We must engage the Millennials in November. We have a Democratic president right now for one reason -- the Millennials, the generation born starting in 1980, ( Generation Y) voted him in. The young in America who now more often than not identify as Independents but lean liberal and vote Democratic, had a massive swell of enthusiasm and record turnout. Theyve also overtaken seniors as the largest single voting bloc in the nation. The problem we now face is that they now feel disillusioned and don’t want to vote. They stood in line for hours to cast their first vote- Contrary to negative stereotypes of this generation they do not spend all day playing video games. They are the most informed, less swayed by mainstream media and are independent thinkers. This generations average education level is a masters degree but they are underemployed and burdened with student loans and the cost of the invasion of Iraq. Perhaps the root of the problem was unrealistic expectations of what an Obama presidency would mean, or not understanding how weak of the office of the President actually is, but nevertheless, low turnout among the demographic the Democrats must rely on to elect liberals into office is a huge, looming problem for the party. What can we do to re-energize them and get them into the voting booths? First, we should look at what the Obama campaign did right. He spoke their language, and made it clear he shared their values and interests on topics like the Iraq War, the environment, healthcare, and Wall Street excess. He promised to fight for the right things, change the DC establishment and bring government back to the people. The problem is that Obama came into office amid several crises, the Great Recession and Wall Street collapse of the latter Bush years being chief among them. After dealing with those, when he went in to attempt to push his agenda and meet campaign promises, he met with the predictable Republican obstructionism. The true failure of the Obama presidency, however, and the reason those who voted him in on the “Change We Can Believe In” platform are so uninterested in government, is that Obama attempted rational compromise with a party ideologically dedicated to making him fail, and thus, completely unwilling to compromise to win popularity with a vocal, fringe minority (the Tea Party). The inevitable happened -- Obama was forced into making more and more concessions, winning nothing in return except for an extremely watered down Affordable Care Act, and thus ended up looking inept and weak. This is why the Millennials do not believe their vote mattered. They expected a new America, that’s what they voted for. The Millennials won’t go for an establishment, insider candidate like Hillary Clinton as they did not in 2008. They also won’t go for a calm statesman like Obama, who, in a different time with a different Congress, may have excelled. The only way to get the Millennials re-excited and re-energized is with candidates who have a strong record of fighting opposition and sticking to their guns like Elizabeth Warren who understands the “system is rigged”, Congressman Alan Grayson who consistently voice citizens have a right to privacy from government intrusion and Senator Bernie Sanders consistent advocacy for economic fairness. Instead of discussing 2016, the focus should be this upcoming November election. What can President Obama do today until November to get them to believe their vote matters? Exercise his executive privilege. In keeping with the recent EPA rules changes, Obama holds to record for issuing the least number of Executive Orders. He needs to unilaterally use executive power to do his best to keep campaign promises. There are many things he promised to do that he can make great headway in alone -- and without showing some sign that he has fight left in him, the current mid-term apathy will only get worse. The Snarky Pundit
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 01:28:51 +0000
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