William He and Luika Rohy: Gen Z has been waiting for Kamala Harris

By William He and Luika Rohy
For many Americans, neon-green tinted edits to the hyper pop cadence of CharliXCX’s Brat summer, viral posts involving coconut trees, and clips of future president Kamala Harris laughing are existing everywhere in the context of all in which we live. And while some see this tidal wave of pop culture can be seen as surface-level or facetious, it’s anything but for Gen-Z. By taking advantage of our monopoly on social media, our generation has been able to dominate the very same political conversations that have historically been closed off to us.
As a generation grounded in progress and forward momentum on issues that have plagued this country for as long as we can remember, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Gen-Z took to Kamala Harris so quickly and easily. Until just weeks ago, the 2024 presidential election voters were resigned to choosing between the same two elder candidates from four years ago, and an enduring – but urgent and necessary – rallying cry to support the “lesser of two evils”. So when President Biden made the most selfless and patriotic decision to drop out of the race and allow Vice President Harris to step up in his place, there was a surreal feeling of hope that filled group chats and living rooms alike across the country. And that was something our generation had never really been able to feel before with politics.
Not only was Kamala Harris a new option for us, but she was also a complete deviation from what everyone thought a presidential candidate had to be. Not only is she a woman, but she would also shatter several glass ceilings by becoming the first woman president, the second-ever Black president, and the first Asian-American president. Beyond that, she is also someone simply fun to watch and listen to. It’s hard not to support a candidate that’s reminiscent of that lovable, eccentric family member every Thanksgiving dinner – particularly when that candidate offers such a stark contrast as a progressive prosecutor going up against a fascist felon.
Unsurprisingly, Gen-Z was quick to respond on social media. In a matter of days, Harris became relevant to essentially every single young person in America. What started out as a few viral TikToks and tweets rapidly snowballed into a fire-up cult-like fanbase of the new Democratic nominee. It was the best of both worlds for our generation: we got to participate in a widespread trend involving endless amounts of memes and pop culture references, all while championing our country, our democracy, and our future at the same time. By utilizing the platforms where our voices are the most magnified, our generation found a way to take control of the political narrative.
As to what led to Kamala Harris’ adoption by Gen-Z in the first place, there are a few factors at play. First and foremost, she’s a breath of fresh air. For most of our lives, presidential elections have always been focused and campaigned on fear, divisiveness, and hate. For the very first time, our generation is experiencing a campaign, and a country – and hopefully a future after November 5th – that is grounded in hope and opportunity. We were too young to vote in 2008, but the candidacy of Vice President Harris is our Obama moment. 2024 will be to Gen-Z what 2008 was to millennials. That’s part of what Kamala Harris is bringing to the table.
And when you compare the Democratic and Republican nominees, it’s even easier to see why our generation is largely drawn to the former. Politics has constantly been a matter where “the adults are talking”. We’re taught to sit back and watch as people decades older than us shape our future without our input. When we’re forced to deal with the repercussions of decisions that we were never able to have a say in, it makes sense why our generation feels more drawn to politicians that are willing to listen to us. To have Kamala go out there, tap into our pop culture, and embrace our memes – it shows that she wants to put in the effort to connect with us. Trump and JD Vance haven’t done that, because they’re not focused on us and our future as much as they are on older generations.
At the RNC last month, we also saw Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s pitch to our generation: a 5-minute rant fear-mongering about immigrants and the so-called “Biden regime”. We heard Vivek Ramaswamy passionately declare to young people that our generation can “save America” by showing up on campus and calling ourselves conservative. And we witnessed a flurry of news articles declaring a 38-year-old JD Vance as a vehicle to finally achieve the RNC’s fantasies of winning young voters. Let us be clear: Kirk, Ramaswamy, or JD Vance are to young people what Olive Garden is to Italy or Chipotle is to Mexico– a poor imitation of the real thing.
Moreover, Kamala Harris’ campaign has shown the world a potent truth: we have to flip the switch from talking down to young people to listening to young people. There’s always something being said to young people but rarely opportunities for young people to be heard. And while politicians like Harris can provide us with these opportunities, we’re not strangers to establishing them for ourselves.
Now more than ever, our generation is coming together to fight for the progress our country so desperately needs right now – both on and off social media. By combining the accessibility of online platforms with grassroots movements, Gen-Z has found an ideal balance between reaching widespread audiences and local organizing. One such example is our organization, Dream for America, a Gen-Z youth voter group focused on building a center-left alternative to Turning Point USA founded just last year. In just a year’s time, the group raised half-a-million dollars, recruited volunteers in all 50 states, reached young people 100 million times on social media, and quickly corralled the support of Democratic heavy-hitters like Rep. Cheri Bustos and Amy McGrath. While our social media may center on light-hearted memes about politics, our greatest impact is made offline as we rally students to defend democracy, fight fascism, and uphold liberal values against the rising tide of MAGA extremism on campuses and in our communities.
Gen-Z is more ready than ever to join the fight in building a country where everyone has the freedom to live authentically — that means civil rights, voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights, bodily autonomy, affordable healthcare, stopping gun violence, world-class educations, ending climate change, defending our democracy, economic opportunity, and the chance to fulfill our version of the American Dream.
As one coconut-pilled politician once said: “You don’t ask for permission to lead, you just lead”.
William He & Luika Rohy serve as the Founder & Deputy National Organizing Director respectively of Dream for America, a Gen-Z organization working to build a Turning Point USA for the center-left & rally students to defend democracy, uphold institutions, and advance liberal values.