Democrats Splurging Rs 171 Crore On Study To Woo 'Young American Men' Voters

In an attempt to make inroads amongst the young American men voters, the Democrats are now spending Rs 171 crore ($20 million) on a two-year study to understand how they can reach them, according to a report in Politico. The 2024 presidential election saw a vast number of American men siding with Donald Trump, leading to a soul-searching effort within the Democrats, who spent the campaign vilifying the said demographic.

The plan, code-named SAM, or "Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan," promises to use the funds to "study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality in these spaces".

The results of an initial round of research, which included 30 focus groups, showed that many young men believe that "neither party has our back". However, participants described the Democrats as overly scripted and cautious, while Republicans were dubbed confident and unafraid to offend. Additionally, the study recommends that Democrats buy advertisements in video games, among other things

"Democrats are seen as weak, whereas Republicans are seen as strong. Young men also spoke of being invisible to the Democratic coalition, and so you've got this weak problem and then you've got this, 'I don't think they care about me' problem, and I think the combination is kind of a killer," said Ilyse Hogue, who co-founded the Speaking with American Men project.

The point of the project, as per Ms Hogue, is to listen to a cohort of "young men who don't feel like the Democratic Party hears them or cares about them. Ms Hogue, the former president of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, has been joined by John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics and an adviser to Biden's 2020 campaign, for the study.

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According to The Associated Press, more than half of male voters under the age of 30 voted for Mr Trump instead of Kamala Harris in the election. This included roughly six-in-10 White male voters, about one-third of Black voters and 50 per cent of young Latino male voters.

While the Democrats have struggled in recent years, the party is hoping for revival owing to Mr Trump's declining popularity since he was elected last fall. Add to it the recent feud between the US president and Elon Musk, the Democrats may have the window of opportunity to seize the initiative.