(Headline USA) Democrat leaders’ rhetoric on abortion threaten their relationship with young Gen-Z voters, who don’t believe the party is as passionate about protecting abortion access as they are.
Many Democrats have expressed frustration in recent weeks with President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for not “doing enough” to combat the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to Politico.
An overriding is that their base voters, especially young voters, won’t show up at the polls in November because party leaders haven’t convinced them that abortion is an existential crisis.
“There’s a fine line between the recent events pushing someone to never vote again or pushing someone to vote with that righteous anger and bring friends with them,” said Maxwell Frost, a 25-year-old Democrat who is running for a Florida congressional seat.
“It’s up to our leaders to decide which direction that’s going to go in. When they show they’re in the fight, using all the resources to fight for the most vulnerable in our community … but we need more right now.”
Young activists are specifically upset with Biden for refusing to endorse court-packing, a move that radical Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have endorsed.
Biden did, however, support abolishing the Senate’s filibuster in order to codify abortion access, which was a “step in the right direction,” according to Carmel Pryor, the senior communications director for Alliance for Youth Action.
“However, ensuring momentum in the fight for control of Congress requires more action,” Pryor continued. “There’s a lot of talk about Roe strengthening the multigenerational coalition and, sure, there’s potential, but we need to see action taken now. This is an emergency that can’t wait until November.”
Democrats will have to do a lot more than they’re currently doing if they want to win the youth vote, according to some activists – and not just on abortion. Young voters also want to see Democrats act on student loan debt and climate change, said Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something.
“They need to get caught trying,” she said. “I think that is going to be really important for Gen Z. If the argument is, give us two more senators and we’ll pass and codify Roe v. Wade — give us a reason to trust you.”
