How Kamala Harris is Commanding the Youth Votes Attention
Frankie Colao-Pineyro
She/Her
Arts and Entertainment Editor
10/24/24
With recent polls showing that Kamala Harris is leading by 2.5 points and famed pop-star Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of the Vice President, there is no doubt that Harris could very well be the first woman of color President.
Harris’ lead in the polls is historic; there have not been any serious candidates to jump into the race this late this successfully before. It’s no secret that she’s been focused on young voters in a way other candidates haven’t been, from addressing school shootings, to her ‘brat’ branding. Her team’s official TikTok account, Kamala HQ, heavily follows Gen Z culture: for instance the “I just want to be part of your symphony” dolphin images trend captioned “Donald Trump’s Project 2025 is a threat to our democracy.” And of course, who could forget her ‘Feminominom’ post.
On said TikTok account, Harris even takes the time to address Gen Z personally, when most politicians have not. “You are one of the reasons I am so optimistic and excited about the future of our country. Your generation, I mean, you’re brilliant, you care, you are impatient in every incredible good way. You’re not waiting for someone else to step up and lead, YOU are saying you’re going to step up and get it done,” she says in the video.
Harris has also stated proudly that she grew up in a middle-class household, not a rich or wealthy environment like her opponent, former President Donald Trump. She tells us that she grew up as one of the people, as one of us. She’s relatable to the common voter, sharingher past as a service worker and that her mother was not able to buy a house until she was in highschool. These experiences have driven her focus on policy; her talk of groceries, family income, cutting taxes for middle-class families, and talk of an opportunity Economy. An economy that prioritizes the people “where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed — whether they live in a rural area, small town, or big city.”
In the most recent debate, Harris mentions that she is a gun owner and even said on an interview with Oprah, “If somebody breaks in my house they’re getting shot,” showing that Trump’s argument of ‘she wants to confiscate your guns’ is invalid, while making herself more appealing to more voters outside of a young demographic.
A common argument against Harris is her alleged mass marijuana ‘lock-ups’ during her time as a prosecutor in San Francisco. While there were quite a few marijuana convictions during this time, most were downgraded to misdemeanor charges, if charged at all, and very few were sent to prison. As a matter of fact, she even championed a policy that people should not serve jail time for a marijuana conviction, during her time as district attorney. All this while her office set up drug treatment programs for those with low-level convictions. She has also openly stated that she is down with prison reform. In her book, “Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor’s Plan to Make Us Safer,” she states that, “The imperative today is both to go after the worst criminals and also to redirect the future of lower level offenders.”
It’s also important to note why she actively brands herself as ‘Kamala’ and not ‘Harris.’ We don’t often hear names like Kamala in presidential candidates, and really in American politics at all. It shows that she is representative of a different demographic of voters who haven’t often been represented until now, while further humanizing her to the Gen-Z voter.