I remember when Bernie was almost mocked here for putting such faith in young voters

[Tom Rinaldo]

The often repeated retort was that young voters can't be counted on to actually vote, so making a major effort to court their support was ultimately a fool's errand, with that time better spent on GOTV efforts with more reliable elements of the Democratic Party base.

Yes there are more reliable elements of the Democratic Party base who should never be taken for granted, who Democrats need to keep doing outreach to. Yes "young voters" tend to turn out at a lower rate than do "old voters." But young voters, particularly those below 30, tend to break for Democrats at a dramatic rate, usually even more so than do women in general. And that tends to be true in just about every state in the nation. What is even more important though is this: Youth votes are, so to speak, "a growth industry". You can only turn to traditional Democratic voter groups so many times and still hope to extract significantly more votes from them.

The same can't be said for young voters though. Their potential support at the ballot box is far from fully tapped, and the efforts made by Bernie Sanders, among others, to increase their voter turnout have been succeeding even while their participation rate still lags behind other age groups. Rather than see that as a glass half empty, it is more than a glass half full. The potential clearly exists for Democrats to win even greater margins of victory as ever more youth votes get counted.

I am singling out Bernie Sanders for praise here not because he is the only one who has championed young voters. Of course he isn't. But Bernie has been a consistent high profile and highly engaged advocate and campaigner for young votes for at least seven years now, and over that time their ranks have swelled significantly, to the Democratic Party's great benefit. His appeal for a democratic "revolution" has always been pitched for younger ears, and it resonated with large numbers of young voters whose support now is critical to Democrats of all center left persuasions succeeding.

[wryter2000]

1. No matter what you say here

Some folks will be negative.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

2. We have very different memories.

I'll leave it at that.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. OK, I respect that carefully worded expression of opinion

Memories do often differ, and a negative back and forth seldom is useful

[Samrob]

13. Ditto!

[Skittles]

16. THANK YOU

I agree........

[betsuni]

18. Me too. VERY different.

Last edited Tue Nov 29, 2022, 03:09 AM - Edit history (1)

Roy Delfino explains very well, spot on.

[kcr]

27. Same n/t

[Ocelot II]

4. Historically, younger voters have had the lowest turnout of any age group,

so it wasn't unrealistic to question whether it made sense to rely on them. Things have changed recently, though, especially in reaction to issues like abortion and climate change, which directly and especially affect young people. There's nothing like being in the crosshairs of bad policy to get people to put their phones down and vote.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Very true

But there were indications of a tide change afoot with younger voters that some picked up on earlier than others. Climate change has been a much higher priority to young voters than to older groups for years now. So has been the unaffordable cost of higher education. Also an economic backlash against the increasing concentration of wealth into ever fewer hands at the top was evident from the Occupy Wall Street days. The time was ripe to call for and count on greater youth participation in our democracy, and Bernie was among those who picked up on that.

[Maru Kitteh]

6. Do you REALLY want to play "'I remember when' +Bernie" Tom?

Cause I can think of a thing or two as well.

JFC

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. The wiser part of me thinks not, but please do take note of this

I crafted my OP carefully for that reason. I didn't call out anyone, I didn't revisit specific past campaigns and infer anything negative about anyone who ran against Bernie or who supported anyone running against Bernie. I didn't argue that Bernie knew what was best for America whereas others didn't. There were skeptics about Bernie depending on young voters putting him over the top in his campaigns. That I did not make up, and some did rightfully point out that they under performed his expectations at the time, particularly in 2016.

I confined myself here to talking about Berne's efforts to recruit young voters into the process without in any way giving him sole credit for that. I don't think doing so should risk starting a food fight.

[MrsCoffee]

25. + infinity

[ismnotwasm]

7. GenZ is a different breed of cat.

They are the fuck around and find out generation, with technology. Absolutely amazing.

[Tetrachloride]

8. +1. This is the key post

[Autumn]

9. Almost?

Try was and is.

[SYFROYH]

11. I remember. Empowering youth is our future.

[Lunabell]

12. Bernie has been mocked on DU for many reasons.

And mostly for his positions that reasonable Democrats should support.

[malaise]

14. THIS

Rec
Unlike the agenda-driven consultants, Michael Moore and Bernie Sanders know the pulse of the people.

[JudyM]

15. He spent a lot of effort crisscrossing the country in advance of the midterms, ginning up enthusiasm

I was grateful to read about that effort, and the photos of GOTV crowds Donkees posted. Gave me more hope. Educating young voters and raising their spirit so they spread the word is a great weapon against the cynical both-siderism worldview that the other side is using to depress their vote. The way he frames the issues cuts right through that muck.

