If Biden ignores Gen Z during his State of the Union address, that would be a mistake

President Joe Biden will address the nation Thursday in his State of the Union during a difficult time for his campaign. He's dealing with concerns over his age and mental acumen and taking hits on the policy decisions that his administration has made in recent months.

Biden will try to appeal to as many Democrats as possible while cutting through the MAGA messaging to reach undecided voters.

He must remind the nation the economy is strong and promise it’ll only get stronger in the next four years. He must decide whether calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza – appeasing progressives in the process – is worth risking the country’s relationship with Israel. He must address the reality of post-Roe America while disagreeing with it personally.

There’s a lot riding on this speech and everybody will be watching. Including Gen Z voters.

Gen Z wants lasting change

For Generation Z, the youngest voters in the country, what Biden says could be the difference between an engaged generation and a disaffected one. It seems as though Biden is taking the Democratic political apparatus for granted.

Young people are the ones who organize for the party and encourage voters to participate in the electoral process despite the obvious imperfections of our government system. They are also the ones who are ignored.

To get the president’s attention, a coalition dedicated to Gen Z’s most pressing issues has penned a letter to the Biden administration. It speaks for tens of thousands of organizers across the country from March for Our Lives, Sunrise Movement, Gen-Z for Change and United We Dream Action. The letter covers climate change, democracy in both the United States and abroad, gun violence and immigration.

“However you square it, young people are inheriting a broken and imperfect world,” Natalie Fall, executive director of March for Our Lives, said in a statement. “But as young people step into their political power, we are not accepting things as they are.”

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List of Gen Z demands leaves off abortion rights

What the group fails to mention, though, is the issue of abortion rights. This is the biggest topic of this election. It's a topic Biden has to address.

Two years ago, we lost access to lifesaving health care and started a series of political fights across the country. It is affecting the future that Gen Z is trying to plan for.

For the oldest zoomers and the youngest millennials, the loss of abortion access makes it hard to focus on their personal futures. Whether these voters want children or not, the loss of abortion access nationwide harms their vision of the future.

According to Tufts University's Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 44% of voters ages 18-29 prioritized abortion rights in the 2022 midterm elections. Compare this with the 21% who prioritized inflation, or the 13% who prioritized crime.

Biden must remind Gen Z he's different from Trump

Now that Super Tuesday is over and presidential candidate Nikki Haley has dropped out on the Republican side, we're guaranteed a Biden-Trump rematch. We are “back to normal,” but only in theory.

There is an anxiety permeating the country, but we must remember the fear of the Trump presidency and the election denying that followed.

Trump's presidency was defined by a type of cruelty that ultimately hurts all of us and hurls us closer to the possibility of escalated international chaos.

While we can never return to our ways of life before 2020, Biden’s State of the Union address is an opportunity for him to remind us of the failures of the Trump administration.

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You can draw a line between the continued spread of COVID-19 and Trump's failure to act in the first few months of the pandemic. You can blame Trump for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the subsequent rollback of women's rights and continued fight to protect them at the state level.

Gen Z needs to remember that, and Biden should remind us.

Gen Z is burned out, but we have until November to be heard

We all know Biden is going to address the economy and the conflict in Gaza, but it's unlikely that what he actually says will satisfy the discontent that young, progressive voters are feeling. Based on Vice President Kamala Harris' remarks Sunday, he will likely call for a short-term cease-fire.

He will likely talk about abortion in abstract terms, instead of talking about the individual parents suffering because of the legislative chaos across the states.

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In short, he will try to reassure such voters everything is under control. It’s a completely different country than the one we existed in last election cycle, when COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd were top of mind for most Americans.

In 2024, we are staring down the possibility of a global war and the destruction of our rights within the United States. Gen Z is burned out, and our lives have only just begun. If the president wants to ensure our votes in November, he needs to start sharing his plans for the next four years.

Whatever Biden talks about Thursday, it will set the tone for the rest of this election. Hopefully, he remembers the young, energized voters watching. We will decide.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno and Facebook facebook.com/PequenoWrites

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's State of the Union will likely ignore Gen Z. It will hurt him