Young Americans who believe their friends will vote are more likely to do so themselves, the latest Harvard Youth Poll shows.
Nearly 80% of people under 30 plan to vote when they think their peers will, compared to just 35% who say they’ll cast a ballot even if they think their friends won’t turn out.
“There’s definitely this peer pressure component to voting and I think that’s going to be key as campaigns hope to target those voters,” said Anil Cacodcar, chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project and a junior at the college.
Vice President Kamala Harris has had a stronghold on the youth vote, and is leading former President Donald Trump by 20 points among registered voters under 30, according to the latest survey of 2,000 Americans across the country. But the battleground states remain tight. Harris holds a much narrower lead in these states among young voters, with a nine-point advantage over Trump.
To reach that key group in the final days before the election, Harris and Trump have been on a nontraditional media blitz, sitting down for interviews on top podcasts that have huge sharing potential on social media.
Cacodcar said the youth electorate is largely getting information from people they already know and trust, like podcasters and YouTubers, instead of bigger media organizations, like CNN.
“Both campaigns have made significant efforts to reach these trusted voices ... we’re seeing a lot of folks tune in who otherwise would not have tuned in to many of these interviews,” said Cacodcar.
To name a few, Harris sat down with Alex Cooper on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Charlamagne Tha God on his podcast “The Breakfast Club,” and Howard Stern on his self-named radio show.
Trump has tallied up at least eight podcast appearances, including his conversation with Theo Von on “The Past Weekend” and an episode with Andrew Schulz on “Flagrant.” Trump has canceled interviews with more traditional outlets such as CBS’s “60 Minutes” and CNBC’s “The Squawk Box.”
Timothy Smyth, co-president of Young Conservatives of New England, said Trump has more leeway in declining interviews than Harris.
“I don’t think he really needs any more news coverage,” Smyth said. “Like people know who Donald Trump is. It’s whether or not they want him again.”
Smyth said while fewer young voters are turning on their televisions to watch traditional interviews, he doesn’t think the candidates’ new approach is having an affect on undecided voters.
“It certainly isn’t going to get to people my parent’s age, who maybe are undecided,” Smyth said.
Ela Gardiner, vice president of communications for Young Democrats of Massachusetts, said Harris’ media blitz is “absolutely working.”
She said, “I think it’s hard to argue it’s not.”
Gardiner, 18, added, “I think it’s being very well received because I think young people are recognizing that she’s making an effort to come to young voters, not asking young voters to come to her.”
Gardiner said that between social media and her own news consumption habits, she hasn’t missed a single Harris interview in recent weeks.
“It’s not about the interview in its entirety. It’s about what content can you pull from it that you can clip and put on social media. And that’s ultimately, to me, the campaign strategy that’s most effective,” she said.
