College students disillusioned over political choices, lean toward Biden

Boston-area college students say they feel disillusioned ahead of this year’s presidential election, but a sense of responsibility for the country’s future will drive them to the polls.

The economy, reproductive rights and the war in Gaza are among the top concerns of more than a dozen students interviewed across five campuses by WBUR. Many said it’s hard to feel like a vote for either candidate will make a difference. They said a Trump-Biden rematch will force them to choose between two candidates who don’t inspire them. But nearly all said they plan to vote for Biden, in order to keep Donald Trump out of office.

Nina Gulbransen, a junior and a student-athlete at Boston University studying political science, said though President Biden doesn’t fully represent her political ideals, his more moderate stances make him the candidate she favors. She said she’s afraid a Trump presidency could deliver a devastating blow to abortion access and reproductive health care policy.

“The outcome of this election could really determine what kind of rights I have in the future,” Gulbransen said. “I think we could go into a really radical stage of politics and policy.”

A new Harvard Kennedy School poll released Thursday found Biden leading Trump among young adults, 56% to 37%. The poll included responses from 2,010 young Americans from across the country, aged 18 to 29 — 1,051 of them likely voters. Among those voters, Biden’s lead is strongest with women; they give him a 33-point edge over Trump, while young men favor Biden by just 6 points.

But the Harvard poll found Biden gets only a 31% approval rating among young voters, down 4 points since the fall. That mirrors the lack of excitement students voiced in interviews with WBUR.

“I’m kind of disappointed that this is my first time voting and these are my options."

Daniel Mendoza Vasquez, Northeastern sophomore

“I’m kind of disappointed that this is my first time voting and these are my options,” said Daniel Mendoza Vasquez, a sophomore at Northeastern University studying international business. He said he wishes there were candidates on the ballot who could bring new perspectives to Washington D.C. He’d like to see candidates take stronger stances for immigrants and for reproductive rights.

Vasquez said he’ll vote to re-elect Biden because he feels he’s the best option. But with the way the electoral college works, he said, his vote is unlikely to tip the scales, whether he votes in his home state or in Massachusetts.

“I’m from Kentucky, so if I’m registered to vote there and I vote, it’s a Democratic vote in a really, really red state — probably not going to change the outcome of the state,” he said. And if he votes here, “Will my specific vote be the one that makes the difference? Probably not,” he said.

Shadman Sakib, a senior at Babson College studying finance and data science, said he’s not usually a single-issue voter, but the conflict in Gaza has pushed him to support independent candidates, like Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He said he’s aware he’s likely casting a “throwaway” vote, but is adamant that Biden’s lack of support for Palestinians has cost him the Muslim-American vote.

“I’m voting on the premise that Biden is seeing 30,000 die and is not doing a single thing about it,” he said. “That’s something I can’t overlook and that’s why there’s no way I’m voting for him.”

Sakib said he thinks the two-party system forces a lot of voters to choose between two candidates they may not agree with. “We’re always using the same idea, that we’re just choosing the lesser of two evils, but why?" he said. "That’s something that needs to change."

Many students criticized the electoral system in America, blaming it for the lack of representation they see in the political arena. They argue that a popular vote would be fairer, or that ranked-choice voting would get more voices on the ballot.

Anil Cacodcar, chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project and a student, said he’s seen a rise in the number of young people who say they plan to vote as independents. “We know that third-party candidates as a whole are taking more from Biden in this age cohort than they are from Trump,” he said.

Still, the majority of students interviewed said they plan to cast a ballot for Biden, because it’s the only way to head off a second Trump term.

“I think that a second Trump term could spell disaster, as we saw with the end of the last one, a near insurrection at the Capitol,” said Bledar Velic, a student at Northeastern studying political science and economics. “Just giving the reins over to somebody like that again is very scary.”

Even those who support Biden say his age is a concern. Some believe there needs to be an age-limit in politics, and many students said older politicians don’t know how to connect with and support younger voters.

“Nobody really targets us. Well, they think that they’re targeting us, but they’re all too old to really nail us and reach us the appropriate way,” said Lydia Rouse, a graduate student in advertising at Boston University.

Jay Kemp, a graduate student in media advocacy at Northeastern University, believes the problem isn’t necessarily a candidate's age, but the ability to adapt and reach young voters across the generational gap. Kemp said politicians often underestimate young voters and, importantly, fail to recognize how the economy impacts young people.

“Young people care about the economy,” Kemp said. “They also care about: How does abortion impact our ability to participate in the economy? How does gun control impact our ability to participate in the economy? How is our economy going to be driven by climate change, by climate disasters that hit us again and again? How are immigrant workers being included in the economy?”

Students said rising housing costs, student loan debt and fears about finding jobs are among their chief concerns as they inch closer to graduation. They said even obtaining a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degree, once thought to guarantee job security, no longer feels like enough.

“I’m a graduating senior, I’m about to have a mechanical engineering degree and it’s very difficult for me to find jobs right now,” said Abdullah Jasim, a senior at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

“If we can’t live free from violence, I feel like nothing else really matters."

Maxine Slattery, BU graduate student

Nearly every student interviewed said the state of the economy ranked among their top three concerns. The only issues outranking it for some: gun violence and climate change. They said these issues uniquely impact young people, who grew up in an era of unprecedented gun violence and climate disasters.

“If we can’t live free from violence, I feel like nothing else really matters,” said Maxine Slattery, a graduate student in biomedical forensic sciences at Boston University.

For Slattery, though there might have been better Democratic candidates than Biden, she believes he’s the one who can “bring it home” and win the election. She said securing a future free of gun violence depends on it.

“We’re the ones who are going to be affected by whatever the outcome is. We are the ones who are most impacted by gun violence,” she said.

The Harvard poll found that only 53% of young people plan to vote this year — roughly the same as in 2020. Many students interviewed by WBUR said they feel casting a vote is important, even in a year when they’re not entirely happy with their choices.

“Every election is important, it’s not a one-and-done type of thing,” Velic, of Northeastern, said. “That’s the whole point of democracy. You have to be continually involved in the community and just go to the ballots.”

Henry Drembus, a student at the Boston University School of Law, said he hopes young people recognize the impact presidential elections have on the Supreme Court. He was among several who also cited the importance of congressional, state and city-level elections. Drembus said that though the presidential election is important, it’s not the be-all and end-all.

“I think the presidential election itself is — usually the impact is sort of blown out of proportion, and I think there are things further down the ballot that are going to have greater impact,” he said.

Many students expressed a vote for Biden as a duty they’ve come to accept, until a time when there are better options. Though many reported a sense of pessimism as November approaches, they said they remain hopeful about what’s possible for the future, especially as members of their own generation begin to run for office.

“I’m hopeful because I have no choice but to be,” said Kemp, of Northeastern. “The moment that you lose hope is the moment that you stop showing up.”