Can Hillary Clinton successfully win over young women voters?
The 2016 election is rife with passion, opinions and plenty of fighting within the liberal community.
Similar to the 2008 presidential race, Hillary Clinton is once again facing a tough, unexpected challenger. And Bernie Sanders, like Barack Obama in 2008, has captured the hearts and minds of young people who are fed up with the politics-as-usual of the political “establishment.” Millennials want an affordable education; they want a government-run healthcare system; they want a livable wage; and they want a level playing field in terms of income and racial equality.
But what about the female voting bloc? According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC/Marist College poll in New Hampshire last week, 64% of women Democratic voters younger than 45 backed Bernie Sanders, while just 35% supported Clinton. When it comes to women 45 and older, Clinton leads Sanders by 9 percentage points.
Women baby boomers, and most Clinton supporters for that matter, are quick to dismiss Sanders and his talk of a political revolution. They attempt to paint him as a “pie in the sky” dreamer who will never get anything done, and they insist that Clinton is the only shining hope. (Never mind the fact that Republicans have spent millions of dollars and countless hours attacking Clinton. The GOP has a fierce hatred of her, and there’s no way in hell they will cut her a break if she emerges as the 2016 victor.)
It should be obvious by now, however, that millennials are flocking toward Sanders in YOOGE numbers – especially millennial women.
An article in the LA Times addressed the fact that Clinton is losing the support of young feminists who are now supporting Sanders. These young woman want to see a woman in the White House, yet many don’t want that woman to be Hillary Clinton.
Here’s a selection of salient opinions from millennial women in the LA Times piece:
“I am excited for a future in which we will have a female president, but I don’t think Hillary is that person for this generation,” said Rachael Jennings, 28, a high school teacher in Dublin, N.H.
“Young women cannot remember a time that Hillary was not a household name, and it confuses them what she stands for,” said Nichola Gutgold, a professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State, who wrote a book, “Almost Madam President,” about Clinton’s 2008 quest for the nomination. “Rejecting her is a way of rejecting the establishment.”
“I’m a student. I will have to pay for college, and debt is something that scares me,” said Meg Renzelman, 18, after a Sanders rally in Keene, N.H.
“There is this assumption that if you are a woman, you should support Hillary Clinton because she is a woman,” Renzelman said. “But I feel like Bernie is going to support women in the same way.”
NPR reports similar sentiments:
“I’m a feminist. I want a woman in the White House, but I don’t think we should elect Hillary just because she’s a woman,” said Madison Egan, a freshman at Manchester Community College in southern New Hampshire.
Lauren Cavanaugh, Egan’s 18-year-old college freshman friend, added, “I feel like Clinton lies a lot. She changes her views for every group she speaks to. I can’t trust her.”
Hillary Clinton has acknowledged the generational divide in her supporters. “I accept the fact that I have work to do to convey what I stand for, what I’ve accomplished [and] what I want to do for young people,” Clinton said, before adding, “They don’t have to be for me. I’m going to be for them.”
A significant number of young voters want to see the current system changed. They’re not interested in the status quo, and they want to see a massive political upheaval.
84% of young Iowa Democratic caucus-goers supported Bernie Sanders, with only 14% supporting Hillary Clinton.
Among both genders, Sanders has 57% backing in the 18-25 age group, according to a USA TODAY/Rock the Vote poll. That drops to 36% for those ages 26-34. For Clinton, the opposite is true. She gets 44% of those aged 26 to 34 and 25% of those 18-25.
History has shown us that the over 40 crowd is more likely to vote – especially in the primaries. Stats indicate if young people don’t turn out in big numbers, Clinton has the advantage.
The only way Hillary Clinton can win young women from Bernie Sanders is to earn their trust and more effectively demonstrate that she is on the same page with them. Otherwise Sanders has that voting bloc in the can.
Like Kimberley A. Johnson on Facebook HERE, follow her HERE. Twitter: @authorkimberley
You must be logged in to post a comment Login