General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow can Democrats win this election?
Number one is to have huge numbers of youth voting. So how do we get the youth to go vote?
What issues are the youth most concerned with, and how can we as a party come together to address those issues?
There are many young people who read DU, and it certainly would be good for all of us to hear your ideas. Speak up, please.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Now I don't mean exactly the Obama campaign motto, but something light and easy to understand. It worked for Obama and it will work for the next president. They should be worried about the national debt.....that is going to strangle the economy huge in 30 years right in their prime which will not be fun especially since they are getting a late start compared to other generations. I feel so sorry for them. They are going to be less wealthy than other generations for sure.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)what they worry about... that and finding a good job.
derby378
(30,252 posts)Between crushing student debt and diminished job prospects, many college graduates are facing a bleak future. Hell, even with 12 years of administrative experience under my belt, it's hard for me to find a permanent job, too.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)That is an oldie but goody. We all now have chicken to feast on. It worked.
What then is today's message? What is it our youth want to know they can believe in that we can deliver? I say we, because we old folks are now in power.
derby378
(30,252 posts)George W. Bush and the Tea Party are dismantling it. We can bring it back.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)You can become president if you work hard enough.
I'm thinking if you work hard enough you too can be 'Middle Class' is not what kids aspire to. But I could be wrong?
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)You can get new voters out once. If you don't actually carry through on the promises you made to them that they care about, you're not going to see them back again for decades, if ever.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)And the only way the debt should be fixed is by raising taxes on the hyper-rich. If you're thinking of an "austerity" campaign you might as well just give Turtleman the majority leader's office right now.
WhiteTara
(29,704 posts)galvanize young women too. SCOTUS has directly affected millions of women and especially, young women.
tecelote
(5,122 posts)Jobs, education, equal rights... the list goes on.
Things are slipping away, not growing.
This is the first generation ever to have to worry about spending decades paying off their student loans. With fewer, and lower quality, jobs available.
America is not the beacon of hope anymore. It has become the burden of our youth.
msongs
(67,395 posts)Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Vincardog
(20,234 posts)to Treat their employees as valuable assets instead of expendable cogs.
Promise that if elected we will:
Reign in the out of control Supreme Court,
Institute a minimum income,
Mandate every worker has at least 1 month paid vacation every year,
Publicly finance elections and make it illegal for any elected official to go to work for any company in an industry they had regulated,
reverse Citizens United and pass Constitutional Amendments declaring that
Corporations are not people and have no human rights.
Money is property not speech.
The SCOTUS has no authority to create laws.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)As Lyndon Johnson supposedly said: "I know it's not true, but let's make the sons of bitches deny it."
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)Not even that many read it like the older crowd does. This place is geared toward older people and non minorities.
Look around.
Do you see the young people here?
No. You don't.
Look again.
Do you see all the minorities?
No. You don't.
Democrats need more young voters and to keep a hold on the minority vote. Barack Obama won't be running to pull the minority vote in for us. DU won't be helping pull those voters into the party unless we start talking about their political interests.
I know, I know. I should shut up and not mention the fact that we do absolutely no outreach here on this site to those groups.
I should not say that DU is older, whiter, maler, and straighter than the party as a whole and that unless we change that DU will not be helping draw any NEW democratic voters to our side.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Now, can you address the questions of how?
As for the makeup of DU, i can't tell race or gender, nor do i try much to discern those qualities. DU, afaict, is as open and non-discriminatory as can possibly be, with the exception that conservative ranting is quite excluded.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)He summed it up pretty good.
BTW. Minorities and feminists get alert stalked here by those who are here. Thats shows the level of animosity towards those two groups here. I got alerted and hidden last night for saying " doesn't take much". 5-2 hide. For saying something you could post to me right now and nobody would even notice or alert it. Why? I have decided it is the make up of DU and hatred towards me personally for saying that DU is very white, old, and male. If this is how young(me) minorities are treated here...... No wonder none of us stay for very long.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I summed up what I've mainly heard from white younger people. I don't have a lot of young PoC in my circles, and I suspect there are several other issues they would raise in addition, such as problems with the 'justice' system and immigration. It's insane that so many black men wind up in jail, often for crimes that see white offenders get suspended sentences, or even let off. And that people are waiting 20 years for green cards, or living in constant fear of deportation. If you've lived in this country for years without committing any crime apart from maybe crossing the border without approval, why the hell do we think you should be 'sent back', or have to go through insanely expensive, long, and torturous proceedings to maybe, maybe get the 'right' to live here?
bravenak
(34,648 posts)I saw somebody on here complain that those immigrants at the border had 2 or 3 children each and that they are too poor to have 'that many' children. 2 or 3 is average for an american family, but some democrats here actually begrudge them that comfort. Apparently poor people should't have kids and should just ethnically cleanse themselves from the face of the earth like Shakers.
