The young crowd sparking the Democrats back to life

‘We were expecting a funeral we got a Taylor Swift show instead, a campaign staffer tells Andrew Feinberg as our reporter soaks up the vibe shift at the Chicago convention

-  Andrew Feinberg

Voter enthusiasm in the Biden era has always seemed to favour Republicans. Donald Trump's seemingly never-ending campaign often felt like a travelling roadshow or a perpetual rock’n’roll tour, complete with a cast of die-hards who follow him from town to town and camp out to be in the front row at each one of his events.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden often struggled to draw much of a crowd anywhere except the union halls and labour conventions he tended to frequent in his official travels. According to a Biden campaign staffer who asked to remain anonymous so they could avoid being fired for speaking to a reporter without permission, the 46th president avoided traditional campaign rallies because young people who would normally form screaming crowds at a Democratic political event had almost no interest in a rally headlined by an 81-year-old politician.

Before Biden dropped out, expectations for this Democrat convention were “as low as they could have been”, the staffer told The Independent. But with Harris atop the ticket, it’s a different ball game. “We were expecting a funeral – we got a Taylor Swift show instead,” they said.

Indeed, the comparison to Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour felt particularly apt when The Independent walked into a postconvention party co-hosted by a group called Voters of Tomorrow. Dubbed “Hotties for Harris”, it was billed as a “creator party” with an eye towards inspiring the Gen Z influencers who’ve flocked to the convention to create proHarris content online.

Partygoers were greeted by thematically appropriate decorations meant to evoke enthusiasm for the ticket, including a “Hall of Hotties” wall adorned with photos of prominent Democrats and a corresponding “Wall of Weirdos” depicting a broad crosssection of Trumpworld.