November 11, 2024 • 23 mins
Antonio Arellano, of NextGen America, joined Danielle to discuss the issues that mattered to young voters in 2024 and what the future of the youth vote looks like.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good morning, peeps, and welcome to ok F Daily with
me your girl, Danielle Moody. Pre recording from the Long
Island Bunker. Folks, I'm taking a couple of days off
as needed for my mental health in combo with my birthday,
and so we have left you with fantastic interviews to
(00:33):
begin to unpack where the hell we're going. So coming
up today is a conversation with the communications director Antonio
Ariano at next Gen America. And in this conversation we
talk about the youth vote. We talk about how the
(00:57):
youth vote was handled, what issues were most concerning. This
conversation came before the outcome of the election, but it
was nonetheless about what is needed to entice, engage and
excite the youth vote and what did Dems do this
(01:17):
time around and what can they learn for the future.
So that conversation is coming up next, folks. I am
very excited to welcome to WOKF Daily Antonio Ariano, who
is the vice president of Communication at next Gen. Antonio
(01:41):
tell us a bit about next Gen and the incredible
work that you all do to engage the youth of
this country.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Thank you so much for having me next to America
is the nation's largest youth voter organization. We've been around
for nearly twelve years now, and we focus on mobilizing
young voters eighteen to thirty five year old in key
states across states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona,
eight in total, and we do it through a wide
(02:14):
range of tactics. We do field operations across college campuses
and universities. This cycle, Connection America was on over one
hundred college campuses talking directly to young voters about the
importance of mobilizing and registering to vote, as well as
a robust digital operation. We connect with young voters online
on social media and also leverage one of the largest
(02:36):
influencer programs in the youth progressive space.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
So, Antonio, we're speaking today. It is election day. We
have no idea what the outcome will be, and so
we won't make any predictions today, but I do want
you to talk to us about the importance of galvanizing
the youth of vote. The work that you all have
done over the last twelve years, but scifically the work
(03:00):
that has been done over the last year, really the
last three months of the Vice President's campaign to engage
a youth vote that I don't think saw themselves connected
to a Biden campaign, So talk to us about that,
about the experience of kind of switching gears.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
This cycle has been completely unprecedented in so many ways,
but you're absolutely right. The young voter enthusiasm increased over
the last couple of months after the withdrawal of President
Biden from the race and the incoming participation of Vice
President Harris as the Democratic nominee. We saw a surge
of enthusiasm among young voters, particularly online, and the way
(03:45):
that Kamala HQ or Vice President Harris's digital efforts the
attention of the nation was really unique, leaning into culturally
competent messaging, also tapping into moments in pop culture like
the Brad album from t XX, and really leaning into
where young voters were already engaging online. She was able
(04:07):
to tap into those moments and create viral moments that
catapulted her in a way that we really haven't seen
presidential candidates be able to do. Leading up to this moment,
we saw both President Biden and former President Trump trying
and attempting to create these viral moments to capture the
intention of a younger electorate, but not really being able
(04:30):
to hit the mark like Vice President Harris did. And
I think it's because she has been able to tap
into the side guys of pop culture across America and
speak to young voters in a culturally confident way that
is authentic. This generation craves authenticity. They can see straight
through the bs. They are not looking for an over polished,
(04:51):
over message. They want you to talk to them about
the core issues that are mobilizing them. And that's another
key point. Young voters across this country don't have party affinity.
They don't identify as Democrats or Republicans. They're issue voters.
