DEAR NEW YORK TIMES: YOUNG FEMINISTS VOTE, TOO!

Crossposted on  The Radical Notion. 

Feministing’s Dana Bolger penned a harsh but necessary critique of a Sunday The New York Times article on a bogus feminist generational war surrounding Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Bolger rightfully chastises the authors for characterizing young women as lazy and politically apathetic. She contends that young women want more from Hillary Clinton and her campaign; rather than a continuation of the same harmful policies, such as drone warfare and mismanagement in the Middle East. We can read Bolger’s article as a direct challenge to the Clinton presidential campaign, to treat young women like a voting population that matters, one that deserves to be courted, swayed, and focused on. Because, any campaign will need us to win.

Politicos describe young unmarried women, African Americans, Latinos, and millennials as the Rising American Electorate (RAE). The RAE encompasses the fastest growing segments of the adult voting population, and in 2016, the RAE will become the majority of voters for the first time in American history.[1] In every state in the union, the RAE population is growing. In fact, California has one of the largest RAE populations, 67% of all voting aged adults fall into the category. It’s also important to note that California has more electoral votes than any other state (55). Here is our power—we, young women, people of color, and millennials—are apart of the largest voting block in the American voting population. We deserve for our concerns to be taken seriously.

It’s a foregone conclusion that women and the Rising American Electorate (RAE) will vote for the Democrat in the general 2016 presidential election. The Pew Research Center has found that voters in the 18-29 age range overwhelming vote for the Democrat candidate in the 2006, 2010, and 2014 elections. Similarly, women voted for the Democrat at higher rates than their male peers in 2010, 2012, and 2014. But, what about the Democratic primary, who will the RAE vote for? Undoubtedly, both the Sanders and Clinton campaign are familiar with the fact that the populations contained within the RAE majority frequently fail to show up on election days. However, despite this issue, Page Gordon, the President and Founder of the Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund warns the 2016 Presidential candidates; “Candidates simply can’t win without the support of unmarried women and the rest of the RAE—millennials, Latinos, African Americans, Asian-Americans and other people of color.”

Despite the data that proves our importance in determining the next President of the United States, why was The New York Times so hasty in publishing an article that effectively belittled young women as a voting block? The New York Times may be following the example set by the Clinton campaign, which has structured their outreach to young women around ‘snapchat’ and ‘instagram.’ The Clinton campaign has chosen to use pop culture and media to reach the Rising American Electorate, as evidenced by the candidate’s December article in Billboard magazine. The Clinton campaign has failed to execute a policy campaign that successfully reaches young women and the Rising American Electorate. For example, the Clinton campaign thought it was entirely appropriate to allow Hillary Clinton to speak with Lena Dunham about police brutality, an issue that disproportionately affects people of color–not white, educated feminists like Dunham.

The Clinton campaign has launched a few new policy proposals that address issues that interest young women. But it’s not enough. The Clinton campaign announced an LGBT equality agenda aimed at addressing the LGBT issues not affected by the marriage equality decision, such as a federal nondiscrimination act. Although this announcement is an excellent step in the right direction, the Clinton campaign has failed to center young women and young women of color in the campaign. Clinton concludes nearly every stump speech with a reference to her experiences as a mother and grandmother. We, young women, are being ignored.

The Clinton campaign expects young women, regardless of race, socio-economic class, education level, and geographic location to vote for Hillary Clinton on primary day and again on Election Day. But the political establishment treats us like  our political beliefs don’t matter. Even the Executive Director of EMILY’S list, the nation’s foremost fundraising group centered on women’s issues, describes young women as “out of touch.” [2] The leaders in our movement discount young women and our impact. It’s no wonder that the Clinton campaign isn’t losing sleep over ensuring our participation in the primary.

Young women, millennials, African Americans, Latinos, and young people of color deserve more from our candidates. We deserve to be a focus of their campaigns. Our concerns should be the focus of Presidential campaigns. We are important.

[1] Based on a study released in June 2015 conducted by the Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund and Democracy Corps.

[2] Jessica O’Connell, the Executive Director of EMILY’s List was quoted in Sunday’s The New York Times.