Editor's note: Jamal Simmons is a longtime political and communications advisor for the Democratic Party. He most recently served as Vice President Kamala Harris' communications director in the White House and currently serves as a political commentator for CNN. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinions on CNN.
CNN —
Ahead of President Joe Biden's commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday, Michael Levesque, the school's alumni executive director, hosted a town hall-style discussion last week with current students, faculty, alumni, and members of the Board of Trustees. I was invited to lead. . Two days before White House Counsel Steve Benjamin met with students, I returned to my alma mater to hear directly from various segments of the Morehouse family about their priorities, concerns, and expectations.
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Although this conversation took place off the record, I can report that the students were concerned about the war in Gaza and the need to combat anti-Semitism. They wanted to speak truth to power while keeping history in mind and upholding the traditions of the university.
They also don't know much about Biden's background or career as a senator. Given that the president's story is central to his political appeal, the question arises: “How can you trust a man you don't know?”
Before talking about what he's done over the past four years and what he wants to do if he wins a second term, Biden asked young people to understand who he is, what he believes in and why. You should start your speech by telling us. Biden's decades-long political career may lead one to believe that he is widely known, but these young voters have only lived 20 years and are likely only beginning to pay attention to politics. It's the year.
To dig deeper, I asked Lévesque to gather another group of students for an informal, but on-the-record, focus group. Her seven young people who joined me on Zoom were just a few, but they made up a cross-section of colleges by age and region of origin.
They obtain information in a completely different way than their parents. They consume news from Apple News, Instagram, and TikTok, and cite the Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today as news sources. He was one of only three people who watched the news on TV, and none of them actually read the newspaper.
Only one student knew the tragic story of the president's first wife dying in a car accident along with their one-year-old daughter. They were well aware, but barely aware, of their son Beau Biden's death from brain cancer in 2015.
Four out of seven students thought the president came from a wealthy family. They knew nothing about his connection to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and were surprised to learn that he was one of the poorest members of Congress before becoming vice president.
About half knew Biden was in favor of marriage equality, but only one knew he was in favor of it before President Barack Obama.
These students knew little about the warmer parts of the pre-Biden story, but they were familiar with the nastier aspects. Online algorithms are still delivering negative news from the 2020 presidential campaign, and it appears they are breaking through.
They were familiar with the president's work on the 1994 crime bill and its impact on mass incarceration. But no one knew that the bill included the Violence Against Women Act and the federal assault weapons ban.
They also didn't know much about Vice President Kamala Harris' background (other than as a junior in her hometown of Oakland). But they called her a “top cop” and pointed to her prosecution record as San Francisco district attorney.
Is this indicative of a broader phenomenon? Terrence Woodbury, a prominent Democratic pollster and CEO of polling firm HIT Strategies, agrees that there is evidence of the same phenomenon. It has said.
“Without a background, many young people only know the negative information they are given about the president and vice president. That's what gives context to their terms,” Woodberry said. “We need to provide them with a positive context about who Biden and Harris are and what they are fighting for.”
In a world where voters often get their information from short videos and memes, it's difficult to superimpose this kind of biography. So speeches like the one at Morehouse are important opportunities for Biden. Despite concerns about US support for Israel in its war with Hamas, the students I spoke to were not ideological puritans, so they would still be interested in what the president had to say. Biden should use this opportunity to draw lessons from his life before becoming president.
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Adding those biographical layers and showing that he's a human being, not just a politician, is how Biden will build some credibility. His story may not move everyone, but it's a start, especially for young Americans.
The Headmaster must let these students know that he is not evil and simply the lesser of two evils. He does a lot for the people of this country because of who he is and what he believes about America. If they give him a chance, he might give them something they don't expect: something to believe in.
