就是最常見的大多數，僅此而已。

“拜登宣佈退出總統競選！

卡瑪拉·哈里斯

仔細一聊，發現了一個有意思的點：在非常短的時間裡，哈里斯意外地在年輕人中爆火了。

成千上萬在網路上成長起來的年輕人，因為網際網路上的一個契機，開始認識哈里斯，進而開始關注這一次的總統選舉。

璐璐寫了一篇文章，分享了這個有趣的現象。我不知道她的看法能有多大代表性。

2024年7月21日，喬·拜登退出了與唐納德·特朗普的總統競選。同一天，卡瑪拉·哈里斯宣佈競選2024年總統。在過去的兩週裡，她重新激勵了全國數百萬對未來感到懷疑的美國人，並贏得了許多Z世代和千禧一代選民的支援。

那麼，她是如何做到的呢？

作為一名生活在藍州的年輕大學生，我和我的同齡人都很關注我們國家當前的動盪局勢。我和許多同學都目睹了最高法院推翻《羅伊訴韋德案》的裁決，這項法案原本是將墮胎權利作為一項基本權利受到保護。這項法案被推翻後，已有14個州不同程度地禁止了墮胎（有些州是大部分禁止墮胎，而有些州則完全禁止墮胎，甚至強姦或亂倫都不例外）。

我們對政府感到失望，也對現任總統喬·拜登感到不滿。他是我們國家的象徵，但我們看到他最近在演講和公開場合中的表現很不穩定。四年的總統任期似乎讓他變成了一個大家都不願再看到的老人。這就是為什麼過去幾個月裡，我和同學們對即將到來的總統選舉感到沮喪。拜登和特朗普之間有什麼區別？他們都是老年白人男性，似乎都不關心美國人民，也沒有和人民建立聯絡。那我們還要選誰？

作為年輕一代，Z世代感到沮喪，因為看到這兩個老爺爺仍然站在臺上辯論，而數百萬人除了旁觀外無能為力。我們對6月27日拜登和特朗普之間的辯論感到無奈。特朗普的幼稚行為在每個人的意料之中，但大家都對拜登似乎無法正常表現感到失望。有些人甚至猜測拜登可能患有老年痴呆。

6月27日：拜登和特朗普的辯論讓全國感到沮喪，“不知道該笑還是該哭”。

7月13日：特朗普在一場集會上遭遇暗殺未遂。這反而激勵了共和黨人，令民主黨人感到士氣低落。 

7月17日：拜登宣佈感染COVID-19。全國都在擔心他這樣的年紀能否挺過新冠病毒。 

7月21日：拜登退出2024年總統競選，並支援副總統卡瑪拉·哈里斯接替他。卡瑪拉·哈里斯開始了她的總統競選。 

8月5日：明尼蘇達州州長蒂姆·沃爾茲作為卡瑪拉·哈里斯的競選助手亮相。

在卡瑪拉·哈里斯宣佈她的競選行動之前，許多Z世代選民對選舉投票並沒有太強的意願。很多人的感覺可能是：“這有什麼意義呢？我為什麼要關心喬·拜登？他太老了，不可能再做四年總統了。”

但在喬·拜登辭職、卡瑪拉·哈里斯接任的這兩週裡，人們不僅在談論她，而且我這個年紀的很多人似乎真的喜歡她。許多Z世代和千禧一代的人覺得她很有趣、機智、聰明，並且有能力在今年擊敗特朗普。

大家都鬆了一口氣，因為卡瑪拉·哈里斯現在59歲，相比之下，喬·拜登已經81歲，而唐納德·特朗普也已經78歲了。

在競選的最後階段讓卡瑪拉·哈里斯成為總統候選人，這一舉動雖然有風險，但也帶來了好處——特朗普的競選團隊花費了大量時間和金錢來嘲笑拜登，將他描繪成一個衰老、無力掌控國家的老人。“瞌睡喬”是特朗普用來嘲諷拜登的綽號，意指他的行為遲緩。每當喬·拜登在演講中出錯時，特朗普就會把這些影片片段上傳到社交媒體上進行嘲諷。“你們真的想讓這個老傢伙競選總統嗎？至少我的大腦還在運轉！”這似乎是右翼宣傳特朗普的方式。

