Young voters are done with President Biden.
And, unless they want the next generation to sour on their party, the Democrats must hear America’s youngest voters loud and clear.
A New York Times-Siena poll conducted between July 23-27, showed Biden’s approval is in the dumps with voters as a whole — and truly dismal with young people in particular.
Eighteen- to 29-year-old voters overwhelmingly expressed dissatisfaction with the President.
Just 4% said they had a very favorable opinion of him, versus 17% of the general population.
And similarly, 4% of young people strongly approve of the president, as compared with 18% of Americans overall.
But it hasn’t always been this way.
Gen Z was fairly bullish on Biden in the last election cycle.
Nearly two-thirds of young voters voted for Biden in 2020, and a stunning 59% of them approved of Biden in January of 2021.
That’s an approval rating higher even than Barack Obama’s was for much of his presidency.
But seeing Biden in action has given young people pause. How could it not, with the president presiding over a lackluster economy, weathering corruption concerns, and demonizing political opponents — all while bungling speeches, falling off of bikes, and getting lost at the White House.
It’s little wonder his youth approval rating has tanked since taking office.
That same Harvard poll found just 36% of 18- to 29-year-olds approve of Biden today — a staggering 23-point decline that represents the most dramatic fall of any demographic.
The writing has been on the wall for years. Young people have been souring on their once-favored candidate.
And 18- to 29-year-old likely Democratic primary voters are making it clear: they want someone else.
Why hasn’t the Democratic establishment listened to them?
Just 17% want to see the Democratic Party re-nominate Biden in 2024, compared with 45% of all Democratic primary voters.
Why? Mostly it’s because he’s too old, say 40% of young Democratic primary voters seeking an alternative candidate.
That’s twice the number of voters who simply want someone else and more than three times the number with a negative view of his job performance.
Is it any wonder that someone who would be 86 years old by the end of his second term isn’t landing with young people?
After all, who can forget when the President responded to Scott Pelley’s question about his mental focus on “60 Minutes” with the now-infamous, “Oh, it’s focused. I’d say it’s — I think it’s — I — I haven’t — look, I have trouble even mentioning, even saying to myself, my own head, the number of years. I no more think of myself as being as old as I am than fly.”
When it comes to choosing another candidate, they seem to be open to just about anyone else — even though many have no idea who that would be.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulled in 13% of the youth support.
And Marianne Williamson is right on Biden’s heels with the support of 27% of 18- to 29-year-olds.
Williamson is enjoying a particularly disproportionate lead among young Democrats precisely because she’s actually meeting young voters in their own spaces and on their own terms.
Williamson has been doing the alternative media podcast circuit and dominating social media — raking in north of half a million followers on TikTok with her intimate, selfie-style videos.
The White House is taking the opposite approach, as an out-of-touch Biden recently gave a rare interview to . . . yes . . . the Weather Channel of all places.
Meanwhile, Cornel West’s Green Party bid is sending the White House into a panic, Andrew Yang’s cross-partisan Forward Party is prepping to run its first slew of candidates, and the bipartisan political organization No-Labels teased a third-party ticket.
Today, dissatisfied young voters have more alternatives than ever before.
This is why in 2024, they very well may turn elsewhere.
After all, more Gen Zers are self-identified independents than Democrats and Republicans combined. This next generation has an “earn my vote” attitude — and candidates should pay attention considering half of all eligible voters will be Gen Z or millennials by 2028.
If they don’t, young voters might turn their back on the party — or the two-party system entirely.
rschlott@nypost.com
