After living in my home for a few years, I realized that I really needed to start caring more about local politics. I started going through and reading up on the latest judgements that our city voted on, and it was really fascinating to see what they came up with. I realized that if I wanted things to go my way, I needed to become more anxiously involved with local city matters. I started paying closer attention to the city newsletter and sitting in on city council meetings. This blog is all about understanding local politics and doing your part to make things right.
Any candidate who hopes to win office in 2016 and retain that office for years to come must court the voters known as millennials. They are the younger voters born after 1982 who ensured Obama's victory by showing up at the polls in 2008.
While most millennials (and most voters in general) predictably ignore midterm elections, you can expect them to return to the voting booth for the presidential race in 2016. They will be present to cast a ballot for you if you remember how to spell "pie."
Personalization
Millennials are curious and drawn to humor and non-pretentious behavior. If you take yourself too seriously, or seem phony, you will immediately turn them off from your campaign.
On the other hand, you'll lose points with millennials if you seem to be a typical career politician who is pandering to them or temporarily changing your tune to accommodate their beliefs. They don't care how old you are or what your background is. They want to know how you will be different from every other politician.
Use humor, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your campaign, and social media to reveal your personality. You also need to create a solid political platform that explains how choosing you will benefit them personally.
Inclusion
Millennials are more liberal than previous generations. Having an African-American president is nothing remarkable to them. Interacting with foreign-born citizens and residents is a normal and acceptable part of their daily lives.
If you show any racist tendencies, or you seem to want to deny rights to any group based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or nationality, millennials will walk away. Whether you believe in immigration reform or not, temper your words and resist demonizing any person or opponent based on their ethnicity or beliefs.
Tailor your campaign to appeal to voters from all walks of life. Your literature, commercials, and social media images must feature people who look like those whom millennials see every day in society: multicultural and diverse.
Education
No other generation has endured the steep educational costs that millennials have faced. Many in this age group are saddled with student loan debt that keeps them from marrying, purchasing homes, or having children. They are disgusted and angry.
If you make affordable secondary education a key facet of your platform, they will be all ears.
Do you have a proposal to reduce their burdens and help future college students earn degrees without selling their futures out to lenders? Bring it on! Let millennials know that you feel their pain, but be real about how you will assuage it. Don't promise what you can't deliver.
Your political campaign consulting team will have more tips and strategies to win over younger voters. As long as your campaign management remembers how to spell that 3-word dessert as advised above, winning over millennials will be as easy as—you guessed it-- pie.
Share15 December 2015