然而，突然之間，拜登不再競選總統了。現在是卡瑪拉·哈里斯，一位年輕的女性——位元朗普年輕得多。她充滿活力，頭腦比拜登清晰，在演講中表現出色。共和黨人花了幾個月的時間攻擊拜登年老、衰弱、不適合擔任總統。而現在，這些都不重要了，因為一個更年輕的女性剛剛取代了拜登，“希望”再次回來了。

人們高興的是，卡瑪拉·哈里斯更年輕，她是“藍色”的，她的個性討人喜歡。但卡瑪拉突然走紅還有另一個因素——Z世代把卡瑪拉·哈里斯變成了一個爆紅的“流行現象”。

6月7日，英國歌手兼詞曲創作人Charli XCX釋出了一張名為《brat》的音樂專輯。這張流行音樂專輯在美國年輕人中迅速走紅。專輯的音樂充滿“趣味”，它的整體歌詞和氛圍與年輕人的目標產生了共鳴：享受樂趣、派對狂歡、儘管有缺點也要愛自己，並體驗青春期的狂野和混亂情感。這張專輯發行後很快登上了美國音樂排行榜的榜首。

那麼，一張流行音樂專輯和卡瑪拉·哈里斯以及2024年總統大選有什麼關係呢？

你需要理解的是，Z世代的情感很容易受到網際網路和流行文化趨勢的影響。我們已經掌握了利用社交媒體的力量，讓一件事看起來是正面還是負面。

因此，自從卡瑪拉·哈里斯宣佈競選總統以來，Z世代在社交媒體上，一直在使用《brat》專輯中的片段、歌曲和網路笑話，將她變成了一個一夜爆紅的“流行熱點”。

以下是一些爆火的TikTok影片，這些影片利用了卡瑪拉·哈里斯的公開露面或演講作為“梗”。請注意，其中許多“梗”都包括了我之前提到的Charli XCX的專輯《brat》中的歌曲。

卡瑪拉·哈里斯在一次演講中說了一句讓Z世代和千禧一代覺得非常搞笑的話。她說：“你以為你是從椰子樹上掉下來的嗎？哈哈哈。你存在於你所生活的所有環境中以及你之前的一切背景中。”我們覺得這句話特別好笑，很多TikTok影片中的“梗”都是圍繞這句話展開的。

多家新聞頻道已經報道了《brat》專輯與卡瑪拉·哈里斯人氣飆升之間這種奇怪的現象。

沒有人能預料到，卡瑪拉·哈里斯在Z世代選民中的人氣，會因為一位英國流行歌手在她宣佈競選總統的同時釋出了一張專輯而迅速上升。然而，透過將卡瑪拉·哈里斯與一個流行文化現象聯絡起來，年輕人對她的看法變得比原本更加積極。請看上面展示的影片中，卡瑪拉·哈里斯被描繪成一個充滿活力、外向、有趣且善於社交的人。

發行《brat》專輯的藝術家Charli XCX後來在X平臺（原Twitter）上釋出了這樣一條資訊：

這是一條有趣的推文，既承認了卡瑪拉·哈里斯因《brat》專輯而獲得了超高人氣，也表明了Charli XCX正式支援卡瑪拉·哈里斯成為下一任總統。卡瑪拉·哈里斯無意中撞上了大運——成千上萬的年輕人透過釋出段子和小影片來為她做宣傳，而且現在他們正前往投票站投票支援她。

這些梗和笑話挺好玩，但它們也不容被忽視，因為它們為卡瑪拉贏得了許多年輕人的支援。這些年輕人原本不關心此次選舉。不過，他們也需要承擔責任，研究他們支援的候選人，而不是盲目地跟隨熱點和潮流。這也讓我對一些同齡人有些擔憂——儘管最近的這些爆梗和網路潮流讓他們對當前的政治稍微感興趣，但對於我們這個年紀的人來說，進一步研究並瞭解他們所崇拜的政客是至關重要的。

雖然許多年輕人對卡瑪拉·哈里斯的形象持積極態度，但也有人的確在研究她的背景並批判她的立場。在擔任美國參議員和副總統之前，她曾是舊金山地方檢察官，後來成為加利福尼亞州的總檢察長。左翼批評她作為檢察官時的立場，以及她在那段時間的行為是否公平或遵守道德。卡瑪拉·哈里斯和喬·拜登也因他們在當前以巴問題上的立場受到許多年輕人的質疑。