[diva77]

20. Hear, hear!

Too bad there is so much gaslighting aimed at Bernie's accomplishments, including his extensive grassroots GOTV organization. Ballotopedia has a summary of his endorsements 2018-2022 and his success rate of between 60-70% most years -- impressive considering none of these candidates took corporate money.

https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Bernie_Sanders

Interesting article on Bernie and the youth vote from 2020 here:

https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/bernie-sanders-and-the-myth-of-low-youth-turnout-in-the-democratic-primary/

[DemocraticPatriot]

17. YEP! They finally turned out!!!

I am not holding my breath waiting for all those on this site, who said
"so what! young voters will NEVER turn out!"


Waiting?

Waiting??


Apologies, anyone, all you old fucks ??


(I am an old fuck myself, but I did not believe that the young would sleep forever... and I voted for Joe Biden in 2020)




Crickets, anyone???? lol

[Texaswitchy]

19. Abortion.

Without abortion would they have showed up....?

Will they vote in all the elections big and small.

That is how a group takes over.

[DemocraticPatriot]

21. Abortion got their attention,

no doubt about that....


Voting once helps start a habit,
and the old ones are dying while the young ones are voting...

I prefer to be optimistic.

[Texaswitchy]

22. I hoping so to.

Young people took their rights for granted.

They needed a scare.


Hoping with the Republicans running the House they will continue to pay attention.

They are about to get a civics lesson.

[DemocraticPatriot]

31. they got more than "a scare", if they live in

the wrong state....

[Celerity]

23. We turned out in record numbers in 2018 and 2020, before Roe was overturned, so there is that. nt

[Texaswitchy]

24. Still a wake up call.

The trick is you guys have to vote in all elections.

That is how the Republicans took over the states.

Even the boring elections like for mayor and school boards.

I have worked a lot of elections since 1971.

The Republicans will now running the House and have Supreme Court.

They run the state governments including the election departments.

The youth vote has been lacking over the years.

You guys will have to prove that you are in the game.

2008 the youth vote turned out for President Obama and in 2010 for the midterm no youth vote.

2016 was a real let down for me.
I am being honest.

Now Roe is gone.
So many of us remember the time before Roe.
You guys need to be scared.
Yeah abortion was a big turn out for young women.
Never take your rights for granted..

The next two years will be wild.
Nancy will not be running the House anymore.
The right wing nuts will.
I just hope this country will survive the next two years.

[Celerity]

30. One could also say that another 'trick' is getting Boomers & older to stop voting majority Rethug,

Last edited Tue Nov 29, 2022, 01:32 PM - Edit history (1)

if one is to start to toss blame around (which, I point out, I did not do in my initial reply to you).

Unfortunately, it looks like Gen X overall is sliding harder to the right as well as they age, especially the oldest half or so.

[DemocraticPatriot]

33. Did "Nancy" send you a personal message, that she will not

run for re-election for her house seat in 2024 ??

If so, please enlighten the rest of us!!!!

[Tom Rinaldo]

26. Exactly, The trend line was clearly established pre Roe. Roe was an accelerant, no disputing that

but the turning point predated that. As I wrote above, climate activism brought some youth to the ballot box earlier, as did the skyrocketing cost of a higher education, and social justice issues in general which youth are disproportionaly attuned to. Political awareness among youth has been growing for a decade or more, Occupy Wall Street was a clear example of that There are always a myriad of reasons why social behavior changes, so it is difficult to attribute any significant change to a single cause, but what often gets overlooked is prior groundwork, the organizing that occurs before any social movement rounds a corner.

Climate conditions can be ripe for growing a bumper crop, but you don't get that yield if no one was out there early sowing seeds. Bernie Sanders is one individual, but he was as responsible as any individual I know of for sowing the seeds for greater youth turn out in elections, starting with his national 2016 campaign. No one acts alone. Some may persuasively argue that Barack Obama was the pivotal figure in that regard predating Bernie. But Bernie overtly championed the importance of youth voting in our elections to bring about social change as a core precept of his campaigns. Seeds sown seldom bear immediate fruit. but that fruit began to ripen in 2018, before Roe was overturned.

[48656c6c6f20]

28. I'm pretty sure the young voters were mocked more

As history has repeatedly shown them to be apathetic to voting. But if the Independent Senator from Vermont needs a victim recognition have at it. Yeah! Good job.

[kcr]

29. I guess it's a shame they didn't turn out for him then

[DemocraticPatriot]

32. I think Bernie did what he could...

and most of the "election deniers" got their asses kicked, in the swing states that really mattered....


(of course, in the blood red states, many of them were elected-- but those were not states that the Democrats would seriously contest, anyway...)