Young voters on the left are unenthusiastic or openly hostile to President Biden. The administration’s steadfast support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, despite the deaths of an estimated 20,000 Palestinians in a matter of weeks — according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry — has angered pro-Palestinian youth who have gathered in large protests on college campuses and city streets. An unknown number may continue to be so angry by November that they withhold their vote for the 81-year-old incumbent — or vote for an independent candidate.
That would be a mistake for Democrats, according to Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin, an expert on political and social movements. Mr. Kazin has personal experience in trying to undermine an incumbent Democrat’s campaign. A self-described radical in 1968, Mr. Kazin opposed President Lyndon Johnson’s escalation of the Vietnam War and then actively protested against the nomination of Vice President Hubert Humphrey after LBJ dropped out of the race on March 31, 1968.
Now, in an op-ed in The New Republic, Mr. Kazin concedes that he and other young leftists allowed their reasonable opposition to the Vietnam War to cloud their pragmatic judgment once the election rolled around in November. By opposing Humphrey, they helped elect Richard Nixon, who prolonged the war four more years.
Are there possible parallels with the 2024 election? Will young Americans who sympathize with Palestinians punish Mr. Biden, opening the way for a return of Donald Trump to the White House?
“I’m a great believer in social movements. Social movements are essential to our democracy. The established parties don’t really move anywhere unless they are being pushed from below. That’s one of the great things about our democracy. At the same time, it is very important to realize that we do have a two-party system, and there’s always going to be a lesser evil,” said Mr. Kazin, the author of “What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party.”
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