His chances of winning are slipping.
Jayden Camarena, residing in Northern California, is contemplating abstaining from participation in the 2024 presidential election. In battleground Wisconsin, Evan McKenzie is actively seeking alternatives to the current front-runners, expressing a shift in sentiment towards the existing political landscape. Meanwhile, Pru Carmichael in Philadelphia remains unconvinced of the significance of the upcoming race. Despite their geographical and ideological differences, these young voters share a common thread—they voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but their support for the president is now in question as the 2024 election looms.
Evan McKenzie, a 23-year-old Starbucks worker and union organizer in Madison, Wisconsin, vocalized his discontent with President Biden’s decision-making, signaling a discernible decline in support. This sentiment mirrors a noticeable decrease in Biden’s ratings and backing among young voters, evident in recent polling. A November NBC News national poll indicated Biden being in a tight competition with former President Donald Trump among voters aged 18-34, a notable departure from the margins Biden enjoyed over Trump in the 2020 election.
Senior researcher at the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, Ashley Aylward, underscored this trend, pointing out that the official commencement of the 2024 campaign season for Democrats is yet to occur. While polling a year in advance provides a snapshot, there is still time for President Biden and the Democratic Party to re-engage with young voters. Aylward emphasized the necessity of investing in young people, acknowledging their potential to influence election outcomes significantly.
In conversations with NBC News, voters who participated in the poll and others aged 18-34, who supported Biden in 2020, expressed reservations about extending their support in the upcoming election. Jayden Camarena, a 24-year-old residing outside the Bay Area, articulated the complexity of the decision, indicating that casting a vote for Biden might be interpreted as satisfaction with the Democratic Party’s perceived minimum efforts, which, in their view, fall short.
These voters highlighted various policy disappointments, encompassing climate change efforts, the lack of substantial progress in student loan debt cancellation, and the failure to codify Roe v. Wade. However, Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict emerged as a particularly influential factor souring relations with this voter bloc. The national poll revealed that 70% of voters under 35 disapprove of President Biden’s approach to the conflict.
Evan McKenzie, who cast his vote for Biden in Wisconsin three years ago, expressed frustration with the president’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. Despite the potential risk of the White House shifting to the Republican Party, McKenzie remains steadfast in asserting the Democratic Party’s obligation to earn the votes of young people, signaling a broader ongoing struggle that extends beyond immediate election outcomes.
