WASHINGTON, Aug 3, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US Vice President Kamala Harris's late entry into the White House race has galvanized young Democrats, a group whose participation will be crucial if the party hopes to defeat Donald Trump in November.

When President Joe Biden announced on July 21 -- with two simple messages on X -- that he was withdrawing from the race and endorsing Harris, 28-year-old Stevie O'Hanlon said she felt "relief."

Concerns about the 81-year-old Biden's mental acuity and his grim polling numbers against Trump had sparked "a sense of dread amongst many young people," said O'Hanlon, a member of the youth climate activism group Sunrise Movement.

But Harris, whose candidacy is not even two weeks old, "has generated a degree of enthusiasm that was just not there for Biden," she explained.

For Ethan Nichols, a 22-year-old from Cincinnati, Ohio, that new energy is "palpable on the ground."

"Friends of mine who are not politically engaged, I've seen them reposting memes about Kamala Harris, and, you know, seemingly so excited to finally have a campaign that they feel inspired by," said the Democratic college student, who is very active in politics.

- Megan Thee Stallion and RuPaul -

Harris, who is 59, wants to capitalize on the youthful zeal and has been playing up the fact that the 78-year-old Trump is nearly 20 years her senior.

Her campaign team has been bombarding social media, especially TikTok, with videos of Harris surrounded by rap stars like Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo, who once fronted the hip-hop trio Migos.

Those clips quickly racked up millions of views.

Harris also made an appearance last week on an episode of the reality show "RuPaul's Drag Race" -- taped before Biden left the race -- and gave a virtual speech to a group of young Democrats.

"In this election, we are counting on you to energize, to organize and mobilize," she said.

- 40 million votes -

Making sure young voters turn up to cast their ballots is indeed one of the major challenges facing Democrats this November.

While young Americans traditionally prefer Democrats over Republicans, and many live in key battleground states, it's also true that they don't always vote.
One notable exception was the 2020 presidential election, when young Democrats massively turned out to vote against Trump.

This year, an estimated 40 million people between the ages of 18 and 27 are eligible to vote -- a potential jackpot in what promises to be an extremely close election.

Beyond a strong social media presence, Harris needs to be "making the case for herself, differentiating herself from Biden" to cement her support among young voters, said Ruby Belle Booth, a researcher at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Harris should be "making the case that she can champion the causes that young people care about," such as abortion rights, gun control and environmental causes, Booth told AFP.

Harris's big speech to close out the Democratic National Convention, set for August 22, will be a prime opportunity for her to detail her policy positions and priorities to voters.

Trump, who has already secured the Republican Party's nomination at its convention in Milwaukee last month, had put Biden's age and health at the heart of his campaign strategy.

Since Harris entered the race, he has had to pivot -- finding himself on the back foot on the age question, he has now tried to minimize the issue.

"I thought she was younger," the former president quipped in an interview this week with Fox News.