OPINION: How Democrats can win back the young male vote

Photo via: Lorie Shaull/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons

Opinion Editor Danny Murnin gives advice to the Democratic Party on how they can win back the young male vote in the next election. Please note the views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect those of The New Political.

President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in last month’s election was impressive on many fronts. He became the first Republican to win the popular vote since former President George W. Bush in 2004. He won all seven swing states and his 312 electoral votes were the most for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush won 426 in 1988. According to The New York Times, Trump improved on his 2020 performance in over 2,700 counties and underperformed in just over 300. 

Behind this resounding victory were major shifts toward Trump across most demographics. One that stands out in particular is the shift to the right amongst young men. According to NBC News, men ages 18-29 shifted nearly 15 points toward Trump from 2020.

The question of how Trump would do with young male voters lingered throughout the campaign, particularly after Vice President Kamala Harris took over as the Democratic nominee. Trump did a barrage of appearances and interviews with influencers, podcasters and athletes popular with young men such as Joe Rogan, Adin Ross, Theo Von, Logan and Jake Paul, Dana White, Lex Fridman, the Nelk Boys and Bussin’ With The Boys. 

Coupled with his hyper-macho personality and messaging, this media blitz was obviously more than enough to deliver Trump the young male vote. This election showed, for the first time, that young men can be a crucial voting bloc if properly mobilized. Now that the election is over and Trump is unable to run again in 2028 and beyond, both major political parties will undoubtedly ramp up their targeting of this bloc. 

While Trump’s performance with this demographic might suggest it is solidly Republican, that is hardly the case. He actually only won men ages 18-29 by two points. Furthermore, Associated Press exit poll data suggests that young men who voted for Trump are much more likely to identify as moderate or even liberal than the average Trump voter. This demographic is not gone for Democrats, but it will be if the party doesn’t clean up its act.

As a young male voter myself, there are a few observations I made in the months before the election and even over the last few years that I think explain why young men shifted heavily right. 

The first is just simple messaging. When Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, I thought that Democrats had turned the page on this bleeding. Walz, a veteran, former football coach and gun owner, came up with an excellent message before he was chosen that Trump and his Republican supporters were “weird.” It’s been my experience that young men typically don’t like to associate themselves with things that are generally regarded as being “weird.” It really was a great idea to point out just how strange Trump, his running mate JD Vance and parts of their platform are. Pointing out the flaws of their platform by discussing the nuts and bolts of policy is necessary but simplifying it with the “weird” message was a much better way to reach low-information, low-propensity voters. 

But that message barely lasted two weeks before Harris and Walz started reverting back to the same old, tired playbook that Trump was a dangerous threat to democracy who was unfit for office. While this statement is true, it was clear before the election that voters didn’t really care and it is even clearer now post-election. Why would that message be appealing to young men at all? Even though I proudly voted for Harris, I found myself constantly rolling my eyes any time she would talk about Trump’s fitness for office in the closing months and weeks of the campaign. She wasn’t wrong but that message was never going to win her the election. Democrats have never been that good at political messaging but they must meet voters where their minds are, and that is especially true with low-propensity voting blocs like young men. Harris should have been talking more about her excellent economic plan and less about January 6th. 

That leads me into my next point, which is that no matter what you think of him, Trump heavily benefited from consistently displaying a very outgoing, humorous, relatable persona. In a lot of ways, it was a “bro” persona that helped him connect with young men on a deeper level that went way beyond simple politics. I have plenty of male friends who voted for Trump who I know liked him first and foremost because of his personality, not specific policy. 

Contrast this with Harris, who has never been regarded as particularly politically savvy. Her 2020 presidential campaign for the Democratic nomination was a complete train wreck and she had to drop out in late 2019, two months before the first votes were even cast. Harris took far too long to begin doing media interviews and struggled to connect with voters on an intimate level who weren’t already likely to vote for her anyway. While her policy platform was great, she clearly did not articulate it how she needed to. 

Harris’s decision not to go on Joe Rogan’s podcast was a major blunder that cost her the opportunity to explain herself to a key bloc of voters that really didn’t seem to know what she actually stood for. A lot of people laughed at Trump’s decision to go after the “bro vote” by appearing on all these podcasts because young men are such low-propensity voters. But he got more than enough of them out to vote. He actually worked to earn the votes of a demographic that wasn’t a sure bet to support him. On the other hand, Harris campaigned heavily with prominent celebrities, but most fans of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey and Beyoncé are likely solid Democrats who would vote for her anyway. Democrats need to embrace more unconventional media like Republicans have for the next election. 

For the Democratic Party as a whole to win back young men, the final point I would make is they need to distance themselves from all the culture wars and foolish policy positions they have taken on social issues. As I’ve said, young men don’t like to associate themselves with things generally considered to be “weird.” For instance, a major issue for Harris over the course of the campaign is that she never really properly retracted her previously stated support for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained illegal immigrants. This became the subject of a highly effective Trump advertisement that moved many voters toward him. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman correctly noted that what made the ad so effective was how it depicted Democrats as being focused on these small issues that affect very few people while Republicans were focused on the economy and immigration, issues that affect a very broad swath of people. 

Young men are not gone for Democrats but they will be if an actual sensible strategy to attract voters in this demographic isn’t quickly drawn up. I hope the Democratic Party will seriously consider talking to more young men and embracing the “bro culture” that isn’t exclusive to conservative thought. Go to more college football games and frat houses, go on podcasts and just be normal.