Bridging the Generation Gap: President Biden’s Opportunity to Connect with Young Americans at Morehouse College
In the lead-up to President Joe Biden’s commencement address at Morehouse College, Michael Levesque, executive director of the school’s alumni association, invited Jamal Simmons, a longtime Democratic political and communications advisor, to engage in a town hall-style discussion with current students, faculty, alumni, and members of the Board of Trustees. This off-the-record conversation aimed to gather insights on their priorities, concerns, and expectations regarding the president’s speech (Simmons is currently a News Finder political commentator, but the views expressed here are his own).
Among the topics discussed were students’ concerns about the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the fight against antisemitism, their desire to speak truth to power while upholding college traditions, and their limited understanding of Biden’s background and political career.
The students expressed their concerns about not truly knowing the man behind the president, leading Jamal Simmons to suggest that Biden should begin his speech by sharing who he is, what he believes in, and why. This approach would help bridge the gap between generations and provide context to young voters who may not be familiar with Biden’s decades-long political career.
To better understand this demographic, Simmons requested an on-the-record focus group consisting of seven students, representing a diverse range of ages and regional backgrounds. The students obtained their news from various sources like Apple News, Instagram, TikTok, and traditional media outlets such as the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Only three watched news on TV, while none read actual newspapers.
The students displayed a limited understanding of Biden’s personal life, with only one being aware of his wife Neilia Hunter Biden’s tragic car accident that claimed the lives of his first wife and infant daughter. They were more familiar with his son Beau Biden’s death from brain cancer in 2015, but knew little about Biden’s ties to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Regarding the president’s stance on marriage equality, four out of seven students were aware of his support but only one knew he advocated for it before Barack Obama. The students’ knowledge was primarily centered around Biden’s work on the 1994 crime bill and its impact on mass incarceration, but few were aware of its positive aspects like the Violence Against Women Act and federal assault weapons ban.
Similarly, their knowledge about Vice President Kamala Harris was limited, with most referring to her as the “top cop” due to her past role as San Francisco district attorney.
Renowned Democratic pollster Terrance Woodbury, CEO of HIT Strategies, corroborated these findings, stating that young people often only know negative information about Biden and Harris due to the algorithms serving up such content. Woodbury emphasized the need for positive context on who these leaders are and what they stand for to counteract this trend.
The town hall at Morehouse College represents a significant opportunity for Biden to build trust with young Americans by sharing his life story and showcasing who he is beyond the political figure. This biographical layering can help break through the negative narratives that currently dominate the contact discourse and provide a foundation for belief and engagement.