Eve Levenson’s job was very different just a month ago.
The 24-year-old is the national youth engagement director for Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign, a role she has held since the beginning of the year when President Biden was seeking reelection, and her mission has always been the same: to get young voters to the polls this fall.
But when she addressed a roomful of Gen Z activists at a Chicago coffee shop last week wearing friendship bracelets that read “Kamala,” “Politics Girl” and “Age of Vote,” a new playing field opened up.
“It’s been really amazing to see the attention and energy online,” Levenson said. “We’re really focused on how to keep that energy and how to harness that energy.”
It’s a goal shared by many young organizers working to rally support among young people. Enthusiasm for Harris grows among voters under 30 This is the same demographic that supported Biden four years ago but has grown increasingly disliked him over the past year.
But maintaining that support will be an uphill task given how recently Harris began her campaign and that young voters have historically been unreliable when it comes to consistently turning out to the polls, despite notable increases over the past decade.
Levenson already points to positive signs in the campaign’s organization. She’s building programs that the Harris campaign can leverage. National Student Organization Program It began last spring and will resume when students return to campus this fall.
“Our campaign is drawing a lot of people,” she said. “We’ve had more applications for student programs in the last few weeks than we’ve had in our entire life. More people are signing up for events. More people are applying for jobs. But we need to keep this energy up and keep going.”
On top Rising in the polls In this age group, Harris The momentary surge of the virus Her campaign was run online, Incorporate some memes into your online organization There was increased activity on social media, especially TikTok, which saw a significant increase in engagement. However, the campaign still In terms of overall number of followers, it is the Trump camp.
And it’s not just the likes, shares and votes. A few days after the Democratic National Convention ended, the campaign reported: Raised $540 million in funding Donations have skyrocketed since Harris announced her candidacy, with notable highlights that in the past week alone, one-third of donations came from first-time donors and one-fifth from younger voters.
It all adds up to the surge of collective enthusiasm felt among attendees at last week’s convention.
When Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz took the stage at the Democratic National Committee’s Youth Council meeting, the mostly young crowd cheered and chanted “Coach!”
Walz didn’t mince words when describing the power of young voters, especially in battleground states where the vote could be razor-thin.
“The battle is going to be won on the front lines,” he said. “Your base is going to win in large part because of you. If we can mobilize you to get out and vote, that’s going to happen. And you’re going to be the ones electing the first woman president of the United States.”
Blake Robinson, a 21-year-old delegate from Georgia, said he felt that excitement as he prepared to head to the convention center just hours before Harris was due to accept the nomination.
“What I wanted for the Democratic Party was energy,” he said. “I wanted some kind of youthfulness, some kind of vitality, some kind of energy. And now, I don’t know if any of you were in the convention hall, but there was never a dull moment in that hall.”
But divisions within the party, and even within this voting bloc, may persist.
The organizers are in tune with the “Uncommitted” movement. start of Democratic Primary They took issue with the Democratic National Convention’s decision not to allow a Palestinian-American to speak in protest of President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
War is not the most important issue for young voters According to national opinion pollsBut it remains a concern, especially among some progressive Arab American and Muslim voters – groups that typically support Democrats.
For Robinson, the Democratic National Convention needed to show voters that it wanted to hear from all sides of the party. Palestinian Americans asked to speak out At the tournament.
“We know how deeply this issue impacts young people,” he explained, “and it’s going to be important to give Palestinian Americans a platform on this stage. We have to make sure that we’re inclusive of everyone in our lineup of speakers, and we have to make sure that people know that we care about everyone, all sides of the conflict, all sides of this issue.”
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