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Despite massive enthusiasm from young people, Kamala Harris has not surged in the polls. She is a bit ahead of Donald Trump nationally and in most of the swing states, but only a bit. How come the enthusiasm isn't translating into better polling?
A number of Democrats associated with the Harris campaign have looked at this phenomenon closely and concluded that the main culprit is a sophisticated and precisely targeted disinformation campaign on social media platforms, especially Twitch. This is crucial for people whose only source of election information is social media. The main target appears to be young Black men. Many of them feel that progress on issues they care about is much too slow and the disinformation campaign blames Joe Biden and Harris for dragging their feet. Here, Donald Trump's image as someone who ignores rules, laws, and other barriers works for him. The pitch can be: "He can get things done because he will just trample on anyone or anything in his way."
Some surveys have shown that young people aren't really tuned in much to politics yet. Right now, for many of them, going back to school and getting settled has priority. Once early voting starts, many of them will begin to pay attention.
Trump has an advantage here because he has been a candidate longer than Harris, so even people who are not really paying attention know him better. Harris still has to introduce herself. She and her campaign are well aware of this and are definitely targeting young voters already. (V)