They care about the issues that are plaguing their generation
and want to see ambitious plans and proposals to provide
(05:12):
results for those issues.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
You know what's really interesting to me too, as you
talk about the cultural competency, is that what I saw
with these two very different campaigns and now I'm talking
about the Trump campaign versus the Vice President's campaign, is
that both had a desire to reach out to young people,
two very different groups of young people. When it came
(05:38):
to Donald Trump's campaign, we're talking about young white men
and tapping into that community and group. And when you're
looking at the vice president, you're looking at all youth,
all young people from various walks of life. Can you
give us your thoughts on what Donald Trump and the
MAGA Republicans have done to tap into their youth community
(06:03):
and kind of what you have seen there and where
you see the differences between these two different sets of
youth voters.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I think one of the key differences is former President
Trump's campaign leaned on extremists podcast silos within the Internet
that echo his sentiment, like going on shows like the
Rogan Podcast and things of that nature to try to
capture the attention of an audience that is leaning towards
(06:34):
his own political tendencies already. But you're right, he definitely
catered to a younger, more white male audience through an
almost misogynistic lens, which was a very interesting approach. As
no surprise that in recent times, young men in particular
have erode it from savior participation. They are struggling to
(06:57):
find where they fit in and what party actually reflects
their ideals or represents them authentically. And I think both
parties have a lot of work to do, particularly when
it comes to young black and brown men, the Democratic
Party as well is trying to make end roads with them,
and that means making sure that we're listening to their
core issues, addressing the problems, providing plans and proposals. Like
(07:19):
Vice President Harris has recently released particularly an agenda for
black men in particular, trying to center their lived experience
and saying, Okay, I understand that there are some unique
lived experiences here that we need to identify and then
provide solutions, whether it's an economic plan to make sure
that we're building generational wealth or helping them keep a
(07:41):
roof over the head, food on the table for their families.
She's speaking directly to them in a way that I
think President Trump really failed to do. There is moments
on this campaign, again as unprecedented as it was that
the former president found himself having a mug shot one
that was a historic moment in this cycle, and then
this to lean into that in a really interesting and
(08:03):
unique way, to say the least, by saying that the
black community, black man actually saw that as appealing because
what identify what I identify with that, which is I
think completely ludicrous and reprehensible, quite frankly to be able
to try to blanket an entire community with such ridiculous statement.
(08:25):
But there was different tactics. They were all clearly trying
to see what's stuck. And the reality is that democracy
needs to modernize. If we're talking about mobilizing a new generation,
a young electric this is a digital generation. This is
a generation that's grown up with social media at their fingertips,
and that's where they're consuming the majority of their information.
(08:46):
That's where they are going to listen to the thought
leaders and trusted messengers of their times. It's no longer
the six o'clock news, it's no longer the broadcast anchors.
It's these folks that have created a mass, large followings
online and both campaigns were trying to tap into that
in unique ways. And you know, I think either way
(09:07):
that you slice it, what you'll see is that these
social media platforms have become a new resource and tool
in the tool belt of democracy. Historically, campaigns leaned on
phone banking, or mailers or TV ads. Now adding to
that tool belt is social media distribution, viral moments and
content creation and a robust digital presence, which is why
(09:30):
you saw both candidates joined platforms like TikTok to guard attention.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
You know, I think that one of the things too
that you lay out and I'd like to unpack a
bit more, is this leaning in to independent media and
independent media sources something that I think that we saw
from the Vice President's team, And she was getting a
lot of pushback from not giving quote unquote these interviews
(09:58):
to legacy media outlets like oh my god, you're not
going to the New York Times, You're not doing this,
that and the other thing, and how dare you go
and sit down with podcasters and with YouTube creators and
what have you. And I think that what I took,
you know, as an independent creator myself, is the recognition
of how much our media landscape has changed. But can
(10:20):
you talk to us a bit more about why you
think that youth voters young voters more identify in that
space than past generations have, Like why, you know, it
seems as if almost there had been kind of incremental movements,
let's say, back in two thousand and eight, and we
(10:40):
saw a little bit more incremental movements in twenty sixteen,
but there's been this kind of leapfrogging that has happened
in terms of digital space and independent media. So can
you speak to that.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
The infrastructure is completely changing. And if we look at history,
we look at how the medium of the moment or
of the eras has really dictated results and even who
ultimately gets to sit behind the desk in the Oval office.
I'll give you an example. When President Nixon was going
against JFK. They hosted the first televised debate in American history,
(11:14):
and in that debate, JFK was the younger candidate, appeared
more strong, more attractive, and hence won that election. Fast
forward to social media. In two thousand and eight, President
Barack Obama captured YouTube, the attention of YouTube and created
his movement Yes We Can, and created an inspirational message
(11:36):
for a new audience and was able to connect with
them through a YouTube lenth. Fast forward to twenty sixteen.
