Commentary: Millennials and Generation Z Voters Will Decide Our Economic Future this November

by John Pence

For young voters, this coming election isn’t just about strengthening our retirement accounts — though that’s been one of the highlights of the Trump era, with the stock market repeatedly setting new record highs. More importantly, the next election is about keeping this booming economy going through our prime earning years. It’s about having the opportunity to make the most of ourselves and start healthy, secure families. For us, re-electing President Trump isn’t just a good idea, it’s an economic imperative.

The strong and growing Trump economy is helping all Americans thrive. Michigan alone has added almost 100,000 new jobs, including 15,000 manufacturing jobs and 13,600 construction jobs, since the markets started skyrocketing on news of Donald Trump’s election victory in 2016. The state unemployment rate is holding at the lowest level in 20 years. The average Michigan family is making almost $3,000 more than they did in 2016, and thanks to President Trump’s tax cuts, they’re keeping about $1,400 more than they would have under President Obama’s policies.

Contrary to the Democrats’ misleading claims, the benefits of the ongoing boom aren’t all going to “millionaires and billionaires.” In fact, blue collar workers are seeing faster wage growth than managers and professionals. More than a quarter million Michiganders have been lifted off food stamps since Donald Trump took office. Poverty is down significantly. Small business creation is up.

The 2020 Democrat presidential hopefuls — even the few who don’t openly identify as “socialists” — are trying to convince young people that we need to abandon the policies and leadership that brought us such incredible economic growth in exchange for promises of “free” college and “free” healthcare for everyone — including those who enter our country illegally.

Some of our peers will be duped by these false promises, but most of us know that nothing is “free.” Bigger government and “free” handouts will not strengthen America. Our future growth and prosperity rests on Washington giving us the freedom to make the most of our intellect and innovation.

This November, young Americans can choose growth over government, and in so doing help to secure a better future for ourselves and our posterity. That’s why I’m joining the College Republicans at Western Michigan University this week as we mobilize and grow our grassroots outreach efforts across America. Young Michiganders simply have too much at stake to let their enthusiastic but misguided classmates and coworkers throw our nation’s future away for Bernie Sanders’s promises of a socialist utopia.

I encourage you to join this Republican Party and do your part to ensure that our freedoms remain protected in Washington. We must explain to our peers how President Trump’s record of accomplishments has made America a far more prosperous and secure nation — and how much greater we can become with four more years of his leadership.

We have more at stake than our parents and grandparents. Some projections show that Millennials are the first generation in modern American history to be worse off financially than the previous one, despite being better educated than our parents. We came of age during the Great Recession and the pitiful recovery that followed, and we’re still feeling the effects.

The Trump boom is our best hope to avoid that fate. By investing your time and resources over the next few months, we can secure for ourselves and our children the promise and opportunity that our parents and grandparents enjoyed.

Today’s Republican Party is the only sensible home for young Americans who want freedom, prosperity, and economic security for all Americans. Join me in Kalamazoo on Tuesday to become part of the movement to put America first and secure your own economic future. We’ve got just nine months until decision time, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

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John Pence (@JePence) is a Senior Adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign. He is an alumnus of The College of William & Mary and holds a law degree from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and a business degree from New York University.