“椰子计划”和“小屁孩”：一些年轻选民如何回应卡马拉·哈里斯
【中美创新时报2024 年 7 月 24 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）现在，可能的民主党候选人、副总统卡马拉·哈里斯似乎有了新的机会来争取年轻选民的支持，几个月来，年轻选民一直表示他们可能会缺席选举。但随着她在社交媒体上看到热情高涨，一些年轻人在采访中表示，他们仍然对哈里斯和她击败前总统唐纳德·特朗普的能力持怀疑态度。《波士顿环球报》记者安贾利·黄（Anjali Huynh）对此作了下述报道。
周日，当拜登总统退出总统竞选的消息传出时，艾伦·蔡（Alan Cai ）正乘坐一辆满载首次投票者的巴士前往首都。
一片混乱。
“每个人都在大喊大叫，”18 岁的蔡说，他是民主党全国代表大会的马萨诸塞州代表。“人们对未来充满乐观：我们最终将得到一位我们应得的年轻候选人，民主党将重新振作起来，与唐纳德·特朗普抗争。”
现在，可能的民主党候选人、副总统卡马拉·哈里斯似乎有了新的机会来争取年轻选民的支持，几个月来，年轻选民一直表示他们可能会缺席选举。但随着她在社交媒体上看到热情高涨，一些年轻人在采访中表示，他们仍然对哈里斯和她击败前总统唐纳德·特朗普的能力持怀疑态度。
虽然许多人表示对她的候选资格感到兴奋，但有些人希望了解更多有关她的政策立场的信息，对她成为推定提名人的方式感到不满，或者提到他们认为可能阻碍有色人种女性入主白宫的结构性障碍。
“我很感激拜登退出，因为我认为他没有任何机会，但我不一定认为卡玛拉有更好的机会，”最近搬到波士顿的 21 岁民主党人本·詹森 (Ben Jansen) 说。“我真的没有听说过她在过去四年里做了什么。”
詹森 23 岁的伴侣菲奥娜·考夫林 (Fiona Coughlin) 表示，拜登应该“向其他候选人开放竞争”。
“我希望看到一位女性担任总统，但我也担心这个因素会阻止很多选民投票给她，”她说。
在拜登支持她为继任者后不到 36 小时，哈里斯就获得了赢得提名所需的代表。在此期间，她的竞选团队表示已筹集了超过 1 亿美元，超过 62% 的捐赠者首次向竞选活动捐款。
左翼组织者表示，哈里斯在 30 岁以下选民中的表现可能会更好，他们在 2020 年以超过 20 个百分点的优势支持拜登，但对拜登与特朗普的重赛表示沮丧和冷漠。他们指出，调查显示，59 岁的哈里斯在年轻选民中的支持率超过拜登，而且早在拜登退出之前，网上就有内容支持她的候选资格。
“这将让很多年轻选民兴奋不已，因为我们一直在要求改变，”马萨诸塞州青年民主党发言人埃拉·加德纳 (Ela Gardiner) 说。
尽管如此，在采访中，近二十几名年轻人分享了复杂的情绪。大多数人对拜登选择退居幕后感到宽慰，在某些情况下，他们提到了他的年龄，在另一些情况下，他们认为拜登在他们所关心的问题上没有采取行动。然而，同样的选民对副总统的看法也存在分歧。
近几个月来，哈里斯经常参与民意调查显示年轻选民关心的问题。去年秋天，她开始了全国性的大学巡回演讲，讨论了枪支管制等话题。她还更巧妙地讨论了在全国战场州保护堕胎权的问题，这是民主党最有力的问题。
25 岁的波士顿顾问费丝·鲁芬 (Faith Ruffin) 曾在 2020 年为佐治亚州民主党组织活动，她说哈里斯的竞选激发了“对国家未来方向的希望”。
“在过去四年里，我还没有看到这么多人真正想谈论政治，这意味着一些事情，”鲁芬说。
强调这种感觉的事实是，哈里斯可能是第一位担任总统的女性和南亚裔，也是第二位担任总统的黑人，这反映了该党的选民基础多样化。几位选民将这种情绪描述为“奥巴马时刻”，对于那些年龄不够大、无法支持或体验前总统 2008 年历史性竞选的人们来说。
“她的提名向像我这样的黑人女性发出信号，我们的声音和经历很重要，”21 岁的贾达·皮埃尔 (Jada Pierre) 说，她是罗克斯伯里人，就读于哈佛大学。“看到她成为提名人，我感到更加投入，因为我总是被告知，作为一名黑人女性会阻碍我，并在无数领域使我处于不利地位。”
哈里斯可能引起年轻选民共鸣的另一个迹象是：副总统从互联网上获得了巨大的支持，而互联网往往对拜登怀有敌意。
在许多 TikTok 用户嘲笑拜登的年龄和对加沙战争的立场后，一些人现在开始推广“椰子计划”。这个词是对保守派政策“2025 计划”的直接回应，指的是哈里斯引用她母亲的话在网上疯传的一句话：“我不知道你们这些年轻人怎么了。你以为你是刚从椰子树上掉下来的吗？”
“KHive”是哈里斯支持者的昵称，其成员还制作了“粉丝摄像头”视频，将她的片段与夏日圣歌搭配在一起，比如说唱歌手肯德里克·拉马尔的《不像我们》。而流行歌星查莉 XCX 的专辑《brat》荣登夏季排行榜榜首，她在 X 上写道：“卡玛拉就是小子”，实际上是在用让一些年长选民摸不着头脑的措辞来支持她。
竞选团队迅速利用了这些趋势，将布拉特的标志性黄绿色和哈里斯椰子树名言中的“提供背景”一词融入到更名后的“卡马拉总部”账户中，这些账户的粉丝数量激增。竞选团队周一发布的一段 TikTok 视频呼吁“女性化女性”，该视频以查佩尔·罗恩的热门歌曲为蓝本，获得了 500 万个赞。相比之下，拜登竞选团队表现最好的 TikTok 的点赞数不到 90 万。
“人们感觉自己是民主的一部分，发出了自己的声音，制作表情包和剪辑……也是民主的一部分，这听起来可能很傻，但我确实认为，当人们参与这些运动和这个在线社区时，他们确实有这种感觉，”费城民主党数字顾问安妮·吴·亨利 (Annie Wu Henry) 表示。
一些不愿支持拜登的以年轻人为中心的团体现在正在改变方向。 “Z 世代变革”最初名为“TikTok 支持拜登”，旨在宣传拜登 2020 年的竞选活动，但今年拒绝支持总统，经常批评其政府的政策，包括他对南部边境口岸的打击。
拜登宣布退出两小时后，该组织支持哈里斯。该组织的创始人、哈佛大学学生艾丹·科恩-墨菲表示，动员年轻人支持拜登“将是一项非常艰巨的任务”。他说，有了哈里斯，“我们就有了一个能够充分有效地与公众沟通的人。”
