I can’t fault youth apathy when they’re never offered a realistic future to believe in. It’s far too easy to fall for the narrative that voters are apathetic because it means the outcome is their fault, not the party or candidate whose platform does nothing to address them.
Look back at the campaigns from 2012 onward, from both sides. In 2012, both promised more of the same, but the GOP with Romney actually began sliding rightward, articulating the fringes of a potential future for those who preferred oligarchy and authoritarianism, by deliberately mislabeling the Obama administration’s ACA as the very same authoritarianism they sought to enable. In 2016, again, Clinton was more of the same even as the youth vote (what little there was) resonated more with Sanders’ values and vision of the future, while Trump went all out on appealing to the far-right and normalizing their views of a christofascist future (with the help of a media engine that has no interest in facts, only ratings and income). His first tenure was marked with chaos and corruption, but unlike the tiny, incremental steps of the DNC, he went as hard as he could on policy, consequences be damned; that resonated, hard, with an electorate that felt ignored or left behind by the changing positions and attitudes of the broader populace.
Then we get to 2020, and this is where alarm bells should’ve gone off. Trump continued his campaign of violent rhetoric and oligarch policies, while Biden’s entire campaign was “I’m not Trump”. He narrowly won the election, and the DNC celebrated it by thinking they now had a mandate for the future, expecting Trump to recede into some other grift. They continued to believe this even after January 6th, relying on “norms” and “decorum” rather than holding him immediately and permanently accountable. He should’ve been barred from running for re-election under the laws of the USA, but the Democrats did nothing to meaningfully punish him.
So now we get to 2024, where the electorate yet again has a choice between nothing changing (Harris) and everything changing (Trump). The youth made their concerns clear: a desire for a peaceful world, higher wages, lower costs, and the concept of a future they could work towards. Both ignored most of that, but Trump latched on to that lack of a future vision and pitched his own to his supporters - along with Project 2025, a plan intended to eliminate the chaos of his last term and ensure he met his campaign goals.
Put simply, Trump won because the Democrats have failed to present a communicable vision of the future to their electorate. Yes, his vision is evil, but in a world where any vision is better than none at all, it’s little wonder he has won on that platform twice.
I’d strongly encourage other political parties to wake up and smell the reality, before it’s too late.
Look back at the campaigns from 2012 onward, from both sides. In 2012, both promised more of the same, but the GOP with Romney actually began sliding rightward, articulating the fringes of a potential future for those who preferred oligarchy and authoritarianism, by deliberately mislabeling the Obama administration’s ACA as the very same authoritarianism they sought to enable. In 2016, again, Clinton was more of the same even as the youth vote (what little there was) resonated more with Sanders’ values and vision of the future, while Trump went all out on appealing to the far-right and normalizing their views of a christofascist future (with the help of a media engine that has no interest in facts, only ratings and income). His first tenure was marked with chaos and corruption, but unlike the tiny, incremental steps of the DNC, he went as hard as he could on policy, consequences be damned; that resonated, hard, with an electorate that felt ignored or left behind by the changing positions and attitudes of the broader populace.
Then we get to 2020, and this is where alarm bells should’ve gone off. Trump continued his campaign of violent rhetoric and oligarch policies, while Biden’s entire campaign was “I’m not Trump”. He narrowly won the election, and the DNC celebrated it by thinking they now had a mandate for the future, expecting Trump to recede into some other grift. They continued to believe this even after January 6th, relying on “norms” and “decorum” rather than holding him immediately and permanently accountable. He should’ve been barred from running for re-election under the laws of the USA, but the Democrats did nothing to meaningfully punish him.
So now we get to 2024, where the electorate yet again has a choice between nothing changing (Harris) and everything changing (Trump). The youth made their concerns clear: a desire for a peaceful world, higher wages, lower costs, and the concept of a future they could work towards. Both ignored most of that, but Trump latched on to that lack of a future vision and pitched his own to his supporters - along with Project 2025, a plan intended to eliminate the chaos of his last term and ensure he met his campaign goals.
Put simply, Trump won because the Democrats have failed to present a communicable vision of the future to their electorate. Yes, his vision is evil, but in a world where any vision is better than none at all, it’s little wonder he has won on that platform twice.
I’d strongly encourage other political parties to wake up and smell the reality, before it’s too late.