Politicians will do or say anything to get into office. This is why Democratic Party’s pick for vice president, Kamala Harris, will face new hurdles with young voters.
During a speech to the Ford Foundation in 2014, the then-California Attorney General said young people ages 18 and 24 are “stupid” and that’s why they have to live with resident assistants in dormitories. She said they are incapable of making good decisions.
The audience burst into laughter. “That is why we put them in dormitories, and they have a resident assistant,” Harris continued. “They make really bad decisions.”
But in 2019, after joining the presidential race, she desired voting eligibility to be extended to even 16 year olds.
Meanwhile, Generation Z (people ages 18 to 23 in 2020) is projected to comprise one-in-ten eligible voters, according to Pew Research.
This figure is up from just 4% in 2016, when the vast majority was too young to cast ballots.
Gen Z eligible voters are projected to be racially and ethnically diverse than their predecessors: They are expected to be 55% white and 45% nonwhite, including 21% Hispanic, 14% black, and 4% Asian or Pacific Islander In 2020.
Presidential Nominee
The 77 year old Joe Biden himself is battling claims that he has cognitive problems. But some liberal commentators often dismiss it as gaffes although the former vice president has reportedly displayed memory problems, increased confusion, reduced concentration, and rapid mood changes.
Biden campaign repeatedly pushed back claims that he is mentally slowing.
Biden rebuked a reporter who asked if the former vice president had taken a cognitive test, claiming that asking the question was similar to asking the interviewer if he was using cocaine.
“No, I haven’t taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test? Come on, man,” Biden said. “That’s like saying to you, before you got on this program if you had taken a test were you taking cocaine or not. What do you think, huh? Are you a junkie?”
But President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is prioritizing Biden’s cognitive ability as a key issue, aiming to portray him as incompetent.
And the 74-year old Trump had last month, defended his own mental fitness. He claimed that he had very recently aced a cognitive test he took at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Lots of intrigues are playing out ahead of the November 2020 presidential election. The Democratic party really have to perform a miracle to get Joe Biden elected president.
