{"id":26182,"date":"2023-04-27T12:52:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26182"},"modified":"2023-04-27T12:52:30","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:52:30","slug":"its-still-possible-for-biden-80-to-win-over-young-voters-activists-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/27\/its-still-possible-for-biden-80-to-win-over-young-voters-activists-say\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s still possible for Biden, 80, to win over young voters, activists say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a>Shira Stein<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 26, 2023 (SFChronicle.com)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
President Biden and Ireland\u2019s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. talk with children after watching a youth Gaelic sports demonstration in Dublin on April 13.Patrick Semansky\/Associated Press<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As President Biden kicked off his 2024 re-election effort Tuesday, wariness over his and former President Donald Trump\u2019s ages, combined with Sen. Dianne Feinstein\u2019s extended absence from the Senate, has resurfaced concerns about the increasing age of many politicians and put a spotlight on the youth vote in the 2024 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young political activists have called out the political gerontocracy in recent years, attributing a lack of action on issues like climate change and gun violence to a lack of urgency among older politicians. But the presidential contest \u2014 in which the two frontrunners could be among the oldest candidates ever at 80 and 76 \u2014 has made the issue more glaring than ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a degree in which we really do need fresh and young leadership,\u201d said Michele Weindling, electoral director for the youth-led climate activism group Sunrise Movement. That said, \u201cour generation isn\u2019t really voting on someone\u2019s age, we\u2019re voting on their issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden is 80, and if re-elected, would be 86 at the end of his second term. Trump is 76. Either would end a second term as the oldest president in history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs it ideal that we have an 80-year-old running for president? No. But he\u2019s the best hope we have for beating Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis,\u201d Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said<\/a> Tuesday at an event in Manhattan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden has routinely pushed back against concerns about his age. When PBS NewsHour\u2019s Judy Woodruff asked Biden<\/a> in February whether his age made him hesitate about running for re-election, he responded: \u201cWatch me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day after the announcement, Biden said the campaign will be an effective tool for the public to determine whether he\u2019s still fit for the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow old I am \u2014 I can\u2019t even say the number, it doesn\u2019t register with me,\u201d Biden said during a press conference Wednesday. \u201cOne of the things that people are going to find out \u2014 we\u2019re going to see a race and they\u2019re going to judge whether or not I have it or don\u2019t have it. I respect them taking a hard look at it. I take a hard look at it as well. I took a hard look at it before I decided to run. And I feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden will likely also rely on younger allies like Vice President Kamala Harris, 58, and possibly California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 55, on the campaign trail. But the president\u2019s age will likely remain top of mind for voters: 51% of Democrats don\u2019t think Biden should run for re-election, according to an April NBC News poll<\/a>, and 69% of respondents who said he shouldn\u2019t run attributed their answer, at least in part, to his age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris gave a preview of how her relative youth \u2014 at least compared to Biden \u2014 would play on the campaign trail at an event at Howard University on Tuesday night. The crowd at her alma mater roared with applause when she addressed abortion rights and GOP-led book bans.

\u201cDon\u2019t think it\u2019s not a national agenda when they start banning books. Banning books to stand in the way of teaching America\u2019s full history, so the truth can be spoken, so we can learn and do better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden won 62% of the youth vote in 2020, when he also faced Trump. Antonio Arellano, vice president of communications for youth vote political nonprofit NextGen America, expects that to be the same, if not greater, in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYoung people are relentlessly organizing and mobilizing to make sure that Congress continues to prioritize the issues that matter most to them,\u201d Arellano said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether Biden and others prioritize those issues could be key to their success, Weindling said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be really critical for (Democrats) to remember why they were successful in 2020. And the reason they were successful in 2020 is because Biden ran on a progressive agenda that activated young people,\u201d Weindling said. Proposals addressing student debt forgiveness, the climate crisis and gun control were key parts of that platform, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, made a rare decision by a politician at the peak of her power: to step down<\/a> from leadership in November. \u201cFor me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus,\u201d she said then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generational change<\/a> will be the name of the game in California politics in the coming years, with Feinstein\u2019s retirement, Pelosi\u2019s decision to step down from leadership and the aging of House members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About half of the Bay Area congressional delegation is over 70 years old \u2014 Mark DeSaulnier, D-Antioch, 71; Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, 80; John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, 78; Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, 76; Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, 75; Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, 83; and Mike Thompson, D-Napa, 72.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Rep. Jackie Speier told The Chronicle<\/a> in 2021 that she thinks politicians should be required to retire at 75 (for the record, she retired earlier this year at 72).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth climate activists, however, have been frustrated with some of Biden\u2019s recent decisions \u2014 including approving Willow, an $8 billion oil drilling project on federal land in Alaska; allowing language in a federal law to make it easier to drill for oil offshore; and approving increased exports of liquefied natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least one group has been loudly calling out Biden and his appointees for those recent actions. Climate Defiance, a new youth-led climate protest group, has prevented<\/a> several Biden environmental officials from giving speeches by holding sit-ins or singing over them during speeches and plans to blockade<\/a> the White House correspondents\u2019 dinner on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those activists, however, have tended to focus on Biden\u2019s policies, not his age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beaei Pardo, Midwest outreach organizer of Climate Defiance, said, \u201cI don\u2019t care how old he is, I want him to keep his promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt feels like the passage on the Willow project was a betrayal to younger generations,\u201d Weindling said. \u201c2024 looks different. I think he has a lot of trust he needs to gain back from our generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Shira Stein: shira.stein@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @shiramstein<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written By Shira Stein<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shira Stein is The San Francisco Chronicle’s Washington correspondent, covering national politics and policy with a particular eye to the impacts on California. She was previously a health care reporter and received several awards for her work covering the COVID-19 pandemic for Bloomberg. She also covered the fall of Roe v. Wade, including being the first to report President Joe Biden\u2019s consideration of a public health emergency for reproductive rights; the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to lower prescription drug prices; and the third legal fight to overturn the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She previously interned at the Washington Post, Bloomberg Law, and the Colorado-based Durango Herald. She is a native of the Bay Area and a graduate of American University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"San<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"HEARST\u00a92023 Hearst Communications, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shira Stein April 26, 2023 (SFChronicle.com) Comments As President Biden kicked off his 2024 re-election effort Tuesday, wariness over his and former President Donald Trump\u2019s ages, combined with Sen. Dianne Feinstein\u2019s extended absence from the Senate, has resurfaced concerns about the increasing age of many politicians and put a spotlight… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[496],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26183,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26182\/revisions\/26183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}