Opinion

Will Millenials Vote in 2016?

By Emily Tubb ’19

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The 2016 election season has demonstrated a variety of ongoing themes, from Trump’s incredibly misogynistic language and Hillary’s email struggles, to a general confusion of where exactly Aleppo is. But the theme that has remained strong through the seemingly endless scandals is a focus garnering support from millennial voters. While past presidential candidates have directed some campaigning towards young voters, the 2016 candidates have shaped their entire campaign to attract this new generation of voters. 

But why is this new group of 18-25-year-olds suddenly playing such a large role in the campaign? Not only are we new to the official political process, with some people voting in their first presidential election this year, but we also are easily moldable. We’ve grown up hearing the political opinions of our family, teachers and other adults in our lives, often causing us “millennials” to form opinions just based on our surroundings. Now that we’re away from home and (mostly) thinking for ourselves, the candidates see this as a perfect opportunity to shape our young minds to that of an active political participant. 

So the candidates have latched on to the young people of America, searching for any means of finding their way into our lives in an attempt to sway our votes in their direction, often through the use of technology and social media. These presidential candidates are under the impression that by appearing young and “hip” through platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, that we millennials will flock to them in masses. They’ve turned catch phrases like “Make America Great Again,” or more recently, “Nasty Women,” to t-shirts, videos, even viral gifs in order to appeal to these younger audiences, as if dumbing down politics is the way to bring voter participation up. It is embarrassing to see the politicians reach this level in order to attract voters, making it seem like the only way to attract young Americans to your platform is by making a joke of the political system itself. 

These absurd campaigning methods might appear to have some efficacy, but in the long run, the voter turnout of millennials will likely continue to remain low. As young adults, we don’t feel as much urgency in regards to our political system, as many still fall in the weird middle-ground between adult and child. Most of us are still covered by our parent’s health insurance, or don’t have to worry about paying huge bills, so many of the political issues go right over our heads. It isn’t until we feel directly affected by major political issues that any voter gets the initiative to head to the polls. 

So what can be done to drive young voters to go vote? I personally don’t believe a Snapchat ad will do the trick. While I am just as entertained by this joke of an election, I am equally concerned about the future of politics. Most millennials won’t fall for these “try-hard” attempts at our votes. Instead, involving young voters in the real issues that will soon, if not already, are affecting them, and creating a sense of urgency will be far more beneficial than these half-assed attempts to seem “hip and cool.” 

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