It’s no secret that millennials were gaga over Bernie Sanders. And by no means was it because he’s young. The old geezer is 75 which is 6 years older than Hillary. And he looks and speaks in a manner that makes him seem way more senile than that! So why is it?-Why did millennials bow down to Bernie? Well, as the Huffington Post so lovingly answers- “It’s the authenticity, stupid.” They elaborate further: “For those of us who care deeply about policy and authenticity, it’s hard to get excited by studied politicians who craft messages based on polling and who drift in the winds of time.” This, right here, is the simple reason why millennials’ support for Hillary is lukewarm at best. She is inauthentic to them and they do not trust her.
In order for Hillary to gain some authenticity and to show millennials that she re
ally did care about them, one tactic she has tried is playing “The Grandma Card” and I personally feel that it was a great idea to win over millennials. According to Kristen Soltis Anderson, who has studied trends in the opinions and values of young voters, millennials care very deeply about family. By Hillary rhetorically positioning herself as a sweet, loving grandmother, it seems logical that the youth’s trust in her and respect for her would grow.
Sometimes, the Grandma Card worked like a charm. For example, when Clinton unveiled her goals for renewable energy, she said, “The republicans on the other side, when you ask them about climate change, they all say ‘Well, I’m not a scientist.’ Well, I’m not a scientist either, I’m just a grandmother with two eyes and brain and I know that this is an issue we have to address.” Experts labeled this use of the grandma card as ‘brilliant.’ And brilliant it is- Clinton shows us that because she has grandchildren whose wellbeing she cares deeply about, she obviously wants our government to take detrimental climate change very seriously.
However, sometimes the whole #GrandmothersKnowBest (which is an actual hashtag that Clinton actually used on Twitter) can come across as inauthentic. For example, in the first debate, moderator 
Lester Holt began by asking Hillary why she is the better choice in this election to “create the kinds of jobs that will put more money into the pockets of American workers.” Before answering, Hillary redirected the question by asserting her focus on “what kind of country we want to be” and “what kind of future we’ll build together.” She answered her own question by saying, “Today is my granddaughter’s second birthday, so I think about this a lot” before going back into the issue of job creation. According to an article by Western Journalism, critics blasted Clinton for this “blatant ploy to connect with voters.”
So did the grandma card work for Hillary? Well, I think the examples show us that this tactic worked when it was smooth and integrated well into the subject and there was true authenticity behind the words. However, when the playing of the grandma card was calculated and premeditated, it did not go over well with the public. Authenticity is key- always.
I enjoyed reading your post. I found it interesting, and somewhat humorous, that Clinton’s last rhetorically push for millennial voters is to be considered a “grandma”. I wrote my blog post about the importance the baby-boomer generation has played in this election and causing it to be such a close race in swing states like Florida. I could see that being a “grandma” could be very relatable for these baby-boomer voters. Although, the information that I have collected shows that baby-boomers (especially White baby-boomers) have caused this close election in that they have predominantly voted for Trump. Without these baby-boomer votes Clinton would be crushing the election.