The Biden Campaign is plying young voters with free giveaways, tickets to raves, beer, and even cash.
Joe Biden needs young voters badly if he has any chance of holding the White House. He has been slipping in the polls with this key demographic largely due to his stance on the Israeli-Hamas war. In order to get them back, Democratic donors are test-running a series of party-style campaign events aimed at getting 18 – 24-year-olds out to the polls. It’s a nice idea, but some of their tactics seem downright cringy!
Over the past few months, The Voter Project has been hosting parties in Pennsylvania, fine-tuning strategies under the banner Stand Up Strong ’24, according to The Washington Post.
“Turning people out to cultural events is not a hard thing to do. The key thing is to make it fun and keep out the doom and gloom,” Kevin Mack, the group’s lead strategist, told the Post.
Stand Up Strong ’24 recently held an event in Philadelphia that had all the usual fixings of a community event, including beer, free giveaways, and music.
But there was one more thing: a raffle giving away one month’s rent to lucky attendees. A total of $8,000 was distributed!
Democrats are so desperate to reunite with young voters that they’ve resorted to paying them. Somehow, throwing money at the problem of young people who can’t pay their rent under “Bidenomics” seems easier than making policy changes that would stunt inflation and create more affordable housing!
Unfortunately for Biden, his glacial work to erase crippling student loans for millions of people hasn’t proven to be enough to keep young voters, especially not in the face of his disastrous Israel policy, which has actively backed the country’s catastrophic military campaign in Gaza.
The events the Dems have held to lure young voters specially in the seven battleground states, included dance parties and comedy shows where giveaways included free beer, manicures, boot shines, the aforementioned rent check sweepstakes -and get this –, a handout of free birth control pills! To get all these perks and more all you have to do is show up!
“It is very 19th century in a way,” said Donald Green, a political scientist at Columbia University, who has studied the effectiveness of staging parties near polling places to get out the vote. “Before the so-called progressive era reforms of the 1880s, you would have a marching band, you would have entertainment, you would have free whiskey for a male-only electorate.”
It’s undeniable that community events are essential tools in building public power and engaging young voters. However, the kind of events that Biden has been hosting are very close to buying votes. The Trump campaign would certainly agree.
“The only way a weak, failed, and corrupt leader’s allies can entice a populace to continue four more years of disastrous policies is to get them liquored up. Biden should stop treating young voters, Black and Hispanic voters like they are stupid,” Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser, said in a statement. “His liberal financiers will stop paying rent bills and throwing block parties the second the election is over – and go back to ignoring their interests as they always have.”