Blaming millennials for Trump 99 problems but the kids ain't one
Blaming millennials for Trump — 99 problems but the kids ain't one
Scoot Goodstein
Mic
Young voters were the only age bracket that Clinton actually won. We need to stop blaming them. Far from sitting on their hands, today's young voters are actively engaged. I saw that first-hand during the Democratic primary, during which my firm worked with Bernie Sanders' campaign. From organizing their friends to show up to rallies en masse, to pitching in $27 at a time, young voters were as active throughout this election cycle as ever. In fact, early general election data suggests young voters turned out to the polls at similar levels to 2012. They just didn't favor Hillary as much as her campaign would have liked.
Second, Clinton never developed a message for young voters — those who are struggling financially, strapped with credit card debt or living back at home, trying to figure out how they'll do better than the generation before them. Yes, Hillary eventually adopted a version of Sen. Sanders' free college plan, albeit weaker. But that was only after months of telling college students that his plan wasn't grounded in reality, that it was too idealistic and irresponsible.
Fifth, the campaign failed to develop an effective social media strategy. Back in 2012, Mitt Romney's tweets were famously filtered through over 20 staffers. Too often, Clinton's social media presence felt similarly scripted and out-of-touch. The full power of social media is only unleashed when candidates use these platforms to have real conversations and establish emotional connections. But when Clinton's campaign used social media, it too often felt like a bad marketing campaign that fell flat. For example, tweets like "Tell us in three emojis or less ... How does your student loan debt make you feel?" were patronizing and did not show Clinton's empathy.
Finally, the Clinton campaign was patronizing to Bernie Sanders supporters, many of whom were young voters. Clinton once said she felt "sorry for" young Bernie Sanders supporters and claimed they didn't "do their own research." Her surrogates suggested young women were supporting Sanders to meet boys and that there was a "special place in hell" for women who failed to support other women. Similarly, I was in the room when Clinton supporter and CNN contributor Paul Begala told an audience full of millennials in California to fall in line, respect their elders and stop whining.
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