Is the upcoming national election essentially a wartime election? According to award-winning journalist Kyle Spencer, it is.
“It’s not the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party,” Spencer said. “It’s the Democratic Party vs the possibility of an authoritarian regime.”
During Spencer’s hour-long Sept. 11 talk, her voice wavered, her cheeks flushed, and her tone brimmed with excitement; she was here to tell Duke why they must fight for democracy, and she sure did leave an impression.
Kyle Spencer, Journalist
Spencer had a way of making us – the youth in the audience – feel seen, reminding us of the influence we held. It wasn’t just about politics. It was about empowering us to recognize the undeniable volume of our voices in shaping the future.
The Gen Z vote matters perhaps “more than any generation in history,” Spencer claimed. According to her, we’re the most diverse generation, and therefore, suppressing our vote would leave a grave impact.
“Voter suppression of young people can be understood as suppressing the vote of people of color,” Spencer said. Her comment sent chills down my spine. I’m a person of color. That comment felt close to home.
On the topic of voter suppression, the crowd expressed their frustration about the government not accepting Duke student’s virtual ID as an authentic form of identification. To which Spencer warned us about the predominant effects nation-wide to render the logistics of voting complex and arduous.
“You have to be savvy about the fact that there is a huge effort to discount your votes,” she said.
Students have power through their votes, but Spencer’s research suggests that organizations and political parties may be doing their best to suppress it. The reality is, if the logistics of voting are hard, you really need to care to go through those hurdles to cast it. This is rare, and certainly not enough to convince all eligible student voters to vote.
When I asked a member of the audience what she thought about efforts by organizations to bully Democrats, she pointed toward social media as a widely used tool — something Spencer mentioned in her talk.
“She mentioned all these organizations, such as ‘Turning Point USA’, and it really got me thinking – were all these YouTubers who were showcasing liberals to be extremely unintelligent even showing us the full debate? Is it just another jab at spreading false propaganda by twisting the reality?” Mariam, a sophomore at Duke, said.
Honestly, I felt seen — because same! There was a time when my YouTube feed was home to Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, and Candace Owens. It felt like a suffocating echo-chamber (blame the algorithm!).
When Spencer talked about YouTuber and political activist Charlie Kirk under the heading “Bullies or Buddies,” I felt an instant connection with the crowd, as if we were all telepathic. Mariam, Shreya, and a plethora of other students at the talk knew him as the guy who visits college campuses, debates liberal ideologies, and embarrasses his opponents. Spencer’s research for her book “Raising Them Right” may provide us insight to his possible agenda: such YouTubers tend to bully the opponents of their ideologies to discourage their votes, and be buddies with their proponents to create a fraternity-like atmosphere.
Why? To discourage votes!
Spencer’s research accentuated how voter suppression is strategically used as an authoritarian tool, particularly targeting young people and minority groups. She highlighted historical examples, such as the Lindy Johnson Act and the Civil Rights Movement, which fought against voter intimidation tactics.
She referenced the Beachhead theory, teleporting us to the dialogue of well-known Republican donors: “Get ourselves on campus then go from there” she quoted. Spencer described these as “war-like references.”
The audience seemed to nod in disappointment. Perhaps our telepathy striked again: if this was true, what has, and will, become of America?
Spencer was here to spark a conversation about civic engagement and the importance of staying informed. While “Raising Them Right” explores the rise of conservative youth movements, the real takeaway was a reminder that young people today have a critical role to play in shaping the future; and it’s crucial to be informed on the myriad of ways organizations from either political spectrum might try to take away our voice. So, we are equipped to steal our voices back.
Spencer left us with a sense of responsibility, encouraging all of us—regardless of political leaning—to recognize the power of our vote and the importance of participating in the democratic process.
