Though Democratic presidential candidates have historically enjoyed the loyal support of the youngest portions of the electorate, 2024 is shaping up to be a different animal altogether, with President Joe Biden's poll numbers among these demographics suffering a steep decline, as NBC News explains.
Multiple recent surveys have documented this noteworthy drop, and as the outlet notes, those who have become increasingly disenchanted with the commander in chief and have begun shifting their allegiance to former President Donald Trump are more than willing to give the reasons why.
As The Hill notes, a New York Times/Siena College poll published this week indicated that Trump has taken a 6-point lead over Biden in the under-30 voter group, a potentially pivotal development for the 2024 presidential stakes.
For purposes of comparison, in the 2020 contest, Biden won the same age group by a staggering 24 points, though the electoral college count was still memorably narrow.
As NBC News points out, the NYT/Sienna College survey is not the only poll to yield similar insights as to the state of the race among younger voters, as just last month, members of the coveted age demographic signaled a 4-point advantage for Trump over Biden when it comes to Americans under the age of 35.
Explanations offered for the dramatic reversal of fortune for Biden include his advanced age, his support for Israel, and what many feel are a string of broken promises regarding student loan forgiveness and other priorities of the far left.
NBC News spoke to a number of prospective voters who were, at one point, members of Biden's most reliable voting bloc, but now express serious reservations about casting their ballot for him next November.
Wisconsin voter and union organizer Evan McKenzie, who supported the current president in his 2020 campaign, summed up his current sentiments in the sort of blunt fashion the Biden campaign is unlikely to appreciate.
“I genuinely could not live with myself if I voted for someone who's made the decisions that Biden has,” McKenzie declared, adding, “I didn't even feel great” about offering his support the last time around.
California resident Jayden Camarena offered similar reservations about the next election, saying, “It's so complicated, because it almost feels like if I were to give my vote for Biden, I will be showing the Democratic Party that what they are putting out is enough, which is the bare minimum in my opinion.”
While those voters' disdain for Biden may not seem to intuitively translate into a vote for Trump, there does seem to be a growing contingent of younger Americans interested in giving the former president another term in office, particularly those worried about the trajectory of the economy, as The Hill noted.
According to young voter Camryn Kinsey, “economic concerns are the leading reason why Trump is leading in polls right now with young voters. Young voters are voting with their pocketbooks. When it comes to anything from buying a house to the price of groceries, it's an unsustainable lifestyle [under Biden].”
Michelle Weindling, political director of youth-oriented progressive group the Sunrise Movement opined, “The larger risk is young people staying out of the election, but [the NYT poll] is showing some fraction voting for Trump instead.”
“And what I take from that is that young people feel Democrats have failed to make tangible differences to their lives in the past four years.” and whether the Biden team has any arrows in its collective quiver to effectively address that fact, only time will tell.
