Young voters feeling disappointed in the 2024 presidential candidates are left with few alternative options, though voting third party isn’t out of the question for 24-year-old independent Mia Swenson. In the latest edition of Politics IRL, Swenson joined 20-year-old Democrat Abigail Meyers to talk about the bleak choices for 2024, and why Meyers is still clinging to her vote for Joe Biden.
Swenson and Meyers met up at a bar in Boston to discuss their views. They shared feelings of disappointment in Biden’s first term, particularly his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
“I can’t vote for Joe Biden knowing the things that I know about what’s happening in Palestine,” Swenson said. “I think his response to [the war] is very, very telling about where his priorities are, which are clearly not with the American people.”
Meyers said although she is also disappointed with Biden’s actions, she still feels it’s necessary to vote for him.
“I’ve always known that Democrats and Republicans are the two parties that get anywhere, like it or not,” she said.
Meyers added her belief that Biden can once again defeat former President Donald Trump, and said that another term under Biden wouldn’t take the country backward.
Swenson admitted that even though the candidate she plans on voting for — Claudia De la Cruz, the Party for Socialism and Liberation's nominee — is unlikely to win the election, she believes supporting that candidate can help break the two-party system, even in a symbolic way. She said she plans to vote for De la Cruz or abstain from voting altogether.
The “lesser of two evils” approach to voting isn’t always a valid lens to look through when it comes to politics, Swensen said.
“The choice to divest from the two parties is long overdue,” she said. “I don’t know when the opportune time would be, if not now.”
Meyers said she believes Biden’s presidency has gone downhill.
“A lot of people had a lot of faith in him from the beginning,” she said. “I got older and I got increasingly more disappointed.”
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Politics IRL is a project supported by America Amplified, working with public media stations across the country to expand the use of journalism practices that meaningfully address local information needs through active listening and engagement, especially in communities that have been traditionally underserved by public media.