People on DU post black on black crime stats (never white on white) to 'prove' that blacks are more violent.
We are tired of being treated by both parties like an after thought or a special interest group that they can use for votes and then ignore us or tell us that all of our problems are because of the 'breakdown' of black families ( they say that from their soapboxes of liberal truthiness), praising the founding fathers( that wrote slavery into our laws), and being stupidly nostalgic for times long past that would suck for us ( anybody thats is brown or female).
Liberals forget sometimes that they won't win without the black vote or the youth vote or the gay vote or the female vote. They spend too much time trying to placate the middle and trying to pull conservatives to our side and waste time on independents while forgetting their own voters.
Instead of just doing the right thing and saying fuck what republicans think, we bullshit ourselves into a position where our own voters don't trust us to be any different than the otherside.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)But then I have accumulated over 30,000 posts.
I feel i have to interject that you are not listening to me. Is it because i am old, or what?
I asked for advice on how to get young people involved. It is a hard question to answer, and that is why i asked. I'd appreciate a response from you that is on topic. But, whatever.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Speak with them not to them. Ask what they want from us.
1. School costs too much.
2. Jobs pay to little
3. Discrimination is very active and young minorities are criminalized
4. Stop waving around your post count like it makes you better than others
5. Go where they are and invite them over
6. Have some groups here for them
7. Don't attack the youth for not voting, it is our fault they don't vote
8. Stop pandering to idiots
9. Support our president. They love him way more than older Dems do.
10. Stop the nostalgia. They look back and see shit they never want to experience, while the older dem look back and want to do the same things over again that will not get enough support to work.
11. Stop thinking they are stupid. Engage and take their suggestions seriously.
12. Stop letting the Koch brothers and the RNC be the ones spending all the millions on black college students. Look like we care more than republicans.
AND BROADCAST EVERYTHING WE DO TO THE MEDIA ALL DAY EVERYDAY. EVERY VOTE NEEDS TO LOOK LIKE A SOTU ADDRESS.
YOU NEED MORE ASK ME.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)That "In your face" reactionary style you exhibit.
I used to be that way, totally.
What I have discovered over years of activism is that the use of that style is best used against those who stand in opposition, and that with those who were united with me i would take a kinder, gentler approach.
Many of the things you list are the same as the youth of my younger years demanded. But because we were not united and friendly with each other, we ended up divided and found ourselves on the losing sides. However, we did accomplish much and now that we are in power, so we can make change happen.
Just my observations, take them as you will.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Come back to the darkside Robert. We miss you.
Btw. It works. Republicans have been smashing on us by using the in your face approach. The base loves it. Our will love it too.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Like I say, i now pick and choose who gets the meat of that action.
As for DU and your experience, i will say i get much the same stalking and alerting, so i get what you are experiencing.
People here are quite sensitive and can knee-jerk quite easily, but all-in-all, they our our best friends.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)The fact that we argue about serious topics proves we are not republicans.
People here need to not alert stalk all the black people. It makes us look just like the other side. That's why i rarely alert and will not be doing so in the future if i stay on this board for much longer.
My generation's time is coming soon and my generation is actually more liberal and less sensitive. We will get shit done without eating each other for dinner.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)Totally agree, I'm a teacher and am stunned to see how much tuition costs. Heck just my parking permit was $800 this year. That used to buy you a year's tuition. I'm also appalled at what publishers get away with when charging for books, again hundreds each semester. Especially when they update their books every couple of years with merely the most minor changes solely so students can't buy a cheaper used version online. They also make sure students can't buy the "non-US" version which again are a fraction the cost. Students should not be flirting with 6 digits of debt when they get out of school, that's insane and was certainly not the prevailing attitude about college 20+ years ago
Yes, that's not just restricted to the young though, even though the newer jobs opening up tend to be lower paying on average
Again, true but hardly restricted to the young. You could make a pretty good case that they have it better off than their parents even though there's still a long ways to go
Agree, if anything a high post count means someone has too much time on their hands
Sure, where are they?