Now Twitter is the main platform and Donald Trump taps
into Twitter in an unprecedented way. Thumb could argue that
his access to Twitter got him elected. And now here
we are in twenty twenty four wards, it's at the
tip of the spear and TikTok is now what's reaching
(11:57):
the masses, and we're seeing both candidates gravitate to the
platform that both of them, at one point or another
have called to be shut out. So what we're seeing
here is them recognizing in this moment, we must modernize,
we must adapt, and I think it's wise. And I
also think that we haven't really fully explored the mass
potential of social media. I always think, what if doctor
(12:17):
King had social media or his I Have a Dream? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
most the thing had I have a Dream was a hashtag,
it would have not just changed the civil rights in America,
it would have changed the world. And so now we
have a tool that allows us to connect nationally and
internationally with the click of a button. And I don't
think we fully tapped it into it fully, but we're
(12:40):
seeing how these candidates are investing in it. And at
the same time, we're also seeing how these platforms are
creating silos at some extent also a little bit of dysfunction.
People are seeing their ideas regurgitated back to them, and
it's creating a little bit more of division as well,
because you become a community and you are arounded by
like minded people without any real challenge. And I think
(13:02):
that there is pros and cons there that we still
need to learn and adapt, and I think Congress needs
to look closely at what parameters we need to put
in place, particularly when it comes to younger folks on
this platform.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah, and I think that you're right too, because you know,
it is both a win and a loss to a
certain extent. Won, the win being the democratization of voices, right,
and and kind of cutting through the red tape and
who gets greenlit. But then there is also these silos
that have been created. But we've seen with Twitter, for instance,
with you know, the ability of one man to suppress
(13:35):
the experiences of billions of people, right based on his
own his own ideas we saw. We see with TikTok, right,
this desire to shut it down because of its ownership
being in China as opposed to in the United States.
We see with across meta platforms that Meta has suppressed
uh h expressions of politics and votes uh and and
(13:59):
encouragement are around voting. So there is this push pull
that we see that I think, you know, it is
about who owns these channels, who owns the information uh
and has the ability to shut it down at you know,
at a at a whim, right. But I do see
and I do believe that moving forward that these spaces
(14:20):
social media and these independent spaces will be more of
a hub and potentially more of an investment place. Where
television ads costs, we know how much they cost tens
of millions of dollars to run spots that we see
played over and over again. It is much cheaper to run,
you know, to run ads and build native content on
(14:42):
platforms as opposed to what you can do with TV.
What do you think, just with with with with a
couple of minutes that we have, Antonio, what do you
think right now and again very early, but what are
some of the lessons that that next gen America you
think will take from this election cycle into the next.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I'll give you one clear example. At Nextion, we're still
looking and searching in terms of a data driven approach
to what are the most influential and trusted voices online
that can help both combat disinformation misinformation but also inspire
voter registration and civic participation. And what we've come to
discover is that across the space, whether it's artists, singers, actors, athletes,
(15:30):
the athlete college athletes in particular are the most influential
and at Nexttion. This cycle, we've launched and expanded our
Athletes program. We recruit college athletes and draft them into
the best team in the game, which is next in America,
and allow them to use their voices to encourage their teammates, classmates,
and their fans to register to vote. And the reason
(15:53):
that we do this is because to research, we've identified
that athletes and college sports is surrounded by a fandom
that is loyal, that is passionate, that hangs on their
every word and wants them to succeed. They're founded in community,
they're founded in state, they're regional, and so when an
athlete encourages you to go out and vote and register
to vote in a non partisan way, their fandom is
(16:14):
more likely to be susceptible to that and to do it.
