By Sophie Foster
Opinion Editor
President Joe Biden was carried to a win in the 2020 election in no small part by a stream of young, first-or-second-time voters, according to Pew Research Center. In 2024, he might not be able to expect a comparable outcome.
It seems, though, that he is aware of this likelihood in the wake of several states’ Democratic primaries carrying little uplifting news about his campaign prosperity, including those like Michigan, which concluded with a strikingly high number of Democrats voting “uncommitted” over Biden.
In what seems to be an endeavor to earn back the favor of some young voters, Biden is attempting to carry out a fresh wave of student loan debt forgiveness. According to The Washington Post, $1.2 billion in cumulative debt may be canceled, to the tune of predictably mixed reviews from a divided American public.
This most recent pledge is directed specifically at those enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, accelerating loan forgiveness for those who borrowed less than $12,000 to attend college, according to The Washington Post. Enrollees will have debt erased after 10 years of payments, and eligible borrowers began receiving early notice in February. About 7.5 of the over 40 million Americans with federal loan debt are enrolled in the SAVE program.
According to CNBC, Biden’s current plans for debt relief follow a different path than those rejected by the Supreme Court in 2023. Using a process called negotiated rulemaking, legislators pinpointed five groups of borrowers for debt relief under the current proposal moving forward: those who owe more than they borrowed, those who have been repaying loans for more than 20 years, those who attended institutions that fail to demonstrate successful student outcomes, those who are eligible for loan forgiveness but have not applied, and those experiencing financial hardship.
If the administration continues on that track, the Secretary of Education would have the power to waive federal student loan debts for those facing various kinds of hardship. However, according to CNBC, if the final ruling on the plan is an affirmative one, it will not take effect until July of 2025 at the earliest — well after the 2024 election and 2025 presidential inauguration take place.
The reality is that Biden has always known the score with young, leftist voters. Presented as a “lesser of two evils “option to the same audience in 2020, he has since failed to deliver on many of the campaign promises that supposedly made him “less evil” than former President Donald Trump, according to Reuters.
According to NBC, “Biden’s ratings and support among young voters have dipped noticeably in recent polling. In November, NBC News’ latest national poll showed Biden locked in close competition with former President Donald Trump at the moment for voters ages 18-34, a sharp drop from the margins Biden enjoyed over Trump in the 2020 election, according to exit polling.”
Interviews with young voters conducted by NBC indicated vast dissatisfaction in policy areas such as climate change, reproductive rights, the Palestinian genocide, and, of course, student loan forgiveness.
2023 was the hottest recorded year on record by far, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
After the administration failed to codify Roe v. Wade, it was overturned by the Supreme Court, according to NPR. Abortion and reproductive rights have been on the national chopping block since.
70% of voters under 35 disapprove of Biden’s handling of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, according to NBC, but the president nonetheless continues to deliver weaponry to Israel despite international calls for a ceasefire.
According to The Washington Post, “Biden has privately expressed frustration that his administration has not received enough credit from voters for its actions to help consumers and bolster the economy. Some of Biden’s allies…have warned that the president could face electoral problems if he does not convince voters that he has kept his promises on a wide range of issues.”
One last ditch effort to make good on those promises does not explain away over three years of refusing to.
A collection of Americans receiving a conciliatory break on student loans does not change the fact that Biden clung to a moderate agenda and a desire to appease more right-wing voters. In doing so, it is likely that he has lost the good graces of far too many young Democrats to win come December — regardless of student loan debt relief.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo Caption: The Biden administration is spiraling now that it appears evident the incumbent has lost young Democrats’ support.