With the next presidential election still a year out, the polls show that at least one key demographic — young voters — is not all that keen on Joe Biden.
Curious as to why that is the case, on Sunday I convened my own little focus group to seek some answers.
The East Bay freeway was clogged for reasons that were unclear, so my trip into the city took twice as long as usual, but it was well worth it.
Our group met in a cafe in Noe Valley, one of San Francisco’s many bustling neighborhoods.
My lively 20-something companions are well-educated, progressive urbanites who somewhat reluctantly voted for Biden in 2020. (Their first choice was Bernie Sanders.)
Sunday, they were full of anecdotes about the past week’s events, from the APAC meeting to Biden’s visit, the China summit and the noisy antiwar protests. They were especially impressed by all of the graffiti that had appeared.
When I asked them about Biden, they universally said they were disappointed in his performance in office.
One key reason is the student loan mess. Biden had promised to do something about it and he tried, but ultimately he failed.
Another key problem they cited was the president’s handling of immigration. They were all concerned he has not done enough about the crisis at the border.
But the biggest complaint they voiced was over the war in the Middle East. Although they all support Israel’s right to exist, they strongly object to the killing of innocent Palestinians.
And though they were appalled by the slaughter of innocent Israelis by Hamas on October 7th, as one said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Another put it succinctly. “We want a ceasefire and the hostages released. We don’t support this war.” They all agreed that the nuances in the matter really don’t matter to young voters.
Virtually every other young person they know, they told me, supports the Palestinians in the conflict and wants it to end — now.
Biden, of course, has stood stalwartly with Israel, so he is losing their support by taking that stand.
Besides these issue discussions, I asked about Biden’s age. “Age shouldn’t matter but he just seems old,” they agreed. “It’s time for someone younger.”
One positive note for the president was they unanimously agreed that if the 2024 race comes down to Biden v. Trump, they would all vote for Biden again. Because they hate Trump.
And they said that no matter who is on the ballot, they will definitely be voting next November.
It’s a small sample size but I learned a long time ago that you can trust small slices on things like this.
(No links today)
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