And so that's one clear lesson to continue to amplify
the voices of these beacons of inspiration within their own
community already and leverage their voices. Recently, there's been a
change in the laws, the Name Image Enlightness Laws NIL
laws that have allowed YEP College students to use their name,
(16:37):
image and likeness and profit from it. And we're one
of the first organizations to tap into that new law
update and begin to work with these college athletes. But well,
I'll tell you you know, with leveraging these non traditional
media platforms, we're also able to humanize these candidates. Whereas
a CNN interview or an MSNBC interview sometimes can lean
so much into a gotcha question or like high level
(17:00):
policy question, these alternative platforms allows us to have questions
about their humanity, you know, and get to know the person,
not just the political candidate. I've seen so many candidates,
so many interviews recently in this cycle that have asked
questions that are non traditional questions, and you kind of
get to know the person more intimately asking questions that
(17:21):
sometimes may seem silly. And when you make that human connection,
you break the silo, you break that fourth wall and
allows you to perhaps look at the candidate in a
different light. And if you didn't previously think this was
somebody that could fit your priorities and your issue perspectives,
maybe you have a change of heart after you hear
(17:42):
about how they navigate the complexities of their own lived existence.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
My last question for you, Antonio is you know this
cycle is coming to an end, and I'm wondering what
does engagement look like moving forward? I think that to me,
what I keep telling my audiences is that if there
is a good thing to have been learned about Donald Trump,
(18:11):
is that without vigilance, without engagement by an educated citizenship citizensry,
these types of bad actors will be able to infiltrate,
will be able to take over. And that our democracy
in the health of it requires that people not just
check in every four years or every two years, but
(18:34):
that they are checked in and dialed in every year
at their state, local, and federal levels. And so what
does engagement moving forward outside of an election cycle look
like for next Gen America?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, one, I think that we need to recognize that
we've built and created so much progress. Nextion is proud
to be one of the oldest youth vote organizations in
the countries that have lead down an infrastructure and a
foundation for the youth vote to prosper and to foster
in We've done an incredible job of trying to break
down the myths that young people don't care or that
(19:10):
young people don't vote. If you look at the most
recent election cycles, you've seen that young voters have turned
out in historic numbers cycle after cycle. In twenty twenty,
Biden and Harris were elected with the largest youth voter
turnout in modern American history, followed by the midterm elections
where gen Z voters single handedly stopped a red wave
with an unprecedented turnout during a midterm, and this cycle
(19:33):
in twenty twenty four, I believe the young voters will
once again make their voices heard in record numbers. As
a matter of fact, Gen C, ever since they've been
of age, they've been bucking that myth, and so let's
start looking at young voters as an integral part of
democracy and start to continue to invest that. Being said,
(19:55):
what we've also learned is that grassroots organizing works making
sure that we are building collec power, that we're talking
to each other about the power of our voices and
our votes, and recognizing that far too many people have
struggled and sacrificed to get us to this point and
we could not take this for granted. Democratic backsliding at
the international level is something that is very real, and
(20:17):
for the first time ever, in twenty twenty, America was
added to the international list of democratic backsliding countries. What
does that mean? Democratic Backsliding is when you are jeopardizing
your democracy and your country, and it has three telltale
signs that you are in trouble. Number One, inter democratic
backsliding candidates or authoritarian figures, excuse me, begin to question
(20:40):
the pillars of institutions of government, think the Department of Justice,
questioning the FBI, questioning the Supreme Court. There's one candidate
in this race that has done that repeatedly over the
last eight years. Second, they begin to appoint loyalists to
the highest positions of power, surrounding themselves by people that
will not reject them, that will own approve of their ideals.
(21:01):
And one candidate in this race appointed his sister his
daughter in law, excuse me, to be the chair of
the of the political party that he seeks and sought
the nomination. And number three, I begin to discredit the
institutions that hold them to account. The news the press
began to say that they are liars, so that people
(21:21):
begin to get confused and don't know what to rely on.
These are telltale signs that there is the democracies in
danger and we've become way too close. We've we've come
way too close and played too close to the edge.
America needs to learn from those lessons, and to your point,
we can't allow for figures like this to once again
get within proximity, within striking distance of the most powerful
(21:44):
job in the.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
World, Antonia. Lastly, please tell people you know you have
laid out such an incredible work that you all have
been doing over the last decade plus. Please tell folks
how who are listening, how they're you know, they can
get involved, their kids can get involved, their grandkids that
are listening can get involved in the work of Next
Gen America. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Well, first of all, I just want to make sure
that we recognize that young voters have recently experienced a
lot of voter suppression and with voter id laws and
campus limitations for casting ballots. And I want people young
people in particular, to know that the reason that the
youth vote has been historically under attack is because you
are so damn powerful. That being said, if you want
(22:27):
to get engaged, if you want to mobilize and organize
your community and create a more impactful future, visit Nextgenamerica
dot org or follow us on any social media platform
as next in America and there you'll find a community
that's building a youth movement to create transformational change for
generations to come.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Thank you, thank you, Thank you Antonio so much for
making the time to join WELLKF Daily really appreciate you
and appreciate all of the work that you have done
this cycle and will continue to do moving forward. That
is it for me to day. Dear friends on woke
f as always power to the people and to all
(23:07):
the people power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.