儘管卡瑪拉·哈里斯相較於喬·拜登可能是一個令人耳目一新的人物，但我和許多同齡人仍然認為，批評我們的政客，以及不盲目崇拜他們是重要的。作為一名年輕人，我認為我們不應該僅僅因為在TikTok上看到他們的一個搞笑影片而做出選擇。我們需要看到他們願意傾聽我們的需求，並且我們需要看到他們的誠實和可信度。

卡瑪拉·哈里斯可能透過成為網路紅人而“撞上了大運”，但歸根結底，她仍然是個政治家，而不是一個“媽媽”或“酷阿姨”。儘管她的競選活動對許多人來說令人振奮和耳目一新，但我們仍然要記住，在投票時做出明智的選擇是非常重要的。

As a young college student living in a blue state, my peers and I are up to date with the current uneasy state of our country. Many of my classmates and I watched in horror as the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, a law that protected abortions as a fundamental right. Since then, fourteen states have banned abortions to various degrees of intensity (some states have a near-total ban, while other states totally ban it with no exceptions for rape or incest). After generations of progress that led the U.S. to become the much more diverse, accepting country it is today in terms of LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, and racial equality, we’re watching as these essential laws are taken away from people in real time.

We’re frustrated at our government, and we’re frustrated by Joe Biden, our current president. He’s the face of our country, but we can see that he’s been recently fumbling through his speeches and public appearances. Four years of presidency seems to have aged him into an old man who no one wants to have leading the country anymore. That’s why for the past few months, my classmates and I have been groaning about the upcoming election. What’s the difference between Trump and Biden, if they’re both just two old white men who don’t really seem to care or relate to the people of America?

Being the younger generation, Gen Z feels frustrated at seeing these two incredibly old grandfathers still standing on the podiums, arguing with each other while millions of people can’t do anything but watch. We had no choice but to laugh at how horribly the June 27th debate between Biden and Trump went. Nobody was surprised that Trump’s behavior was childish, but everyone was disappointed that Biden seemed to be unable to hold himself together properly. Some even have gone to speculate that Biden has dementia.

The past two months have been a lot in terms of this election season.

Before Kamala Harris announced her campaign, many Gen-Z voters did not feel strongly about voting. I’m sure many of the feelings were, what’s the point? Why should I care about Joe Biden? He’s gotten too old. There’s no way he can possibly keep doing this for another four years.

But in the two weeks since Joe Biden has resigned and Kamala Harris has stepped up, not only are people talking about her, but people my age seem to really like her. A lot of Gen Z people and millennials think she’s funny, she’s witty, she’s smart, and that she’s capable of beating Trump this year. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that Kamala Harris is 59 years old, in comparison to Joe Biden being 81 years old and Donald Trump being 78 years old.

The move to make Kamala Harris the presidential candidate so late in the game was risky, but comes with its benefits– Trump’s campaign has spent lots of time and money mocking Biden and portraying him as a senile man, too old to run the country. “Sleepy Joe” is the nickname Trump coined to mock Biden’s sluggish behavior. Whenever Joe Biden messed up his speeches, Trump would post those video clips onto social media to mock him. “Do you really want this old guy running for president? At least my brain is functioning!” Seems to be how the right is marketing Trump.

Then, all of the sudden, Biden is no longer running for presidency. Now it’s Kamala Harris, a younger woman– much younger than Trump. She’s youthful, more clear-headed than Biden, and witty during her speeches. Republics had spent months targeting Biden for being older, for being too senile and unfit. And now, none of that matters, because a younger woman has just replaced Biden and “hope” has returned.

So, people are happy that Kamala is younger, that she’s “blue”, that she has a likable personality. But there’s another factor that plays into Kamala’s sudden rise in popularity– Gen Z has turned Kamala Harris into a 梗.

On June 7th, Charli XCX (a british singer and songwriter), released a music album called “brat”. This pop music album has blown up in popularity with the youth in America. The music is “fun”, and the overall lyrics and mood of the album resonate with the goals of young people: to have fun, party, love yourself despite your flaws, and experience the emotions of being wild and messy in your youth. This album soared to the top of the US music charts after it was released. Remember 2023, when the Barbie movie came out and everyone called that summer “Barbie summer”? Now, 2024 is called “Brat summer”.

