Young voters aren’t confused. They’re done.

A new Harvard poll shows Democratic approval among young Americans crashing from 48% to 23%.

That’s not drift. That’s collapse. And not just in numbers, but in trust. In belief. In patience.

For a while, Democrats had the benefit of the doubt. Young people gave it to them, over and over—because the alternative was worse, because there was still a flicker of hope, because maybe this time would be different.

But it wasn’t. Not after 2020. Not after Roe. Not after Gaza. Not after the endless caution dressed up as strategy.

Now, the doubt has turned into something colder. Something harder to reverse. Not anger. Not even cynicism. Just distance.

You see it in the way young voters talk about politics now. Not with fire, but fatigue. Not with slogans, but shrugs. They’re not waiting for Democrats to act. They’re moving on. Because at some point, the realization hits: maybe this isn’t a party in waiting. Maybe this is just the party of waiting.

Last week, Hakeem Jeffries and Cory Booker staged a sit-in on the Capitol steps to protest Republican spending cuts. It was meant to channel outrage. Instead, it felt like a memorial service. Booker called it a “moral moment.” But what was actually accomplished? Where was the plan? Where was the fight?

Too often, Democratic leadership confuses symbolism for substance. They treat performance as progress. And in doing so, they lose the people who most need something real. Something urgent. Something now.

Meanwhile, Republicans don’t hesitate. They rewrite laws, redraw maps, reshape courts. They know power. They use it. Democrats recite norms while the other side breaks them in broad daylight.

This isn’t about bad messaging. It’s about bad math. You cannot keep losing young voters and expect to have a future.

And yet here we are.

There’s an inconvenient truth hiding in plain sight. The biggest threat to the Democratic Party isn’t disinformation or dark money or Trump. It’s the absence of conviction in its own ranks. The inability—or unwillingness—to wield power as if people’s lives depend on it.

Because they do.

2026 is coming. And the question isn’t whether young people will turn out. It’s whether there’s still a party worth turning out for.