Good morning, peeps, and welcome to ok F Daily with
me your girl, Danielle Moody. Pre recording from the Long
Island Bunker. Folks, I'm taking a couple of days off
as needed for my mental health in combo with my birthday,
and so we have left you with fantastic interviews to
(00:33):
begin to unpack where the hell we're going. So coming
up today is a conversation with the communications director Antonio
Ariano at next Gen America. And in this conversation we
talk about the youth vote. We talk about how the
(00:57):
youth vote was handled, what issues were most concerning. This
conversation came before the outcome of the election, but it
was nonetheless about what is needed to entice, engage and
excite the youth vote and what did Dems do this
(01:17):
time around and what can they learn for the future.
So that conversation is coming up next, folks. I am
very excited to welcome to WOKF Daily Antonio Ariano, who
is the vice president of Communication at next Gen. Antonio
(01:41):
tell us a bit about next Gen and the incredible
work that you all do to engage the youth of
this country.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Thank you so much for having me next to America
is the nation's largest youth voter organization. We've been around
for nearly twelve years now, and we focus on mobilizing
young voters eighteen to thirty five year old in key
states across states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona,
eight in total, and we do it through a wide
(02:14):
range of tactics. We do field operations across college campuses
and universities. This cycle, Connection America was on over one
hundred college campuses talking directly to young voters about the
importance of mobilizing and registering to vote, as well as
a robust digital operation. We connect with young voters online
on social media and also leverage one of the largest
(02:36):
influencer programs in the youth progressive space.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
So, Antonio, we're speaking today. It is election day. We
have no idea what the outcome will be, and so
we won't make any predictions today, but I do want
you to talk to us about the importance of galvanizing
the youth of vote. The work that you all have
done over the last twelve years, but scifically the work
(03:00):
that has been done over the last year, really the
last three months of the Vice President's campaign to engage
a youth vote that I don't think saw themselves connected
to a Biden campaign, So talk to us about that,
about the experience of kind of switching gears.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
This cycle has been completely unprecedented in so many ways,
but you're absolutely right. The young voter enthusiasm increased over
the last couple of months after the withdrawal of President
Biden from the race and the incoming participation of Vice
President Harris as the Democratic nominee. We saw a surge
of enthusiasm among young voters, particularly online, and the way
(03:45):
that Kamala HQ or Vice President Harris's digital efforts the
attention of the nation was really unique, leaning into culturally
competent messaging, also tapping into moments in pop culture like
the Brad album from t XX, and really leaning into
where young voters were already engaging online. She was able
(04:07):
to tap into those moments and create viral moments that
catapulted her in a way that we really haven't seen
presidential candidates be able to do. Leading up to this moment,
we saw both President Biden and former President Trump trying
and attempting to create these viral moments to capture the
intention of a younger electorate, but not really being able
(04:30):
to hit the mark like Vice President Harris did. And
I think it's because she has been able to tap
into the side guys of pop culture across America and
speak to young voters in a culturally confident way that
is authentic. This generation craves authenticity. They can see straight
through the bs. They are not looking for an over polished,
(04:51):
over message. They want you to talk to them about
the core issues that are mobilizing them. And that's another
key point. Young voters across this country don't have party affinity.
They don't identify as Democrats or Republicans. They're issue voters.
They care about the issues that are plaguing their generation
and want to see ambitious plans and proposals to provide
(05:12):
results for those issues.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
You know what's really interesting to me too, as you
talk about the cultural competency, is that what I saw
with these two very different campaigns and now I'm talking
about the Trump campaign versus the Vice President's campaign, is
that both had a desire to reach out to young people,
two very different groups of young people. When it came
(05:38):
to Donald Trump's campaign, we're talking about young white men
and tapping into that community and group. And when you're
looking at the vice president, you're looking at all youth,
all young people from various walks of life. Can you
give us your thoughts on what Donald Trump and the
MAGA Republicans have done to tap into their youth community
(06:03):
and kind of what you have seen there and where
you see the differences between these two different sets of
youth voters.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I think one of the key differences is former President
Trump's campaign leaned on extremists podcast silos within the Internet
that echo his sentiment, like going on shows like the
Rogan Podcast and things of that nature to try to
capture the attention of an audience that is leaning towards
(06:34):
his own political tendencies already. But you're right, he definitely
catered to a younger, more white male audience through an
almost misogynistic lens, which was a very interesting approach. As
no surprise that in recent times, young men in particular
have erode it from savior participation. They are struggling to
(06:57):
find where they fit in and what party actually reflects
their ideals or represents them authentically. And I think both
parties have a lot of work to do, particularly when
it comes to young black and brown men, the Democratic
Party as well is trying to make end roads with them,
and that means making sure that we're listening to their
core issues, addressing the problems, providing plans and proposals. Like
(07:19):
Vice President Harris has recently released particularly an agenda for
black men in particular, trying to center their lived experience
and saying, Okay, I understand that there are some unique
lived experiences here that we need to identify and then
provide solutions, whether it's an economic plan to make sure
that we're building generational wealth or helping them keep a
(07:41):
roof over the head, food on the table for their families.
