A Disappointing Campaign

People are losing hope in the possibility of impactful political change. When considering the state of the world for the last few years, this response is not unexpected. Unfortunately, the final two candidates for this upcoming election may just be Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and neither of those options seem appealing to the majority of voters. 

Young people today want justice. They want immediate and intentional change. Not a secondary solution, not a common ground, they want a change. According to the Pew Research Center, about 68% of individuals aged 18-29 disapprove of Biden as president, and these numbers do not seem foreign. 

Time and time again, Biden and Trump fail to actually put plans for change into action, and often go against their own original promises, making the entire campaign seem like a ploy to gain votes from a large and vulnerable group of people. 

According to TheHill.com, of most respondents who are younger voters (aged 18-29), only 49% had said they would “definitely” vote in the upcoming 2024 election. In addition, many polls have shown that younger voters are less likely to approve of current president Biden. 

That’s right, the polls are saying that young people no longer want to vote. Even after all that fuss during 2020 about “you have to vote, it’s your fundamental right as an American citizen,” we’ve just gone back? 

As I continue to grow older, my faith in our government continues to dwindle. The current social and political climate leaves me and other people my age feeling uninspired and often helpless. 

There are very few individuals who come to mind when I think of a true political leader/social changemaker, especially regarding the current elections for our next president. During his time in the 2020 election, Biden seemed like the light of hope during a time of darkness. 

However, now that he is president, it feels as though we’ve been played for the sake of bettering the career of yet another old white man. Biden has contributed to the decreasing faith that Americans have in humanity, and does not offer an inspiring or uplifting campaign.

 Politifact.com has kept a promise tracker for President Biden (and others prior to him), indicating which of his campaign promises have been achieved, stalled, compromised, and not achieved. 

While he has kept certain promises like gaining control over Covid-19 and putting the US on a course to net zero emissions by 2050, many of his other promises have not been fulfilled. Approximately 27% of his promises during the 2020 election have been kept, and 34% have been stalled.  However, is that enough for the American people? 

Biden’s lack of fulfillment on the most promising aspects of his campaign do not evoke hope within a nation filled with fear and uncertainty. If anything, they affirm previous doubts about his trustworthiness as a candidate.  

After a slew of empty promises, Biden has lost the faith of many American people. In addition to his false promises, many were skeptical of his approach towards being Vice President during Obama’s campaign, and saw his new support for DEIA and other liberal beliefs, as a way to simply make himself more appealing to younger voters. 

If anything, I’d argue it’s a large part of what drew them away.  In many ways, Joe Biden represents the issues younger voters have with the Democratic Party: The majority of their actions feel performative. 

Certain issues held by the American people require immediate and intentional action. When dealing with social justice especially, the lives of minority individuals are not to be compromised. 

Specifically during the earlier stages of the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement had a stronghold on the culture during that time. George Floyd, Breyonna Taylor, and many others after, were individuals that unfortunately were necessary examples of how unjust many of America’s current systems are, and catapulted an impactful movement against the inequality across many different identifiers. 

Finding a common ground between sides, while tranquilizing, often does not satisfy the needs of a society focused on achieving justice. 

In addition to BLM, movements such as Stop Asian Hate, Women’s Rights (including the laws surrounding abortion), and Queer rights began to rise during this period.

There are so many things in this world that need fixing, but this fixing requires effort from the collective not just from the individual. As we continue to grow increasingly comfortable with isolating ourselves from others, we forget the value of empathy, the more these problems feel so out of our control, and at worst: impossible to solve. 

Those who individuals really do have hope in (Cornel West for example) end up dropping out in some way or another, and abandoning their supporters for some other aforementioned mediocre campaign. Kamala Harris also initially proved to be a worthy solution to the many problems facing our society, but in the end (much like Biden) was nothing short of what we’ve already seen.   

Regardless of how disappointing politics have been within the last few years, this is not a reason to swear off politics as a whole. If anything, this proves as a solid reason for why we need to be taking matters into our own hands, rather than letting the same small elite of people run our lives. 

As a student, everyday I continue to question and analyze the true effects of the pandemic, as a person in my own city, gun violence has had a dramatic increase over the last few years, everyday on social media I hear about innocent people in Gaza dying, I am fearful about the state of our planet when I look at the uncolored leaves on trees during fall, and wonder if we’ll ever have true fall again. 

Us younger generations have grown so accustomed to seeing our world in shambles that we’ve accepted it as our only reality. We must strive and achieve more. For our families, for our planet, and for the sake of humanity. How do we strive for more when the world keeps letting us down? 

I’m here to say that we can aim higher. We don’t have to accept a crappy society that is run by individuals that have only further contributed to fear and unhappiness. When external forces make achieving change feel so impossible? We keep fighting. And when we’re tired, we work with each other to pick ourselves back up.