然而，怀疑仍然存在。一些年轻人对哈里斯担任加州司法部长的记录表示担忧。其他人质疑她在加沙战争等问题上与拜登的立场，而加沙战争是困扰拜登竞选活动的话题。周六，一群抗议者聚集在哈里斯主持的普罗文斯敦筹款活动外，高呼：“副总统卡马拉·哈里斯女士，巴勒斯坦难道不应该自由吗？”
青年气候组织日出运动 (Sunrise Movement) 的通讯主管史蒂夫·奥汉隆 (Stevie O’Hanlon) 表示，该组织正在等待哈里斯是否会在外交政策上与拜登有所区别，并接受她在 2020 年总统竞选期间支持的环境政策。
“人们真的感到兴奋，要想从现在到大选期间继续保持这种兴奋，她需要向那些对去年感到失望和沮丧的年轻人证明，她会做不同的事情，”奥汉隆说。
一些对总统不满的选民对他的前竞选搭档也有同样的感受。
25 岁的克里斯·斯威尼 (Chris Sweeny) 来自沃尔瑟姆，他在 2020 年支持拜登，在拜登退出之前决定支持小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪 (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)。他说，看到民主党人团结在哈里斯周围，而不是通过更具竞争力的程序，他坚定了自己的决定。
“现在他们只是在向民众推行卡玛拉·哈里斯，而对于一直主张‘我们需要拯救民主’的政党来说，这并不民主，”他说。
《环球报》记者奥斯汀·伯德塞尔对本文亦有贡献。
题图：副总统卡马拉·哈里斯似乎通过社交媒体对年轻选民产生了最大的影响。ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY
附原英文报道：
‘Project coconut’ and being ‘brat’: How some young voters are responding to Kamala Harris
By Anjali Huynh Globe Staff,Updated July 24, 2024
When news broke Sunday that President Biden had dropped out of the presidential race, Alan Cai was riding on a bus full of first-time voters visiting the nation’s capital.
Chaos erupted.
“Everybody was shouting and screaming,” said Cai, 18, a Massachusetts delegate to the Democratic National Convention. “There was a lot of optimism for the future: that we’re going to finally get a younger candidate that we deserve and a Democratic Party reinvigorated to fight Donald Trump.”
Now the likely Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, appears to have a fresh opportunity to rally support among young voters, who have for months indicated they might sit out the election. But as she has seen a swelling of enthusiasm on social media, some young people said in interviews that they remain skeptical of Harris and her ability to beat former president Donald Trump.
While many said they were excited about her candidacy, some wanted more information on her policy stances, were unhappy with how she became the presumptive nominee, or referenced structural barriers that they believe could prevent a woman of color from ascending to the White House.
“I’m thankful that Biden dropped out because I don’t think he had any chance, but I don’t necessarily think Kamala has a better one,” said Ben Jansen, 21, a Democrat who recently moved to Boston. “I haven’t really heard much about what she’s done in the last four years.”
Fiona Coughlin, Jansen’s 23-year-old partner, said Biden should have “opened the field to other candidates.”
“I’d like to see a woman as president, but I’m also fearful that factor would prevent a lot of voters from voting for her,” she said.
