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On May 6, 2008, my mom and I walked hand in hand into Reynolds Coliseum to see then-Democratic Senator Barack Obama speak at his campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. He had just won the North Carolina primary election, and the building was buzzing with energy, tears, and, of course, hope. Just two months shy of my 11th birthday, I didn't recognize the magnitude of that night and what it meant for the future political engagement of young voters. After a historic campaign, he went on to win the 2008 Presidential Election with 66 percent of the youth vote, winning again with 60 percent of the youth vote in 2012.
At the 2008 campaign rally, Obama offered this to the crowd during his speech:
"The man I met in Pennsylvania who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one—he can't afford four more years of an energy policy written by the oil companies and for the oil companies; a policy that's not only keeping gas at record prices but funding both sides of the war on terror and destroying our planet in the process. He doesn't need four more years of Washington policies that sound good, but don't solve the problem. He needs us to take a permanent holiday from our oil addiction by making the automakers raise their fuel standards, corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future. That's the change we need. And that's why I'm running for President."
Young people believed in Obama and, more importantly, young people believed the Democratic Party was going to be the vehicle to usher in a transformation of the political status quo. Since then, the Democratic Party has had a stronghold on the youth vote despite its political failures and broken promises. In 2024, many young voters are starting to realize that, not only is the Democratic Party squarely in the political center (and even right of center in some cases), but they are beholden to the same donor class as the Republican Party and uninterested in the fundamental changes young voters believe in.
Climate champions? Or not.
In a poll conducted by the Environmental Voter Project, 40 percent of young voters said they will only support candidates who prioritize climate change—it's a "deal breaker." The Democratic Party has taken the lead on this issue despite the late John McCain's attempts to carve out a path for the Republican Party to spearhead climate action during his time in the Senate. The passing of the Inflation Reduction Act was a giant win for the Democratic Party and for climate advocates across the country. Still, the policy had glaring racial justice gaps. Rhiana Gunn-Wright, one of the architects of the Green New Deal, penned an article critiquing its disparities. She wrote:
"It's true that the IRA has sparked the largest investments in clean energy and manufacturing that the U.S. has ever seen. In fact, along with investments from the CHIPS Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, two climate-adjacent bills passed around the same time, the federal government is funneling so much money into the development of clean and renewable energy—at least $515 billion in public investment from the IRA alone—that 25 percent of electricity in the U.S. is expected to come from renewable sources by 2024 (up more than 10 percent from a decade ago), and over half of all electricity could come from solar and wind by 2030."
Though this historic legislation was passed in 2022 to combat climate change, the Democratic Party has been a partner in exacerbating climate catastrophe. Crude Oil production averaged 12.9 million barrels a day last year during the Biden/Harris administration, eclipsing a previous record set in 2019 under Trump according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. So while it is clear to Gen-Z that the Republican Party is more interested in climate denialism than preserving a habitable planet for generations to come, what is also clear is the inaction of the Democratic Party, which—while seemingly spearheading climate action—refuses to declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act despite President Biden's ability to do so. The absence of political will is the death of the Democratic Party.
Abortion access, when it's convenient.
The Democratic Party has been the party of "the right to choose" since Gen-Z can remember which, admittedly, isn't too far back. Thankfully for the Democrats, one of the leading issues that was the focus of the youth vote this year was abortion. Gen-Z—the generation that's been told to "Google it" for our entire lives—clearly took that advice and began to ask questions about how and why it was so easy for the majority conservative Supreme Court to strip away rights to reproductive healthcare, specifically abortion, so quickly.
In 1993, Democratic President Bill Clinton had the opportunity to codify Roe v. Wade through the Freedom of Choice Act. In 2009, President Barack Obama had the same opportunity but decided that it was not a political priority. Years later, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade through the historic Dobbs case. While the outrage regarding abortion access under the next Trump presidency makes sense, we have to be honest about the opportunities the Democratic Party has had to secure the right to choose across the country. The Democratic Party cannot be the beacon of progressive politics if reproductive health care is a matter of political convenience.
Student debt.
In 2011 and 2012, Gen-Zers were 0 to 15 years old, and 46 percent lived in low-income families meaning their income was "less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level," according to the Anne E. Casey Foundation. Gen-Z has grown up poor and, for the most part, is still living a poverty nightmare while many of us bet our livelihoods on the promise of entrepreneurship and social media stardom. Reports praising Gen-Z for "becoming richer than boomers and millennials" forget that while some of us are making more money than older generations, we are still often unable to pay rent, buy groceries, or save up any emergency funds because of inflation.
To make matters worse, Gen-Z is saddled with debt and is increasingly unable to pay it off, much like millennials. One major campaign promise President Biden made that cemented support from many Gen-Z and millennial voters in 2020 was the cancellation of student debt. "I propose to forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities for debt-holders earning up to $125,000, with appropriate phase-outs to avoid a cliff," he wrote in a 2020 Medium post. So far, he has failed, despite his initial efforts.
