Harris gives Democrats hope of galvanizing young voters

President Biden’s decision to drop out of the White House race and endorse Vice President Harris could give Democrats a jolt of energy from young voters as Harris seeks her party’s nomination just over 100 days out from Election Day. 

While some young voters had been prepared to grit their teeth and vote for Biden in an effort to fend off a second term for former President Trump, the possibility of a younger woman of color at the top of the ticket could inject enthusiasm into the critical bloc. 

“This has the potential to be a game changer for youth voter turnout going into November,” said Stevie O’Hanlon, communications director for the youth-led climate activist group Sunrise Movement. 

Amid alarm about young voters feeling apathetic about 2024 or turning away from the Democratic Party, organizers are “really hopeful” about their ability to mobilize “with a new nominee that prioritizes speaking to and turning out young people,” O’Hanlon said.

In the day since Biden’s bombshell announcement, the Harris campaign has raked in nearly $50 million and become the subject of memes riffing off the vice president’s laugh, her love for Venn diagrams and her 2023 anecdote in which she quoted her mother saying, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” 

The Harris team is leaning into her online persona. Pop star Charli XCX made a viral post about the vice president, and Kamala HQ, the campaign’s rapid response team on the social platform X, changed its header image to mimic the singer’s new album. 

Her embrace of online culture draws a sharp contrast with how Biden utilized social media. Though the 81-year-old’s campaign took to TikTok, “the lack of memes and excitement on the internet with Joe Biden was pretty deafening,” said O’Hanlon, whose group had called on Biden to pass the torch.

The pro-Biden progressive youth coalition Dream for America endorsed Harris on Sunday, announcing that “project coconut IS A GO!” A group of Taylor Swift fans is growing a “Swifties for Harris” page on X. And Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz (D) shared a photo of himself climbing a coconut tree with the caption, “Madam Vice President, we are ready to help.” 

“For the last several years, the framing of our national politics has been two 80-ish-year-old white guys,” said Kaivan Shroff, a Democratic strategist and Biden delegate who has worked with young voters and organizers. 

“And I think for some folks, especially young voters who are so frustrated in this political climate … this really feels like sort of an upheaval of the status quo in so many ways.” 

A Harris bid is a chance “to reset” and “to more authentically rally around” the Democratic bid, Shroff said. 

Harris has already made history as the first Black and South Asian vice president, and she’d be the first woman to hold the Oval Office if she wins in November. 

And at 59, Harris “is able to relate to our generation to a bigger extent” than the incumbent could, said Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow.

Biden prioritized young voters, Mayer stressed, but Harris “is able to kind of understand the lingo a little bit better” than her boss.

“If you’ve seen anything on social media, Joe Biden is presented as a kind, old grandpa. Meanwhile, Vice President Harris is perceived like the cool aunt,” Mayer said. 

Harris still has to win over Biden’s delegates to get the party’s official nod, and the sparse polling on a Harris-Trump match-up so far suggests an uphill fight in key battleground states. Her takeover of Biden’s bid has also kick-started her own “veepstakes” chatter, and her running mate pick could tip the scales in either direction. 

The vice president is also not isolated from ongoing criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, she’s faced critiques from progressives over her record as a prosecutor and attacks from the right over immigration. Her favorability rating sits at roughly 38 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ averages, a few points behind Biden’s 41 percent. 

But young organizers are feeling galvanized by the campaign shake-up, which many see as an answer to their calls during the primary process. 

Victoria Hammett, deputy executive director of Gen-Z for Change, pointed to the “uncommitted” push that pulled a small but notable 30 delegates from Biden in the primaries. 

“The general consensus right now from Generation Z is that young voters are really excited that them coming together to use their voices had an impact,” Hammett said, predicting the move will only “drum up more enthusiasm in November.”

Mayer argued Biden would have turned out big Gen Z numbers, but that Harris has “a higher ceiling.” 

While many young voters were “prepared” to cast their ballots for the incumbent to avoid another Trump term, said O’Hanlon, they were “uncertain about if they were willing to knock on doors, to talk to their family members and do the kind of work they did in 2020 to help elect Biden.” 

But the vice president will have to do more than lean into online memes to keep young voters’ attention, organizers said. Groups want to see Harris call for a cease-fire in Gaza, champion the Green New Deal and pick a running mate that aligns with young Americans’ priorities.

If Harris keeps leaning in with an agenda that excites younger Americans, she could unleash “a groundswell of energy” in the coming hundred-plus days, O’Hanlon said. 

“What kind of campaign Kamala Harris runs in the next couple weeks will determine whether this energy has staying power.”