This is what the album cover looks like.

Now what does a pop album have to do with Kamala Harris and the 2024 presidential race? See, what you need to understand is that Gen-Z’s feelings about certain topics are easily swayed via the internet and pop culture trends. We’ve mastered the power of using social media to make things appear positive or negative. As such, since Kamala Harris has announced her campaign for presidency, Gen-Z social media creators have been using clips, songs from the “brat” album, and internet jokes to turn her into a “meme” (梗). Here are some viral tiktok videos that use Kamala Harris’s public appearances or speeches as “memes”. Notice how many of these memes include songs from “brat”, Charli XCX’s album that I mentioned previously.

https://www.tiktok.com/@jqsids/video/7394543209814248737 This video has 16.7 million views and 3.3 million likes on tiktok. It includes a song from Charli XCX’s album, “brat”.

https://www.tiktok.com/@theonlycb3/video/7394591059856084255 Here is a social media comedian re-enacting the “Coconut Tree” speech. It has over 500k likes on tiktok.

https://www.tiktok.com/@aedevii/video/7394891030337686816 Here is a tiktok video of Kamala Harris with over 900k likes on tiktok.

https://www.tiktok.com/@bettythanrevenge/video/7392713817110793518 Here is a tiktok video of Kamala Harris, which includes a song from Charli XCX’s album, “brat”.

https://www.tiktok.com/@flextillerson/video/7388373417835121962 This is a tiktok video of Kamala Harris with almost 700k likes, which includes a song from Charli XCX’s album, “brat”.

Kamala Harris said something during one of her speeches that gen-z and millennials found hilarious. She says, “you think you just fell out of a coconut tree? Hahaha. You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you”. We found this incredibly funny, and you’ll see in many of the tiktok videos that the meme is based around this one line.

Multiple news channels have reported on this strange phenomenon between the “brat” album and Kamala Harris’s rise in popularity.

Nobody could have predicted that Kamala Harris’s popularity with gen-z voters would have sprung up because a British pop artist released an album during the same time Kamala announced her presidential campaign. But by associating Kamala Harris with a pop culture sensation, the youth feel a lot more positive about her than they would have otherwise. Notice how in the videos I showed, Kamala Harris is portrayed to be lively and outgoing, fun and social. Charli XCX, the artist who created “brat”, would later post this on X (formally Twitter):

This is a funny tweet that acknowledges the popularity Kamala has gained due to the album, but it’s also Charli XCX officially endorsing Kamala Harris as the next president. Kamala Harris struck gold accidentally– thousands of youths are doing her marketing for her by posting memes and song remixes, and now they’re going to the polls to vote for her.

The memes and jokes are fun, but they should also be taken seriously as they’ve gained Kamala the favor of many young people… Young people who otherwise wouldn’t have cared to vote in this election. Young people who need to take responsibility and research the people they’re supporting instead of blindly following memes and trends. I’m concerned for some of my classmates– I’m glad that the recent “memes” and internet trends have made them interested in current politics a little bit more, but it’s crucial for people my age to do their research and to look into the politicians they’re idolizing.

While many young people feel positively about Kamala Harris’s image, there are those who are also making sure to research her background and critique her stances. Before serving as a US senator and then the Vice President, she was the San Francisco District Attorney and later the Attorney General of California. The left has criticized her position as a prosecutor, and whether her actions during that time were fair or ethical. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are also both facing scrutiny by many youths over their position on the current Israel-Palestine issue. Although Kamala Harris may be a refreshing figure in comparison to Joe Biden, many of my peers and I feel as though it’s still important to criticize our politicians and to not fully idolize them. As a young person myself, I think it’s important that we do not pick our politicians just because we thought a tiktok video of them was funny. We need to see that they’re willing to listen to our wants and demands, and we need to see that they’re honest and trustworthy. Kamala Harris may have “struck gold” by becoming an internet meme, but at the end of the day she’s still a politician, not a “mom” or “cool aunt”. And while her campaign has been exciting and refreshing for many, it’s important to remember that we still have to make informed choices when it comes to voting.

Images from NPR