As the 2016 presidential election approaches, NC State students are faced with many important issues to wade through and even more candidates to choose from, each with their own slant on the law. With 22 declared candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties, students have a vast pool of ideas to explore.
“I think some of the major issues that most voters our age are interested in are college tuition costs, marijuana legalization, abortion and Obamacare,” said Alysha Berezny, a junior studying animal sciences.
According to Fusion’s Massive Millennial Poll, other issues that are important to young voters are unemployment, immigration reform, ISIS and other terrorist groups, foreign policy, environmental concerns, and how to best handle the deficit.
How are the candidates reaching young voters? Along with the creation of official campaign websites, many of the presidential hopefuls have taken to social media by creating accounts on Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook to get their message out to millennials. Millennials are often criticized for lack of involvement in politics and presidential elections, but are also the least reached out to by most candidates. The Reason-Rupe 2014 Millennial Survey dubbed our generation as the “politically unclaimed generation,” and this designation rings true for many NC State students.
Democrats
Sen. Bernie Sanders reached out to young voters on Reddit on May 19 on the page devoted to “Ask Me Anything.” In the discussion that followed, the Vermont senator tackled some of the core issues of his campaign — raising the minimum wage, climate change, affordable college for all and drug policy, to name a few. He also stressed the importance of “grassroots” movements led by average Americans.
He specifically addressed youth voters by pointing out that 80 percent of young Americans did not vote in the 2012 presidential election and that this is “exactly what the ruling class of this country wants.”
Sanders’ viability as a serious candidate has grown as his events have drawn record crowds, with one rally in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 9 resulting in a crowd of more than 19,000, CNN reports. This has been the largest event turnout of the 2016 presidential race thus far, and the crowds keep coming for Sanders.
While giving a speech at a city park in Seattle on Aug. 8, Black Lives Matter activists took over the stage and insisted that Sanders be held accountable for his lack of attention to the issue of police brutality in the United States. Sanders called the interruption “unfortunate,” as he has been vocal about his plans to “demilitarize” local police and his stance on racial issues in the U.S. In response to the Black Lives Matter protesters, aides in Sanders’ campaign organized crowds to chant, “We Stand Together,” in order to prevent crowds from treating Black Lives Matter protesters negatively.
Hillary Clinton, no stranger to politics, has been vocal about issues that concern young voters specifically. Topics such as a tax relief for students, an effort to combat the nationwide student debt and plans to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which addresses the wage gap in the U.S., are among her most popular talking points.
Clinton also aims to protect the rights of the LGBT community and their families, defend President Barack Obama’s DREAM Act, call for extensive reformation of immigration policy in the United States and support both preventative and restorative drug policy.
Clinton mentioned on Friday at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake that she recently opened a Snapchat account, jokingly adding “I love it — those messages disappear all by themselves.” This tongue-in-cheek comment was made in reference to the controversy surrounding her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
Republican
On the Republican side, Ted Cruz has reached out to youth in different ways. Cruz led an effort to defend the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, authored the Obamacare Repeal Act and made a video for Buzzfeed “auditioning” for a part on “The Simpsons,” in which he compares himself to alien characters who try to run for president.
Cruz’s Twitter account makes bold statements about his plans if elected president, although no recent tweets are addressed solely to young voters. The Twitter account did, however, retweet several selfies taken by young people with Cruz at various rallies in Iowa this month.
During a speech at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Summit in April, Republican candidate Marco Rubio proposed that colleges should tell students how much they should expect to make in their chosen career field before taking out student loans so that students can determine “whether it’s worth borrowing tens of thousands of dollars to major in basket weaving.” He has authored the “Student Right to Know Before You Go Act” to combat this issue.
Rubio stands against net neutrality by citing that government regulation of the Internet is harmful to American entrepreneurship and claiming that Internet service providers creating “fast lanes” and “slow lanes” for Internet use is not as bad as it seems.
The multi-billion-dollar mogul and GOP candidate Donald Trump announced his run for the presidency June 16 and has been making national headlines ever since. Leading by a wide margin in most polls at about 25 percent, many voters are attracted to Trump for his candid, no-holds-barred approach to expressing political ideas and personal opinions.
In his announcement speech, Trump made inflammatory comments regarding immigration and Hispanic Americans. Despite negative backlash toward Trump on social media and in the political blogosphere, Public Policy Polling shows Trump backed by 32 percent of the conservative youth vote in America.
His campaign site claims he has more than 7 million followers on social media, and he certainly has no problem promoting his campaign in the media. At the Iowa State Fair Saturday, while fellow campaign runners posed for photos and sampled fair food, Trump commanded the attention of news reporters and Iowans alike by offering free helicopter rides in his private helicopter.
While campaigning at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, Jeb Bush posted a “who wore it best” style photo to Twitter, comparing flashy custom cowboy boots with Iowa Sen. Jonie Ernst.
The former Florida governor has agreed to be Stephen Colbert’s first GOP candidate guest on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Sept. 8. Bush’s official campaign site offers merchandise that appears to be geared toward young people, such as Jeb snapback hats and vintage tank tops.
Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon running for the Republican nomination, has been a recent favorite in the polls. Carson directed the pediatric neurosurgery center at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for 29 years and is a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
Following his participation in the first Republican debate on Aug. 8, Carson saw a large boost in followers and attention on social media, with a 37 percent increase in followers on Instagram, a 12 percent rise in support on Facebook and a 10 percent follower increase on Twitter, according to CBS News.
Conclusion
The U.S. Census has shown that in every presidential election since 1964, voter turnout for those ages 18-24 has consistently been the lowest compared to all other age groups. There are plenty of reasons why this is the case, but one issue is clear: The youth vote is widely overlooked by presidential candidates.
“To be honest, I haven’t really been following this election,” said Brian Palmer, a senior studying electrical engineering. “Politics don’t cross over into any of my social media platforms … I’ll do my own research on the candidates as it gets closer, but there are too many to follow right now.”
Amber Chastain, a sophomore studying elementary education, said, “I think a majority of the candidates completely ignore our generation … It discourages most young people from getting involved or even trying to stay informed.”
The Pew Research Center has found that more than one in three members of the American workforce are millennials, at 53.5 million adults aged 18 to 35. Such a large representation of millennials filling the workforce and college campuses means that our generation of voters can and should be a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of the 2016 presidential candidates.
