This article discusses the necessity for Hilary Clinton to appear relevant and "with it" In order to gain the youth vote. It also discusses some actions Clinton is already taking to broaden her youth base like using daughter Chelsea and speaking to college students. Personally, I have a hard time believing that the GOP has even the slightest possibility of winning the majority of millennial votes. What do you think?
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/21/young-voters-would-be-key-in-a-hillary-clinton-presidential-race-but-can-she-win-them-over/?hpt=po_t1
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Aas Winston Churchill once said, “If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty, you have no brain.” The day will come when the millennials will be voting for Republicans in droves. While that day may not be immediate, it will come (but it is surely possible that the millenials may vote for the Republican). However, I do believe that if the Republicans nominate someone such as Rand Paul, that Clinton will surely have a battle in order to get the youth vote (and could certainly lose it). Paul is seen as hip for many of his views (including those on drugs, the NSA, and his let-the-states-decide opinion on gay marriage). Additionally, it is not being hip that is important among the youth. It is how well a candidate addresses their concern for their economic future—the Democrats have not exactly stirred up economic optimism in the youth.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I don't think you can say millennials will be voting for Republicans in the future. You misinterpreted Churchill. Ideology of a person will likely stay the same but the general trend is for society to become more liberal. Therefore, young people will adopt the ideologies of society whereas older people will stick to the ideologies of the society they grew up with. Millennials in the next few decades will not necessarily vote Republican. They will vote conservatively by the standards of that day. As for Clinton, I don't think she has to worry about winning over the young people's vote. As far as I'm concerned, she already has a huge advantage over any other candidate. She needs to focus on the large bloc of people who will be opposed to any democratic candidate because of Obama's presidency. Clinton needs to show that her party label does not mean she will continue Obama's policies.
ReplyDeleteI think that the most important thing Hilary Clinton has to focus on is clearing up Obamacare. If she can weed out the policies that aren't working with the younger people and strengthen the ones that are, she should have no problem winning over the younger vote. As Olivia pointed out, the general trend for society is more liberal. Therefore, Clinton should not have a hard time with the younger vote.
ReplyDeleteAs we learned earlier in the year, young people don't actually vote that much and the amount of youth voter participation is not super influential. It's important, but the centerists are more important. I think what will get young people to vote is talking about social issues and increasing job opportunities. Unlike Andrew, I don't think most teens/twenty-somethings are very concerned with the economic policies of candidates/get confused with the jargon. (I don't mean no one cares, but lets be honest, normal people don't understand economic policy works). Maybe Hillary should pull an Obama and go on some funny talkshows or SNL or something. Also, I think using her daughter is a good idea as well because, age-wise, Chelsea Clinton is easier to relate. In general, however, I think Hillary will carry the youth vote, because, as the other comments have said, the new generation is more liberal than the older generation.
ReplyDeleteThe 2016 election will basically come down to this: if Clinton can win over the millennial vote, she will win by a landslide, if she cannot, the republican candidate has the possibility of winning by a slim margin. Right now, it is clear to me that the democratic nomination is Clinton's to lose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily, If Clinton wants to increase the millennial vote in her favor, I think the place she should start is SNL. When Palin did it back 08 not only was it hysterical, but it was effective. SNL provides a platform where you can make fun of yourself and get your message across.
Like Emily, I disagree with Andrew. Economic policy is probably last on my list of things I actually care about. It's too confusing for me. It will be interesting to see how Clinton approaches her campaign to gain the millennial vote. Using her daughter Chelsea is a great start, but Emily's idea of talk shows and SNL is great. The initial thought would be to use social media, but to be honest if I saw campaigning while i was on twitter I would just keep scrolling. If I was watching SNL, however, and saw how funny this candidate is, I might actually look into them.
ReplyDeleteI think that Hillary's main issue will not be how to seem young and relevant, but how to seem fresh creative. Like Andrew said, younger people are more likely to be liberal and are looking for someone to make progress. After Obama, she will have to keep Democrats from moving to a Republican candidate. Also as we saw with previous articles, Hillary has been wanting the presidency for a long time and has started making herself prominent for a long time. This may hurt her in the end.
ReplyDeleteHillary Clinton may be older than likely candidates in the Republican party, but I think the difference in positions between her and her opponent will be the deciding the outcome of the youth vote. Her support of gay marriage is very important, as that's one of the most relevant causes for young people today. A lot of the Republicans mentioned in the article have been part of a group moving further from the political center, on both economic and social issues. In 2008 Obama was the more inspiring candidate, which resulted in his victory over Clinton in the youth category. In 2016 she'll have no such challenger. A lack of a drawn-out primary might be useful for her after the ugly one in 2008.
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