Without jumping through congressional hoops, President Biden could cancel student debt today. With the simple stroke of a pen, he could relieve the financial burden so many young people are carrying. Biden and his party have had the opportunity to show young voters, and the Democratic Party base more broadly, that they have the political will to change the material conditions of people's lives. Despite being on track to becoming the most educated generation, Gen-Z is unable to find economic relief after following the societal rules that promised us a good life: go to college and get a good job. "Student loans are more likely to account for 30 percent or more of Generation Z's total debts," reported the Education Data Initiative.
The answer to this crisis is not only canceling student debt through executive powers but also working towards creating a society where higher education is a public good: free college for all. "Less than 1 percent of the $5.3 trillion annual federal budget could be used to make college free for all," reported the Education Data Initiative. It's fair to assume that the political establishment, both Democratic and Republican, is gaining more from our suffering under the crushing weight of student loan debt than what they believe they'd gain if it were relieved.
Who gets to be a fascist?
Throughout the last eight years the word "fascism" has been thrust into the American political vocabulary, directly pointed at the MAGA-Republican party, and rightly so. In this last presidential election, the Democratic Party positioned Vice President Kamala Harris as the "anti-fascist candidate" who could defeat fascist president-elect Donald Trump. But it's clear that the Democratic Party only claims to be an anti-fascist party while holding and upholding fascistic doctrines.
One of the key characteristics of fascism is the violent repression of dissent using the military and law enforcement. Just this year, the Democratic Party supported university administrations calling in the National Guard and militarized police forces to arrest, brutalize, and terrorize college students on campuses across the country for protesting the US-funded genocide Israel is inflicting on Palestinians. Additionally, Democratic Party elects across the country have worked to silence students through legislation, effectively criminalizing students and their right to protest. Meanwhile, the majority of young voters on both sides of the political spectrum support a weapons embargo on Israel.
Sadly, young voters' anti-war sentiments are meaningless in the face of the bipartisan-funded war machine. Not only has Congress overinvested in war and violence, but it has also underinvested in healthcare, education, and policies that would greatly benefit the general public. The war machine is a lucrative business for both parties, given their personal stocks and investments in companies that manufacture climate-destroying weapons. The anti-war position that Gen-Z so frequently takes is not a part of the Democratic Party's vision. During her keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris declared, "As commander-in-chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world," further cementing her commitment to war, climate catastrophe, and once again, no fundamental changes to where our country invests its resources.
We're not going back.
The Democratic Party had the worst performance with the youth vote since Secretary of State John Kerry ran for president in 2004. Pundits now insist that young people are "becoming more conservative" despite our progressive polling on issues like abortion, healthcare, war, and climate change. Only 42-44 percent of young people turned out to vote in the 2024 general election, a decrease from 2020, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.
I would argue that young people are not "becoming more conservative" but are instead growing disillusioned with our political parties and their combined failure to meet the needs of the people in this country. Influencers, memes, and celebrities are no longer moving young voters to the Democratic Party because we know that we can't pay our bills with vibes and memes. Why would the youth vote be guaranteed to continue the tradition of Democratic Party loyalty when they've been hell-bent that nothing will fundamentally change when they're in power? 47 percent of young voters surveyed by Pew said they wished there were more political parties with viable candidates for elected office in the United States, compared with 23 percent of those 65 and older who said the same. Young people need a political party that is invested in the future of this country and the world.
Former President Barack Obama has a complicated legacy as the first Black president of the United States: passing the Affordable Care Act that granted healthcare to 25 million people, but also left 20 million more without it; ending the war in Iraq, but also ordering 506 drone strikes and killing 391 civilians—the most drone strikes ordered by a president in American history; the creation and execution of The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protecting children of undocumented immigrants from deportation, but also deporting more immigrants than any previous president. Still, President Obama is recognized as one of the best that the Democratic Party has offered the American people. Young people have decided that the Democratic Party's "best"—one step forward, 20 steps towards the corporate elite—is just not good enough.
During President Obama's farewell address in 2016, he stated this:
"Let me tell you, this generation coming up—unselfish, altruistic, creative, patriotic, I've seen you in every corner of the country. You believe in a fair, and just, and inclusive America. You know that constant change has been America's hallmark; that it's not something to fear but something to embrace. You are willing to carry this hard work of democracy forward. You'll soon outnumber all of us, and I believe as a result the future is in good hands."
He was right. By 2036, Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha will constitute 60 percent of the electorate. Young people have said "no" to the two-party system and their vision for our future. But what future will we say yes to? What will be built to take its place?
In Black Power: The Politics of Liberation, Charles V. Hamilton and Kwame Ture write: "Modernization is a time of dynamism when it is absolutely necessary to call for and push for new forms, new institutions to solve old problems. This call, this push requires a bold readiness to be 'out of order.'"
This political moment calls for us to see beyond what generations before us have deemed possible and escape the hamster wheel of political viability. More importantly, it will require young people to become architects of the society we deserve and continue to be defiant to the status quo, which includes saying goodbye to the broken political system that forces us to choose a "lesser evil" aiding and abetting the genocide of our friends and families. To the disappointment of The Democratic Party, young people did not, in fact, just fall out of a coconut tree and are done waiting patiently to be unburdened by what has been.