Gen Zers show support behind Vice President Harris at Democratic National Convention
CHICAGO (CBS) — Young people, some first-time voters, have taken to social media to express support for Vice President Kamla Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The support behind Harris has since translated into viral memes and references, and even Charli XCX's Lime Green Brat album became the unofficial theme of the Harris campaign.
If you haven't grasped the context of the coconut tree, just a few hours of exploring the DNC will introduce you to how Gen Zers have gravitated to Harris' campaign.
Memes come to life, lime green is everywhere, and so are the people who made it go viral — young Democrats from recent high school graduates to voters in their mid-20s — energetic, hopeful, and galvanized by Harris' eleventh-hour nomination.
"I feel like the excitement really happened when Biden jumped out, as much as I hate to say it," Callie said.
"When he dropped out, I thought it was a great choice," Jearrod Johnson said.
"I feel like everyone's so ecstatic since Kamala has come in, and the energy is, like, unreal," Rachel Roberson said.
Many of the young people at the DNC were already tapped into the election before Harris entered the race, but recent interest has moved beyond just the Gen Z working in politics.
"We've seen young people who maybe we're going to tune in three weeks before or two weeks before or two days before start tuning in even sooner, and one to participate. Want to get more involved," director of Voters of Tomorrow Mariana Pecora said. "We had more people sign up to start or join Voters of Tomorrow chapters. In the 48 hours after Vice President Harris announced than we did in the two months before that combined."
"And just there's just like the unprecedented like momentum and like energy for Harris to, like, become elected, I've never felt this energy-momentum in my life," Ty Burrell said.
Fueling Gen Z Democrats is a tangible sense of responsibility to fix a litany of inherited issues. To them, Harris now represents an actual shot at progress.
"And they're just appealing to the young people, and what we want to talk about, like student loans and rent and all of these other things that matter to us, are rights, women's rights," Roberson said.
"Voter suppression. I'm from Atlanta, Georgia. Voter suppression is huge in the state of Georgia, unfortunately," Johnson said.
"I think Harris's economic plan speaks to me. I have uncertainty if I'm ever going to own a home. So that's $25,000, down payment assistance program that Harris proposes. That will be truly transformational," Burrell said.
From Harris' proposed policies and the skillful use of social media, Gen Z Democrats feel as though taking that energy from the internet to the ballot box heavily relies on them.
"I think the young people are going to be the change; we're going to be the vote that pushes Kamala to the White House," Roberson said.