Excellent idea
Yes and no, ultimately they're responsible for voting but they are bombarded by a lot of messages which have the effect of convincing them it really doesn't matter which candidate wins. Few of them stop and take the time to closely scrutinize politics though you could say that about the population in general. It's just that older people are more stubbornly set in their voting patterns and don't tend to skip elections
Not sure what you mean by that, sounds good though
I can't prove or disprove that, personally I like our president and his newly found backbone now more than ever. Any idea what the consensus view towards Hillary is among the young?
Maybe I'm not old enough (47) to remember, but the 60s ain't comin' back nor would I think most people want them back if we saw at how bigoted so many people in the country were back then, at least openly
Don't know what to add
You'll have to help me out on that, I didn't know they were. In any case I can't seriously see that being a demographic that's going to vote Republican any time soon, if ever
One point I think you should add:
* Ensure them that Social Security and other programs will still be around in 30-50 years and we (the Dems) will do whatever it takes to keep them solvent. Goofy Republican ideas about privatizing it should stay just that - goofy ideas. Same with health care, which seems to have upset many young progressives (at least ones I know) - I can see where the ACA looks like a "youth tax" to many. They need to be shown that Repub alternatives are way out there (health savings accounts?! Really??). These are areas where libertarians have particularly been swooning the young; libertarians may be right about looser laws on social issues and reluctance to get involved overseas but are dead wrong on the "every man for himself" attitude towards social programs. Usually the Dems are right on most of these issues, especially the more progressive ones
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Number 12. Sigh..... The koch's recently opened up a scholarship program to students at historically black colleges and universities. The kids that attend those universities are predominately middle to upper middle class, the demographic that votes republican. The RNC i believe it is, just pumped funding to outreach centers or the equivalent into those same exact colleges. They are trying to indoctrinate future young black leaders into their ideology and they are choosing wisely. That is where Black people look to for leaders in their communities. They are quietly trying to take them and nobody notices but other black people. We cannot tell them not to take the money. It would be wrong. But it will breed feelings of friendship towards conservatives. The UNCF will be distributing the Koch scholarships, i believe. That's why i worry about young black people getting welcomed into the party. If we are not welcoming they have a home waiting with the people helping to fund theur educations. The Koch brothers.
9. Hillary..... Most people i know do not care. They want a primary with a lot of choices.
Young people are all over the internet. They are just not as PC as we are and we would have to stop our pearl clutching and couch fainting to get to them. Most people i know are into gaming. There are streaming channels and ways to interact. I do it.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)Did not know that about the Koch Brothers. How much money are they dropping do you know? I would imagine to them it falls under the "worth a shot" category, but I'm still pretty skeptical they'll make serious inroads. But hey, when you're up against a sizable demographic that's only voting in the single digits for your candidate I guess you have nowhere to go but up.
That's what I suspected about Hillary, I just wanted to hear it. But then I never thought the youth vote was ever part of her intended demographic even back in '08, much less a potential '16 run.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)http://wyso.org/post/historically-black-college-opens-republican-chapter
They gave 25 million to start. I really don't think they will get many takers ( on their ideology),but they will get some.
Nobody i know seems to want a familiar face they have seen around the main stage like Hillary, but they will vote for her if she's the nominee. Everybody seems to be excited for a primary.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(107,922 posts)SMC22307
(8,090 posts)I have no idea of anyone's age or race in this thread, other than yours, of course, since you remind us every chance you get.
Outreach all you want, but stop assigning blame to politically active "older, whiter, maler" members of DU. Anyone can find this site, just as I did early last year. Nothing is prohibiting "younger, blacker, browner" voters, male or female, from joining this site.
And Skinner has made it clear in ATA that there is no alert-stalking. Why do you keep beating that drum?
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Why don't you stop noticing what i write so much, huh?
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)You do understand that it's an open discussion board, right? And you don't get to control others' actions. That is a curiosity from some on this board: insistence that others are obsessed/stalking, with demands that certain members not reply to them. One of the hosts of the AA group has it down to a science.