She's speaking directly to them in a way that I
think President Trump really failed to do. There is moments
on this campaign, again as unprecedented as it was that
the former president found himself having a mug shot one
that was a historic moment in this cycle, and then
this to lean into that in a really interesting and
(08:03):
unique way, to say the least, by saying that the
black community, black man actually saw that as appealing because
what identify what I identify with that, which is I
think completely ludicrous and reprehensible, quite frankly to be able
to try to blanket an entire community with such ridiculous statement.
(08:25):
But there was different tactics. They were all clearly trying
to see what's stuck. And the reality is that democracy
needs to modernize. If we're talking about mobilizing a new generation,
a young electric this is a digital generation. This is
a generation that's grown up with social media at their fingertips,
and that's where they're consuming the majority of their information.
(08:46):
That's where they are going to listen to the thought
leaders and trusted messengers of their times. It's no longer
the six o'clock news, it's no longer the broadcast anchors.
It's these folks that have created a mass, large followings
online and both campaigns were trying to tap into that
in unique ways. And you know, I think either way
(09:07):
that you slice it, what you'll see is that these
social media platforms have become a new resource and tool
in the tool belt of democracy. Historically, campaigns leaned on
phone banking, or mailers or TV ads. Now adding to
that tool belt is social media distribution, viral moments and
content creation and a robust digital presence, which is why
(09:30):
you saw both candidates joined platforms like TikTok to guard attention.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
You know, I think that one of the things too
that you lay out and I'd like to unpack a
bit more, is this leaning in to independent media and
independent media sources something that I think that we saw
from the Vice President's team, And she was getting a
lot of pushback from not giving quote unquote these interviews
(09:58):
to legacy media outlets like oh my god, you're not
going to the New York Times, You're not doing this,
that and the other thing, and how dare you go
and sit down with podcasters and with YouTube creators and
what have you. And I think that what I took,
you know, as an independent creator myself, is the recognition
of how much our media landscape has changed. But can
(10:20):
you talk to us a bit more about why you
think that youth voters young voters more identify in that
space than past generations have, Like why, you know, it
seems as if almost there had been kind of incremental movements,
let's say, back in two thousand and eight, and we
(10:40):
saw a little bit more incremental movements in twenty sixteen,
but there's been this kind of leapfrogging that has happened
in terms of digital space and independent media. So can
you speak to that.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
The infrastructure is completely changing. And if we look at history,
we look at how the medium of the moment or
of the eras has really dictated results and even who
ultimately gets to sit behind the desk in the Oval office.
I'll give you an example. When President Nixon was going
against JFK. They hosted the first televised debate in American history,
(11:14):
and in that debate, JFK was the younger candidate, appeared
more strong, more attractive, and hence won that election. Fast
forward to social media. In two thousand and eight, President
Barack Obama captured YouTube, the attention of YouTube and created
his movement Yes We Can, and created an inspirational message
(11:36):
for a new audience and was able to connect with
them through a YouTube lenth. Fast forward to twenty sixteen.
