You have probably been bombarded with messages about how the Democratic Party is frantically attempting to regain young men’s support. As a professor who teaches courses in Gender and Sexuality Studies, this recent development has avidly captured my interest “Speaking With American Men: A Strategic Plan” (SAM) is a $20 million plan to “study the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality” (see New York Times). Ilyse Hogue, the former president of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, and John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, are leading the project, whose fundraising pitch lists former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), a one-time NFL player who lost a Senate race to Ted Cruz last year, as part of the SAM project team.

It isn’t just policy experts. Numerous governors have made such an effort a major priority. During her annual State of the State address, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans to help boost young men’s enrollment in higher education and skills training. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont declared what he called “a DEI initiative, which folks on both sides of the aisle may appreciate” to recruit more men into teaching. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who has spoken at length about his own challenges as a teenager, recently announced plans to direct his “entire administration” to find ways to help struggling boys and men. “The well-being of our young men and boys has not been a societal priority,” Moore said in an interview. “I want Maryland to be the one that is aggressive and unapologetic about being able to address it and being able to fix it.”

A report released last month from the data firm Catalist revealed the Democratic Party saw a nine-point drop in support among men aged eighteen to twenty-nine years old between 2020 and 2024, including substantial drops among young men of color. The party has been hemorrhaging support among the group, fifty-six percent of whom supported Donald Trump in 2024, according to one study. Party leaders have come to believe that they have no feasible road back to power if they continue to be unsuccessful in recruiting male voters of the future and lose even more of them to Republicans during next year’s midterms and the 2028 election.

Shauna Daly, a Democratic strategist and cofounder of the Young Men Research Project (see youngmenresearchinitiative.com) argues that candidates need to do more than show young men that they can relate. “Where the Democratic Party has really fallen short with this cohort is that they don’t feel like Democrats are fighting for them,” she said.

Statistics reveal that in every state, women surpass men in the number of college degrees earned. Boys are more likely than girls to be disciplined in class and more likely to fail to graduate high school on time. Men die by suicide at greater percentages than women do and are more likely to self-medicate with illegal drugs and alcohol. And while women increasingly participate in the workforce at higher rates, men have steadily withdrawn from the labor market for quite some time.

While economic deprivation and despair have no doubt contributed to the gravitation of men of all races, ethnicities, and various backgrounds toward Donald Trump, the truth is that other factors are relevant as well. To a sizable percentage of men across race, age, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, and regional background, Donald Trump is the “ultimate representation of manhood.” He is ultra-wealthy (a billionaire), owns multiple businesses and several luxury homes and apartments, and has an attractive wife and millions of followers who practically worship him. Additionally, he possesses a brazen, unapologetic combativeness, swagger, and arrogance that a segment of men admire yet cannot emulate without either actual or potential consequences.

There was a kernel of truth in those who argued that swaths of men viewed former Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidency negatively because she was a woman. Sexism, like racism, is a perverse vice deeply embedded in American society’s fabric, and a number of men are frantically probing the darkest corners of their personas. Misogyny must serve as the antitheses of what manhood personifies. Nonetheless, sexism notwithstanding, the reality is that many men, like their female counterparts, are likely to vote based on pocketbook issues. A lot of young men (and women) believe the American dream has become unattainable. Moreover, the Democratic Party failed to provide any answers regarding what sort of programs or vision could or would aid these men in securing a higher-paying job.

Let’s cut to the chase - manufactured, disingenuous propaganda is unlikely to seduce younger people. This is a generation that has lived their entire lives through a screen. The media environment is a force that they dissect quite effectively. Condescension and insincerity will not endear them to the Democratic Party or anyone else. This is something that Democratic strategists, policy experts, and other supposedly well-informed party honchos need to consider.