Consider This from NPR : NPR

Consider this Host Mary Louise Kelly wanted to know what young Georgia voters were most concerned about ahead of this year’s presidential election.

Naturally, she was hosting an event for Atlanta Young Republicans at the epicenter of debate and democracy, an Atlanta Mexican restaurant.

There, the group munched on chips and wrote and addressed 1,000 postcards urging voters to support two weaker Republican candidates.

At the top of the list, group members are divided on Donald Trump, with some loving him and others having problems with him, said Winslow Jones, 39, the group’s president.

“I think what we all agree on is this is a bigger issue. We have to look at it. Young Republicans are worried about the economy, they’re worried about the border, they’re worried about crime and safety, especially around here,” Jones told NPR.

Across the table were representatives of the Georgia Republican Youth, a statewide group.

Jacqueline Hahn, 25, had a different answer when asked if she and her peers were excited about President Trump running for a third term.

“We’re excited about change and we want to bring back the life we ​​had four years ago when President Trump was president and his policies, his conservative policies, so that we can never again achieve what we think of as the American Dream.”

Hahn said housing costs are a big priority for her and other young voters, and she doesn’t see the situation improving under Harris.

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Harris/Waltz Headquarters.

Next, Kelly visits the Hari’s/Waltz headquarters where a text banking event is being held.

Pizza boxes are stacked on a white folding table, several young people in their 20s are typing busily on laptops, and a screen at the front of the room shows a few dozen people joining via Zoom for a joint event hosted by Georgia Young Democrats and Men for Choice.

In total, she said, 50,000 text messages were sent out at the rally, and they were targeted to a very specific group of people: men of color between the ages of 27 and 50.

Davante Jennings is a 28-year-old young Democratic representative.

“The backbone of the Democratic Party is the black vote, which is why Republicans are so focused on black men. When we run for office, we can flip the election results. And right now, we’re not 100 percent guaranteed to get all of the black vote,” he told NPR.

He said he feels energized and exhausted at the same time at this point in the election cycle, and what changed everything was President Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.

“I don’t know what happened when Vice President Harris announced her candidacy. All of a sudden, things started going crazy. More people getting involved, more outreach, more activism, more door-to-door canvassing, more text banking. But it’s a good thing, it’s a good thing.”

Youth participation rate.

Kerwin Swint is a professor of political science at Kennesaw State University, the final stop on this information road trip.

“Since the Obama era, the young person vote has mostly leaned toward the Democratic presidential candidate,” he told NPR.

“Voter turnout was higher overall in 2020, in part due to the introduction of postal voting, which made it easier to vote. This led to increased participation rates, with participation among young voters reaching its highest level in 20 years.”

This day is also National Voter Registration Day. Consider this The team visited the Kennesaw campus.

The nonpartisan group Poder Latinx set up tents, handed out pins, stickers and candy, and waved to students encouraging them to sign up.

It seemed to work: The group was able to register 81 voters.

Several of them spoke about their biggest concerns heading into the election. For Yahir Rodriguez, immigration, education, the economy and housing were top concerns.

He’s a freshman at Kennesaw State University and a first-generation voter whose parents immigrated from Mexico. He’s part of a growing demographic in the state: Nearly 10% of Georgia’s population is Hispanic or Latino, according to the 2020 census.

He says housing is a particularly important issue for him and other young voters.

“We’re seeing rents going up, housing becoming more expensive everywhere. We’re seeing more corporate landlords, which is driving up housing prices for people around us, so if you want to buy a home, prices and everything else is going up.”

Rodriguez is looking forward to voting for Harris, but some of his peers don’t share his views, like 19-year-old Lambianze Jackson, who says both candidates have bad policies.

Jackson said she plans to vote for Harris in November and that overturning Roe v. Wade would make it an easy choice for young women of color like her.

But, she added, “Harris has room to improve if she wants to win over other young voters.”

“Kamala doesn’t really explain her policies very well. She talks mostly about middle-class tax cuts, but she doesn’t really have a policy,” Jackson told NPR.

This episode was produced by Erika Ryan, Kira Wakeam and Alejandra Marquez Janse. Edited by Courtney Dorning. Executive producer is Sami Yenigun.