Now Twitter is the main platform and Donald Trump taps
into Twitter in an unprecedented way. Thumb could argue that
his access to Twitter got him elected. And now here
we are in twenty twenty four wards, it's at the
tip of the spear and TikTok is now what's reaching
(11:57):
the masses, and we're seeing both candidates gravitate to the
platform that both of them, at one point or another
have called to be shut out. So what we're seeing
here is them recognizing in this moment, we must modernize,
we must adapt, and I think it's wise. And I
also think that we haven't really fully explored the mass
potential of social media. I always think, what if doctor
(12:17):
King had social media or his I Have a Dream? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
most the thing had I have a Dream was a hashtag,
it would have not just changed the civil rights in America,
it would have changed the world. And so now we
have a tool that allows us to connect nationally and
internationally with the click of a button. And I don't
think we fully tapped it into it fully, but we're
(12:40):
seeing how these candidates are investing in it. And at
the same time, we're also seeing how these platforms are
creating silos at some extent also a little bit of dysfunction.
People are seeing their ideas regurgitated back to them, and
it's creating a little bit more of division as well,
because you become a community and you are arounded by
like minded people without any real challenge. And I think
(13:02):
that there is pros and cons there that we still
need to learn and adapt, and I think Congress needs
to look closely at what parameters we need to put
in place, particularly when it comes to younger folks on
this platform.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah, and I think that you're right too, because you know,
it is both a win and a loss to a
certain extent. Won, the win being the democratization of voices, right,
and and kind of cutting through the red tape and
who gets greenlit. But then there is also these silos
that have been created. But we've seen with Twitter, for instance,
with you know, the ability of one man to suppress
(13:35):
the experiences of billions of people, right based on his
own his own ideas we saw. We see with TikTok, right,
this desire to shut it down because of its ownership
being in China as opposed to in the United States.
We see with across meta platforms that Meta has suppressed
uh h expressions of politics and votes uh and and
(13:59):
encouragement are around voting. So there is this push pull
that we see that I think, you know, it is
about who owns these channels, who owns the information uh
and has the ability to shut it down at you know,
at a at a whim, right. But I do see
and I do believe that moving forward that these spaces
(14:20):
social media and these independent spaces will be more of
a hub and potentially more of an investment place. Where
television ads costs, we know how much they cost tens
of millions of dollars to run spots that we see
played over and over again. It is much cheaper to run,
you know, to run ads and build native content on
(14:42):
platforms as opposed to what you can do with TV.
What do you think, just with with with with a
couple of minutes that we have, Antonio, what do you
think right now and again very early, but what are
some of the lessons that that next gen America you
think will take from this election cycle into the next.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I'll give you one clear example. At Nextion, we're still
looking and searching in terms of a data driven approach
to what are the most influential and trusted voices online
that can help both combat disinformation misinformation but also inspire
voter registration and civic participation. And what we've come to
discover is that across the space, whether it's artists, singers, actors, athletes,
(15:30):
the athlete college athletes in particular are the most influential
and at Nexttion. This cycle, we've launched and expanded our
Athletes program. We recruit college athletes and draft them into
the best team in the game, which is next in America,
and allow them to use their voices to encourage their teammates, classmates,
and their fans to register to vote. And the reason
(15:53):
that we do this is because to research, we've identified
that athletes and college sports is surrounded by a fandom
that is loyal, that is passionate, that hangs on their
every word and wants them to succeed. They're founded in community,
they're founded in state, they're regional, and so when an
athlete encourages you to go out and vote and register
to vote in a non partisan way, their fandom is
(16:14):
more likely to be susceptible to that and to do it.
