Five Questions with Youth Voting Activist Victor Shi

JOYCE VANCE APR 5 ∙ PREVIEW

We read a lot in the media about young progressive voters who are disenchanted with Joe Biden. Some of the stories suggest they may look for a third-party candidate that aligns with their views. We are also told some young voters will just sit this one out.

Is it true? If it is, what can we do about it?

Tonight, our guest for Five Questions is Victor Shi. Victor is a recent UCLA graduate. At the age of 17, he was elected as the youngest delegate for Joe Biden in 2020. He has worked on campaigns ranging from the state and local level to presidential and has interned at both the DNC and the White House. While in school, Victor co-hosted a podcast called iGen Politics with my dear friend Jill Wine-Banks. In other words, Victor has a lot of energy and brings a lot of grassroots smarts to the issue of how young people vote.

A Civil Discourse reader wrote to me a couple of months ago, and her comments have stayed with me. Her point was that it is not enough just to encourage young people to vote, we need to truly dig into the issues that their generation cares about and talk to them about how a Trump presidency will decimate what matters most. She wanted to know how we could have conversations with younger voters around the idea that this is an election where none of us who care about the future of democracy can afford the luxury of waiting for a candidate who perfectly aligns with our values, but she was concerned that may seem a less reasonable proposition to younger voters who will have to contend with pressing issues like climate change in their lifetimes.

I believe in listening to the people closest to the issues when I’m struggling with an important problem. So tonight, we’ll hear answers to some of those concerns from Victor.

The “Five Questions With” editions of Civil Discourse are our opportunity for a deeper dive on important issues. I’m committed to keeping Civil Discourse available to everyone, without regard for ability to pay. Five Questions is my way of saying thank you to those who are able to support this work with paid subscriptions, which helps me keep it available for everyone. I really appreciate all of you who are here and committed to keeping the Republic!