• The Political Insider
  • Posts
  • Democrat Strategist James Carville Warns Young Voters Are Leaving Democrats In ‘Droves’

Democrat Strategist James Carville Warns Young Voters Are Leaving Democrats In ‘Droves’

April 02, 2024

Veteran Democratic campaign strategist James Carville warned in a video on Sunday that the trend of young people saying they will not support Democrats is a serious problem for the party.

Some even described it as a panic video.

James Carville: ‘We’re Not Shedding Them, They’re Leaving in Droves’

“I’ve been very vocal about this,” Carville said. “It’s horrifying our numbers among younger voters, particularly younger blacks, younger latinos … younger people of color. Particularly males. We’re not shedding them, they’re leaving in droves.”

Carville noted that young voters have traditionally been an important Democratic voting bloc. He also observed that youth feelings about how President Biden is handling the Israel-Gaza War are a significant factor.

Carville said in February, “I think this issue is deep, and I think it’s a lot deeper than just progressive advocates or young people or college campuses. I hope the president can get some kind of ceasefire and take this off the front burner because, frankly, its damage politically is pretty substantial. And if we get to Chicago at the convention and this thing is still going on, I don’t want to think about what‘s going to happen there.”

He Has a Point

The Clinton-era campaign strategist is not wrong. And the 2024 election could be a very different kind of year for his party. It extends to other traditionally Democrat voting blocs as well.

The significant advantage that the Democratic Party held over Republicans with black Americans in general and Hispanic Americans aged 18 to 29 has declined nearly 20% in the last three years, according to Gallup data published in February.

But it’s the young folks James Carville is most worried about.

According to the Daily Caller, “President Joe Biden was supported by 52% of Americans aged 18 to 34, while former President Donald Trump received support from 48% of this crucial Democratic voting bloc in February polling data.”

“Younger voters were key to Biden’s coalition in 2020 as a Pew Research Center analysis found 59% of voters aged 18 to 29 voted for him in the 2020 presidential election, while Trump received 33% of the vote among this bloc,” the story noted.

Will 2024 be significantly different?

And are James Carville’s worries legit? We’ll know for sure in November.