And so that's one clear lesson to continue to amplify
the voices of these beacons of inspiration within their own
community already and leverage their voices. Recently, there's been a
change in the laws, the Name Image Enlightness Laws NIL
laws that have allowed YEP College students to use their name,
(16:37):
image and likeness and profit from it. And we're one
of the first organizations to tap into that new law
update and begin to work with these college athletes. But well,
I'll tell you you know, with leveraging these non traditional
media platforms, we're also able to humanize these candidates. Whereas
a CNN interview or an MSNBC interview sometimes can lean
so much into a gotcha question or like high level
(17:00):
policy question, these alternative platforms allows us to have questions
about their humanity, you know, and get to know the person,
not just the political candidate. I've seen so many candidates,
so many interviews recently in this cycle that have asked
questions that are non traditional questions, and you kind of
get to know the person more intimately asking questions that
(17:21):
sometimes may seem silly. And when you make that human connection,
you break the silo, you break that fourth wall and
allows you to perhaps look at the candidate in a
different light. And if you didn't previously think this was
somebody that could fit your priorities and your issue perspectives,
maybe you have a change of heart after you hear
(17:42):
about how they navigate the complexities of their own lived existence.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
My last question for you, Antonio is you know this
cycle is coming to an end, and I'm wondering what
does engagement look like moving forward? I think that to me,
what I keep telling my audiences is that if there
is a good thing to have been learned about Donald Trump,
(18:11):
is that without vigilance, without engagement by an educated citizenship citizensry,
these types of bad actors will be able to infiltrate,
will be able to take over. And that our democracy
in the health of it requires that people not just
check in every four years or every two years, but
(18:34):
that they are checked in and dialed in every year
at their state, local, and federal levels. And so what
does engagement moving forward outside of an election cycle look
like for next Gen America?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, one, I think that we need to recognize that
we've built and created so much progress. Nextion is proud
to be one of the oldest youth vote organizations in
the countries that have lead down an infrastructure and a
foundation for the youth vote to prosper and to foster
in We've done an incredible job of trying to break
down the myths that young people don't care or that
(19:10):
young people don't vote. If you look at the most
recent election cycles, you've seen that young voters have turned
out in historic numbers cycle after cycle. In twenty twenty,
Biden and Harris were elected with the largest youth voter
turnout in modern American history, followed by the midterm elections
where gen Z voters single handedly stopped a red wave
with an unprecedented turnout during a midterm, and this cycle
(19:33):
in twenty twenty four, I believe the young voters will
once again make their voices heard in record numbers. As
a matter of fact, Gen C, ever since they've been
of age, they've been bucking that myth, and so let's
start looking at young voters as an integral part of
democracy and start to continue to invest that. Being said,
(19:55):
what we've also learned is that grassroots organizing works making
sure that we are building collec power, that we're talking
to each other about the power of our voices and
our votes, and recognizing that far too many people have
struggled and sacrificed to get us to this point and
we could not take this for granted. Democratic backsliding at
the international level is something that is very real, and
(20:17):
for the first time ever, in twenty twenty, America was
added to the international list of democratic backsliding countries. What
does that mean? Democratic Backsliding is when you are jeopardizing
your democracy and your country, and it has three telltale
signs that you are in trouble. Number One, inter democratic
backsliding candidates or authoritarian figures, excuse me, begin to question
(20:40):
the pillars of institutions of government, think the Department of Justice,
questioning the FBI, questioning the Supreme Court. There's one candidate
in this race that has done that repeatedly over the
last eight years. Second, they begin to appoint loyalists to
the highest positions of power, surrounding themselves by people that
will not reject them, that will own approve of their ideals.
(21:01):
And one candidate in this race appointed his sister his
daughter in law, excuse me, to be the chair of
the of the political party that he seeks and sought
the nomination. And number three, I begin to discredit the
institutions that hold them to account. The news the press
began to say that they are liars, so that people
(21:21):
begin to get confused and don't know what to rely on.
These are telltale signs that there is the democracies in
danger and we've become way too close. We've we've come
way too close and played too close to the edge.
America needs to learn from those lessons, and to your point,
we can't allow for figures like this to once again
get within proximity, within striking distance of the most powerful
(21:44):
job in the.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
World, Antonia. Lastly, please tell people you know you have
laid out such an incredible work that you all have
been doing over the last decade plus. Please tell folks
how who are listening, how they're you know, they can
get involved, their kids can get involved, their grandkids that
are listening can get involved in the work of Next
Gen America. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Well, first of all, I just want to make sure
that we recognize that young voters have recently experienced a
lot of voter suppression and with voter id laws and
campus limitations for casting ballots. And I want people young
people in particular, to know that the reason that the
youth vote has been historically under attack is because you
are so damn powerful. That being said, if you want
(22:27):
to get engaged, if you want to mobilize and organize
your community and create a more impactful future, visit Nextgenamerica
dot org or follow us on any social media platform
as next in America and there you'll find a community
that's building a youth movement to create transformational change for
generations to come.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Thank you, thank you, Thank you Antonio so much for
making the time to join WELLKF Daily really appreciate you
and appreciate all of the work that you have done
this cycle and will continue to do moving forward. That
is it for me to day. Dear friends on woke
f as always power to the people and to all
(23:07):
the people power, get woke and stay woke as fuck.
Host
Danielle Moodie
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