PHILADELPHIA — Black voters are mostly on board, the numbers among Hispanics are there, but Hillary Clinton is laboring to attract the kind of millennial generation support that powered President Obama’s hope-and-change coalition to two White House wins.
Students shrugged off a visit Monday by Mrs. Clinton to Temple University, saying they’re not getting behind someone they think is too tied to the establishment they want to disrupt.
“The passion just isn’t there,” said Che Raskin, 20, a Clinton volunteer at the university, where the Democratic nominee was making an aggressive pitch to win over young voters.
He blamed the lack of enthusiasm in part on disappointment over Mrs. Clinton defeating Sen. Bernard Sanders, whose far-left run for the Democratic nomination attracted a massive following of young voters.
“They’re warming to Hillary as they realize what the stakes are,” insisted Mr. Raskin.
Evidence of Mrs. Clinton’s ongoing problems with millennials abounded on the campus in Philadelphia, a solidly Democratic city where robust turnout in November is key to Mrs. Clinton’s strategy to keep Pennsylvania in the blue column and keep Republican nominee Donald Trump out of the White House.
The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state delivered a speech targeting millennial voters to a prescreened crowd of about 250 students, which filled all the seats provided.
The campaign didn’t have to turn away a crowd of students because of the limited seating.
One of her biggest applause lines in the speech was when Mrs. Clinton said that Mr. Sanders helped craft her plan for free tuition at public colleges and reduced student debt.
“Millennials are often anti-establishment, and they think she’s the same as Donald Trump — the left’s version of Donald Trump,” explained Sophie Salerno, 18, a registered Democrat who skipped Mrs. Clinton’s speech.
She would probably vote for Mrs. Clinton, she said, but most of her friends were disinterested in the election.
Recent polls reveled Mrs. Clinton’s eroding support nationally among millennials.
A Quinnipiac University Poll last week showed Mrs. Clinton with 31 percent of the vote among voters age 18 to 34, compared to 48 percent of that vote in August. At the same time, her lead over Mr. Trump narrowed to 5 points from 24 points.
By comparison, Mr. Obama captured 66 percent of the voters age 18 to 29 in 2008 and 60 percent of that age group in 2012.
Mrs. Clinton’s direct appeal to young voters — which included promises of free college tuition, student debt relief, good jobs for college graduates, fighting climate change with green energy jobs and universal broadband internet service — was part concerted outreach effort.
The Clinton campaign dispatched Mr. Sanders and fellow liberal firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren to campaign over the weekend at colleges across the swing state of Ohio.
Mrs. Clinton and her allies also revved up their attacks on Mr. Trump, labeling him a racist, bigot and a xenophobe, and warned that he would set back 50 years of social progress in the United States.
“We have to stand up to this hate. We cannot let this go on,” Mrs. Clinton told the students.
She assured them that she was fighting for their causes, including combating sexual assault on campus, police violence against blacks, bullying of LGBT people and illegal immigrants living in fear of deportation.
“They are doing all the right things but not to a receptive audience,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley. “Young voters don’t necessarily see a difference between the different politicians, and they don’t see any reason not to stay home. I disagree with them.”
He predicted millennials will become more engaged and more alarmed about the possibility of Mr. Trump becoming president as Election Day draws near. “As we get close to the election, they are gong to see they have no other options but to support her,” he said.
The lack of enthusiasm for Mrs. Clinton on the Temple campus did not translate into support for Mr. Trump, with many students saying they despise the New York billionaire but would likely sit out the election rather than cast a ballot against him.
But she needs those young voters to turn out in large numbers, as well as strong support from minorities and women, to replicate Mr. Obama’s victories.
“On this campus, if I wore a Trump shirt, I’d get punched,” said English major Aaron Lynn, 22, a registered Republican. “But it seems like people don’t like [Mrs. Clinton’s] attitude. It seems like she has a sense of entitlement.”
In the speech, Mrs. Clinton said that she understood why young people were cynical about politics and politicians, but warned that they were wrong if they thought their vote didn’t matter this year.
“This is going to be close,” she said. “We need everyone off the sidelines. Not voting is not an option. That just plays into Trump’s hands. It really does.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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