Harris secured the delegates needed to win the nomination less than 36 hours after Biden backed her as his successor. In that time, her campaign said it had raised more than $100 million, with over 62 percent of donors giving to the campaign for the first time.
Left-leaning organizers said Harris could fare better with voters under 30, who backed Biden by over 20 percentage points in 2020, but had expressed frustration and apathy about a Biden-Trump rematch. They pointed to surveys where Harris, 59, outran Biden among younger voters, and online content championing her candidacy well before Biden’s exit.
“This is going to excite a lot of young voters because what we’ve been asking for is change,” said Ela Gardiner, a spokesperson for the Young Democrats of Massachusetts.
Still, in interviews, nearly two dozen young people shared mixed emotions. Most expressed relief that Biden chose to step back, citing in some cases his age, in others his perceived inaction on their preferred issues. Those same voters, however, were split on the vice president.
Harris in recent months has regularly engaged with issues that polls indicate young voters care about. Last fall, she embarked on a nationwide college tour, where she addressed subjects such as gun control. She has also more deftly discussed protecting access to abortion, Democrats’ most potent issue, in battleground states nationwide.
Faith Ruffin, a 25-year-old Boston consultant who organized for Georgia Democrats in 2020, said Harris’s run inspires “a sense of hope for where the country is headed.”
“In the past four years, I haven’t seen this many people actually wanting to talk about politics, and that means something,” Ruffin said.
Underscoring that feeling is the fact that Harris could be the first woman and South Asian, and second Black person, to be president, reflecting the party’s diversifying voter base. Several voters described the mood as an “Obama moment” for those who weren’t old enough to support or experience the energy around the former president’s historic 2008 run.
“Her nomination signals to Black women like me that our voices and experiences matter,” said Jada Pierre, 21, a Roxbury native who attends Harvard University. “I feel more engaged seeing her as a nominee because I was always told that being a Black woman would hinder me and disadvantage me in countless spaces.”
Another sign Harris may resonate with younger voters: The vice president drew tremendous support from the internet, a force often hostile toward Biden.
After many TikTok users derided Biden’s age and position on the war in Gaza, some are now promoting “Project Coconut.” The term, a direct response to the conservative policies known as “Project 2025,″ references a viral moment when Harris quoted her mother saying, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”
Members of the “KHive,” a nickname for Harris’s supporters, also created “fan cam” videos pairing clips of her with summer anthems, such as rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” And Charli XCX, the pop star whose album “brat” topped summer charts, wrote on X that “kamala IS brat,” effectively endorsing her in terms that left some older voters scratching their heads.
The campaign quickly capitalized on the trends, incorporating brat’s signature chartreuse and the phrase “providing context” from Harris’s coconut tree quote into rebranded “Kamala HQ” accounts whose followings exploded. A TikTok video the campaign posted Monday calling for a “femininomenon,” after the hit Chappell Roan song, garnered 5 million likes. By comparison, the Biden campaign’s best-performing TikTok had under 900,000 likes.
“People are feeling like they’re part of democracy and making their voices heard, and it might sound silly that making memes and edits . . . is a part of that, but I really do think that is how people feel when they’re being engaged in these movements and this community online,” said Annie Wu Henry, a Democratic digital consultant in Philadelphia.
Some youth-focused groups reluctant to back Biden are now changing course. Gen Z for Change, which began as “TikTok for Biden” to promote his 2020 run, declined to endorse the president this year, regularly criticizing his administration’s policies, including his crackdown on the southern border crossings.
Two hours after Biden announced he would drop out, the group endorsed Harris. Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a Harvard student who founded the group, said mobilizing young people to support Biden “was going to be a very difficult task.” With Harris, he said, “we have someone who’s able to fully and effectively communicate with the public.”
Yet skepticism remains. Some young people raised concerns about Harris’s record as attorney general in California. Others questioned her alignment with Biden on issues such as the war in Gaza, a subject that plagued Biden’s campaign. A group of protesters gathered outside a Provincetown fund-raiser headlined by Harris on Saturday, chanting: “Kamala Harris, Ms. VP, shouldn’t Palestine be free?”
Stevie O’Hanlon, communications director for Sunrise Movement, a youth climate organization, said the group was waiting to see whether Harris would distinguish herself from Biden on foreign policy and embrace environmental policies backed during her 2020 presidential campaign.
“There is genuine excitement, and for that to continue between now and the election, she needs to prove to young people who are feeling disillusioned and frustrated from the last year that she’s going to do things differently,” O’Hanlon said.
Some voters unhappy with the president felt similarly about his former running mate.
Chris Sweeny, a 25-year-old engineer from Waltham who backed Biden in 2020, decided to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prior to Biden’s exit. Seeing Democrats coalesce around Harris instead of a more-competitive process, he said, solidified his decision.
“Now they’re just pushing Kamala Harris on people, and for the party that has been pushing, ‘We need to save democracy,’ this is not very democratic,” he said.
Globe correspondent Austin Byrdsell contributed to this story.
