Clinton facing struggle to win back younger voters

Published 10:02 am Thursday, March 3, 2016

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Standing in a line of thousands outside an arena at Colorado State University, Aleksandr Cronk contemplated the grim possibility that the man he was waiting to see, Bernie Sanders, may not make it to the November ballot and he’d have to decide whether to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Like millions of young voters nationwide, Cronk has been electrified by Sanders’ longshot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Even as Clinton has racked up a commanding lead in the contest, she’s overwhelmingly losing voters between ages 18 and 29 in early-voting states. Her lukewarm reception among people like Cronk points to a challenge for her in November, should she win the nomination. Overwhelming support from young voters twice helped secure the White House for Barack Obama.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of change” if Clinton wins, said Cronk, 21. Like many younger voters he’s especially alarmed by income inequality, the issue that Sanders has made a centerpiece of his campaign. “The Clintons don’t really stand in that position very well.”

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Clinton’s weakness with younger voters has stood out consistently this year — she lost Democratic primary voters who are aged 18 to 29 by 70 points in Iowa, 68 points in New Hampshire and 25 points on Super Tuesday, when she won seven of the 11 states in play for Democrats.

“Hillary’s weakness with millennials has to be very worrisome for the Democratic Party,” said Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, a center-left advocacy group. “What you’re seeing is the millennial generation has essentially seceded from the Democratic establishment.”

Obama’s presidential campaigns showed the power of voters under 30, who gave him 2-1 support in both 2008 and 2012. In 2016, even more millennials than Baby Boomers are eligible to vote, and they make up a large share of potential voters in battleground states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Iowa, demographers say.

For months Clinton tried to connect with younger voters through famous supporters such as singer Katy Perry and actor Lena Dunham. She embraced the anti-police-brutality movement Black Lives Matter, spearheaded by young African-Americans, and vowed to expand President Obama’s deportation relief for young people in the country illegally and their families. She promised debt-free college for all, only to be one-upped by Sanders’ pledge of free college for all.

Clinton has acknowledged she’s fallen short, saying she has to work harder to convince young people she will help them. When an Iowa college student asked her in January why so many other youths found her dishonest, Clinton blamed decades of Republican attacks.