Until we reframe what successful adulthood looks like in this country to accurately reflect economic realities, the political establishment will continue failing in its quest to reach young, rural voters. Analysis by Tufts University of the 2024 youth vote revealed that only 42 percent of young voters ages 18-29 cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election, down from 50 percent in 2020 but up three percentage points from the 2016 race. About one-third of those young voters were rural. The 2024 election results showed us several truths, including the clear disconnect in messaging, at least on the national level. Both the data and anecdotal evidence tell us that although the majority of young, rural voters weren’t clamoring to jump aboard the Trump train, many sat out the election because they didn’t feel either candidate truthfully and genuinely spoke to the real issues they face daily. If they want our votes, candidates need to speak fully to the economic and real-world problems that my generation feels are keeping us from realizing what our parents and grandparents were able to have at our age. They should not spend time and money focusing on culturally divisive issues or insulting our intelligence by speaking to issues that they are actively worsening things for us.  The reality for young rural folks is that their communities lack necessary resources and operate within wildly different social hierarchies than urban centers. The desperation and helplessness these truths breed are heightened among rural young people.  For instance, personal vehicles may be viewed as luxuries in urban settings where walkable communities and public transit meet vital daily needs. In rural communities, however, a vehicle becomes a lifeline when the only job you can find is at a Walmart 20 miles away and the nearest city’s public transit doesn’t reach your neighborhood. The odds are even worse when multiple members of the same household rely on a single vehicle. More importantly, politicians and strategists trying to reach these young voters have got to let go of broad misconceptions about Generation Z, perpetuated by ceaseless social commentary that we are lazy, unmotivated and entitled. Even if rural young people have cars and can work, the odds they will advance or obtain career employment are affected by their older bosses' clouded judgment that they are spoiled Zoomers. These social issues extend into all aspects of digital life, including the media. Whether you want to believe it or not, social influence from the right is more effective than moderates and the left like to think, and a lot of young, rural people are consuming it regularly. They’re listening to Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan and Adin Ross. They’re tuning in to “relationship” podcasts and streams that push traditional values and take advantage of downtrodden young men and women seeking answers to improve their life station. Most of this messaging can and does fall on deaf ears to young people whose lives are not imagined by the words of media personalities and those who can hear feasible alternatives to improving their positions in life. Candidates who are looking to win the young, rural vote must provide these solutions alternatively to pundits seeking to uphold outdated forms of masculinity, femininity and family to serve a greater conservative agenda. This is what young, rural voters want to hear candidates say: We understand. We live in a world where it is very hard for you to attain the same things your parents could in the early 2000s. Here’s how we’re going to make it more manageable to buy a home, finance a car, join the workforce and build up income and savings. Gen Z loves our older counterparts to their cores, but we need to see a seismic shift in what they believe constitutes a thriving, successful adult. It cannot hinge solely on buying homes and starting families when you have to work two of the available jobs just to afford rent. Our parents bought homes for $130,000 that today cost $400,000, three times as much. Our incomes have not tripled in that time, however, and so Gen Z can’t swing a down payment at that price. The reasons we’re not buying homes boil down to cold, economic facts, not a lack of work ethic or failure to marry by age 22. We’ve got to trade platitudes like “We see you. We hear you.” For constructive, actionable guidance, that starts and ends with actively listening. Rural residents have a tough road ahead, and we have to take steps now to insulate our communities from the anticipated onslaught of legislation and executive actions a second Trump administration promises to push through. Believe me when I tell you: Young rural voters will remember who did and didn’t throw them a lifeline come 2028. Eric Reeves is a communications fellow with the New Rural Project.