Vice President Kamala Harris is struggling among young voters despite trying desperately to appeal to Gen Z.
According to a recent Cook Political Report, Harris is doing worse among younger generations than President Joe Biden did during his 2020 campaign. The president’s 2020 margin among those under 30 was 28 points, while Harris only leads in the same demographic by 13 points.
Historically, Democrats do very well among young voters. However, Harris is carrying the worst lead among the group since Democrat John Kerry lost in 2004.
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten pointed out that although Biden’s popularity among the younger generations dropped seven points in July before he withdrew from the presidential race, Harris’ average is still underwater and lagging significantly behind his 2020 advantage.
You go back four years ago at this point, look, Joe Biden had a 28-point advantage, a 28-point advantage over Donald Trump. Now, you look when Joe Biden dropped out of the race, he was up by just seven points.
Now, Kamala Harris has improved on Joe Biden’s standing but look at this. She’s only up by 15 points. That is significantly less than Joe Biden was up at this point among the youngest voters in our electorate. It’s only about half the margin that Joe Biden was pulling in.
Following the poll, Harris's campaign has "absolutely welcomed [d]” singer Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement, hoping her influence will increase younger people’s votes.
Enten suggested Swift’s support could give Harris the boost she needs but pointed out that in states such as Pennsylvania and North Carolina, the number of newly registered Democrats has decreased over the last four years.
According to a poll by the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School, the economy and support for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war were the two top concerns among young voters.
For any voter, regardless of demographic, the economy is one of their top issues.
A recent CNN poll found that voters trust Trump more to handle the economy than Harris by an average of eight points. He has a 16-point advantage over the VP in Nevada on the issue, and across the seven swing states, Trump is viewed as the candidate with a solid plan to solve the nation’s problems. On the other hand, Harris failed to explain how her economic plans differed from Biden’s, which destroyed the nation’s economic system in just three and a half years.