Rebecca Nelson of The New Republic thinks that the blue
collar youth of America have the potential to be Hillary Clinton’s secret
weapon in winning the Election. I for one, could not agree more. Nelson discusses
how Trump is leading by 40 points when it comes to having the support of
non-educated white youth. Clinton could definitely use the support of the millennials
who are not college educated and are not privileged by their economic and
educational opportunities. It is imperative that Clinton uses the young blue
collar vote to her advantage.
Clinton tends to focus on the voter base that consists of
college educated millenials, but she misses out on a big slice of the pie that
could definitely help to secure her vote.
Politicians tend to ignore
working-class millennials for a simple reason: They don’t show up on Election
Day. Just 29 percent of blue-collar youth turned out to vote in 2012—about half
the rate of those who’d attended college. But in market terms, that political
disengagement represents an opportunity for Clinton: CIRCLE estimates there are
more than 17 million eligible voters under 35 still waiting to be mobilized—the
last big segment of American voters that is genuinely up for grabs.[1]
Such a large group of voters should not be ignored. However,
to secure their vote, Clinton must undoubtedly change her strategy for swaying
the millennial voter base. As opposed to focusing solely on the privileged
college-educated youth, she must resort to taking on the issues of most concern
to blue collar youth. She has to be willing to hear them out and take the
initiative to make large structural changes that benefit the blue collar
millennial.
An example of a policy Clinton should learn how to embrace
is to simplify job routes for the average blue-collar youth.
To pry young, working-class voters away
from Trump, she’ll need to champion a host of unglamorous, brass-tacks economic
issues. Take one example that antiregulatory conservatives have embraced:
streamlining the process of securing licenses for professions like hairdresser,
electrician, or building contractor. (1)
As Nelson points out, Clinton does not have to take on the
intrinsically ‘cool’ and ‘pop culture’ persona that Obama exudes, but rather,
she must learn to listen to those that do not come from privilege and be
willing to enact reforms that favor what they want out of their country. In
doing so, she will not only sway them away from Donald Trump’s clutches, but
gain a voter base that is underrepresented in the people who want her to win
the election.
I think it would be a smart move for Clinton to shift her
gears into convincing the blue collar youth to get on her side. She would be
gaining an invaluable voter base as well as the support of a group of people
that normally is not involved in the world of politics. It would give her an
edge over Trump, which I think we can all agree is a necessity.
Interesting article! While 17 million voters is an objectively substantial number of voters that Hillary could use on her side, I think she could equally benefit from simply being observed as a candidate who has these interests in mind. Hillary's campaign as it stands focuses on her resume. Her previous accolades are summed up and often reiterated as follows: “First ever student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. Distinguished graduate of Yale Law School. Former Director of the Arkansas Legal Aid Clinic. Former civil litigation attorney. Former Law Professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Former First Lady of Arkansas. Former First Lady of the United States, and the first FLOTUS in US History to hold a postgraduate degree. First ex-FLOTUS in US History to be elected to the United States Senate. Elected by the… State of New York to serve two terms in the United States Senate. Former US Secretary of State. GRAMMY Award Winner. Author. Self proclaimed Pantsuit Aficionado."
ReplyDeleteNone of these would ring a bell to any blue-collar worker looking to have someone in their court. Instead, Hillary needs to work on emphasizing the work that she's done, like highlighting her help in setting the groundwork for the Obamacare that exists today. She helped people that couldn't afford insurance get the coverage they needed.She created the office of Violence Against Women. These are provisions that help people and are comprehensive to those living the U.S. who have pressing concerns that don't involve foreign policy.