Democrats do not know how to talk to young men—and it cost them

Late in the US presidential election campaign, Democrats discovered a serious problem. Young men, minorities especially, had abandoned the party in droves. An American Compass poll, conducted with YouGov in early October, captured a snapshot: 20 per cent of young non-white men had not yet settled on either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, and those who had decided were evenly split. 

Harris did not know what to say to these defectors. Her coalition was built on an identity politics that presumed an alliance among younger and LGBTQ+ voters, women and people of colour, all sharing the same commitment to a progressive vision of social justice. Somewhat awkwardly, the actual agenda — fighting climate change and forgiving student debt, resisting any restrictions on immigration or abortion — aligned primarily with the interests and priorities of a white, female, college-educated elite. But anyone who looked like a coalition member was expected to vote accordingly.

Former president Barack Obama lectured young Black men for failing to offer Harris the enthusiasm to which she was entitled. “It makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president,” he said. “And now, you’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That’s not acceptable.” 

The real reason that young non-white men (YNMs) were moving to the right was that they did not see politics in these racial or gendered terms at all, expressing values and priorities that align much more closely with those of the white working class (WWCs). The American Compass survey found, for instance, that YNMs and WWCs agreed that US culture placed too much emphasis on diversity, while affluent liberal women (ALWs) wanted a dramatic shift towards it.