Op-ed: Young People Cannot Afford to Sit this Election Out

For much of our voting lives it has seemed that every election our democracy itself has been on the ballot. In 2016, we saw what happened when too many people stayed home and Donald Trump was elected President; in 2020, we saw that when young people mobilize and turn out to vote, we can build a winning coalition and make a difference for our democracy. Now, with Donald Trump running once again, young people will again play an important role in defeating him and his dangerous, backward agenda.

That is why we, current and former Presidents of the New Hampshire Young Democrats, are urging Granite Staters to join us in writing President Joe Biden’s name on January 23 in our First in the Nation Primary.

During the past three years, President Biden has been executing a proven, progressive, forward-looking agenda, delivering on the most urgent priorities for people from our generation. With the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden passed the most important legislation to tackle climate change in our country’s history, which will cut net emissions by half by 2030. No president has done more to address the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves or passed more substantive legislation to help reduce emissions and invest in clean energy.

Throughout his Presidency, President Biden has shown the difference it makes to have an experienced leader in the White House who can turn rhetoric into legislative reality. For instance, President Biden was the first president in a generation to deliver bipartisan reforms to reduce gun violence. He also took the fight to Big Pharma to help bring down prescription drug prices – an achievement that Democrats have fought for decades to make possible. Even in the face of Republican obstructionism – and a conservative Supreme Court – President Biden has continued fighting to make progress.

After the Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s comprehensive plan to forgive student debt, President Biden still managed to use other means to forgive over $127 billion in student debt – more than any other President in American history. Progress is more than a matter of bumper stickers and slogans; what matters is having leaders who know how to deliver results to make a difference in people’s lives, and President Biden has done that time and again. 

A second Biden-Harris term would build on this progress – endeavoring to make health care and education more affordable, reduce gun violence, create more affordable housing, tackle climate change, and protect our democracy. This formidable progressive agenda is why we will be filling in the bubble on the bottom of our ballots and writing in Joe Biden’s name. 

We are also writing in President Biden because a second Trump term would be nothing short of a disaster. Trump calls climate change a “hoax,” has bragged about helping overturn Roe v. Wade, and is willing to overturn our democracy itself. While a second Biden-Harris term would move our country forward, Donald Trump would turn the clock back on combating climate change, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and more. His rantings and ravings have only become more dangerous – in New Hampshire, he even described his political enemies as “vermin,” and openly endorsed violence against his political opponents.

The damage to our democracy if Trump were re-elected would be incalculable; we are still recovering from his failures in his first term, such as pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords. If Trump were re-elected, it would be our generation that would be saddled with the consequences for years to come.

Young people cannot afford to sit this election out; let’s do what we did in 2020, vote in record numbers, and unite behind President Biden to help save our democracy.