Stephen Colbert’s cartoon version of Hillary Clinton might be more relatable to millenials than Clinton herself, certainly funnier. This video sums up why the younger generation is having trouble relating to Clinton. The majority of her appeals to millenials are disingenuous and easily discarded as fake, a quality that Hillary certainly does not need to expand upon throughout the remainder of her campaign. While I do believe it is important for a presidential candidate to reach out and try to relate to people of all ages, I don’t agree with accomplishing this task in an overtly phony manner.
The video shows Hillary wearing a “yas” hat, a “Bernie” t-shirt, and a gold chain, all articles that poke fun at Clinton’s failed attempts at relating to the younger generation. It also shows her using phrases like “bae”, “venmo”, “dog filter on Snapchat” …etc. which are all facets of current pop culture. The pure satire of this video is highly relatable because it shows everything that millenials find pretentious about Clinton. Millenials aren’t stupid, and it’s quite easy for us to tell when people aren’t being genuine. The reality of the matter is that Hillary is a grandmother and anyone of any age can determine that her appeals to the younger generation are drafted by a team of social media managers who quite frankly don’t relate that well to millenials either.
Due to Clinton’s email scandals she has already had trouble defending her integrity as a presidential candidate. A primary rhetorical strategy of her campaign has been to show the American public that she can be trusted. However, she is doing the exact opposite of that in the ways in which she has attempted to win the millennial vote.
The one way Hillary is going to relate to millennial voters is by acting her age and cutting the acts. The younger generation is tired of trying to figure out who Clinton really is. In an article by Wired, Issie Lapowsky writes, “when a candidate’s online persona is so vastly different from his or her offline persona, it creates a kind of cognitive dissonance that turns people off, instead of bringing them in.” In order to win the millenial vote over third party candidates, Clinton needs to stop talking down to us and talk to us. Her rhetoric needs to change, and she needs to address us as adults, rather than mindless teenagers who only care about fads and pop culture.
I agree, social media has not represented Clinton well. If she would act more real, like Obama, she would have an easier time relating to millennials. Alas, she is old, and pulls the grandmother card more than she can pull off witty tweets. Clinton does need to cut the act, not for the sake of winning the election, but in order to get a positive reaction from millennials so they don’t feel like they are getting told what to do from someone who has no inclination as to what is hip with the new generation.
I completely agree with the “cognitive dissidence” argument. I don’t think it’s too bold to say that her campaign team severely underestimated the maturity in which a lot of young people approach the campaign. Just because we watch and share funny dance or puppy videos doesn’t mean that’s the type of marketing strategy we want from a presidential candidate. The greatest way for Hillary to appeal to millennial voters is to adopt policies that benefit them, and I believe her political team is finally realizing that fact.