Hillary, despite her repeated efforts to appeal to them. Bernie’s nasty comments directed at her and her speeches, his continual bitterness and resentment targeted her. So far at least, Bernie hasn’t been casually tossing his lit matches in his friend Joe’s direction.
So the question should not be “What are you going to do, Joe?” The question should and MUST BE, “what are YOU going to do, Bernie?” How are you going to fix what you broke? How are you going to redirect your movement away from yourself and toward the greater good so that your followers are not trying to avenge the broken ego of a great man but instead trying to preserve their own future by removing Trump.
“What are YOU going to do, Bernie?” about the rank rep your campaign has earned thanks to all the aggressive Bernie bros whose vile behavior did nothing but help Trump win? That is all on Bernie. He offered pie in the sky fantasies to his supporters so millions of them threw a fit when Santa wasn’t on the ballot, but there was always zero chance that Bernie could have deliver on any of those promises. If he could have, then he would have done more in his 30 years in Congress than name a couple of post offices.
FIVE) Biden has a brand too.
The youngest generation of new voters has been raised on brands. From birth in America the idea is hammered into impressionable minds that brands are good, non-brands aren’t. From candy to movies to technology to clothing to makeup to food to coffee — brand loyalty to the right brands is what matters. The more exclusive the better. Bernie is one hell of a brand. His campaign got that part right. Hot girls? Team Bernie. Hot guys? Team Bernie. Cool celebs? Team Bernie. Feel the Bern was the message and it was a good one.
Biden has a brand too. It might not be as cool to the coolest of the cool kids as Bernie’s brand, but Biden has his own arsenal of traits that a vast number of us find appealing. His friendship with Obama, his experienced unruffled demeanor, his signature Ray-Ban sunglasses,and of course, his gaffes. Biden has the kind of gaffes that can happen when a man’s brain works faster than his tongue is able keep up with — unlike Trump’s constant stream of horrible gaffes that happen when a man’s tongue is connected to no brain at all.
Above all, Biden served admirably and honorably as Obama’s wingman and that really counts for a lot. It’s the way people got to know and love Biden over the past 10 years.
Of course, nothing will ever be the Bernie brand in the eyes of some young voters. But I would worry less about how Biden is going to win over those Bernie voters and have more confidence in the current shift of the mood of Democrats overall but young people will know too. They know it’s now or never and Biden or Trump. They like the moderate because they think — they KNOW — that he can beat Trump. Let him do that. It’s a job he can do and do well.