I hit upon your post in this thread thinking maybe *this* is the time you offer up something of substance. But nope, it's more tiresome "old whities suck" bullshit.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)One of the hosts of AA? Me? Or are you calling out another member? That's not to nice to talk about her behind her back. Tsk tsk!
You seem to think my posts are about you. You should explore that. Do they resemble you in some way? I can assure you, i never think of you before i post something.
I hope you are finished attacking me. I feel put upon..... Immeasurably oppressed.... Oh, how can i bear the idea of you not liking me..... I find myself..... Going into a decline.... Your attention flatters me but, i shall try to live without it...
I know that i am pretty awesome, so i can see how it would be hard to pass up the opportunity to chat with such a fine person as myself. Many people have trouble staying away from me. I'm magnetic.
Are you done?
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Our one or two exchanges? LOL
Seriously, bravenak, don't flatter yourself.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)I know. I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and i love myself. Doing it right now. Oh, and my many witticisms delight my very own soul. Yes, yes, i can see why you feel pulled in my direction. Like i said before. Many feel the same way about me that you and i do. It's totally understandable. It happens so often i can hardly understand it myself.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)And I've yet to be dazzled.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)It's obvious to all and sundry, from the Wall to Dorne.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Original!
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Had to goggle Dorne, eh?
I told you that you couldn't resist me. Few can. I get it.
Response to bravenak (Reply #62)
Warren DeMontague This message was self-deleted by its author.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)I had not heard it sung out loud, i admit, i sung it myself to a different tune, but this was a nice rendition.
I secretly have read all of the asoiaf novels and the chapters that have been released from TWOW.
It is my favorite series and i was so happy they decided to make the show. I tend to forget that those places don't exist since i like to think of myself as living in The North and i tend to be Starkish. I label people in life based on the series.
Response to bravenak (Reply #66)
Warren DeMontague This message was self-deleted by its author.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)I always end up as Jon Snow. The bastard! I love the books so much that i actually hate people who don't like the series. So i never ask if they like it or the show,because i hate hating people for that.
And the show watchers who refuse to read the series are the bane of my existence. My phone rings after every episode with people asking "what just happened?". Hands down, best series of all time.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Still not dazzled.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)It's very noticeable.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Just like older people, voters just old enough to vote want jobs, and they want jobs that they've trained for, not just 'burger flipping jobs'. Quality of the job matters. They also want higher pay for any job they have to work, since, by and large, minimum wage jobs are also, oddly enough, suckier jobs to work than higher paid jobs.
They also don't want to be drowned in student loan debt, especially debt that's going to stick with them forever. Student loans need to be either no-interest, or *very* low interest, and the government needs to crack down harder on 'drop-out mills'.
And yeah, stereotype though it might be, they wouldn't mind marijuana legalization.
Those are the things I hear about from younger folks. I do kind of expect to hear more about birth control and reproductive choice issues in the not too distant future, but haven't really seen it cropping up much lately.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)The republicans in Florida actually passed a form of MM. The republican governor signed it. You think maybe the republicans see the writing on that wall?
How can we relate student debts and work issues to this year's elections? How should our message read? Should it be complicated or simplified?
I remember how Kerry was a mind-bender in some of his messaging and how simple Obama was 4 years later. Seems simple, simply works.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Give us the House and Senate, and we WILL ...
(insert specific steps here)
The Republican's 'Contract with America' was a good electoral concept, even if in execution it was a 'Contract on America'.
Tell them what you'll do for them, then do your damndest to actually do it when you get in office.
If you still get blocked, at least put it on record, and show that pretty much the entire party tried to get it done. And try again every so often.
The 50 votes to get rid of Obamacare might have looked stupid to most of us, but it showed the Republican base that they really stood behind what they wanted to do, even if doing it would be harmful to those same people supporting them.
Keep votes in the media, so that right up until the NEXT elections, young people keep hearing that Dems voted for jobs programs, for student debt relief, for legalization, and that Republicans just kept blocking them. So that even if you don't succeed this term, you build the goodwill that turns into greater electoral victory NEXT term.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Rod Beauvex
(564 posts)Seems simple simply succeeds. :p
steve2470
(37,457 posts)My son who is 18 would also agree with it.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)one can hope.
Warpy
(111,245 posts)Campaign on not having student loan interest reduced because Republicans stopped it dead.
Campaign on Republicans abusing the filibuster in the Senate to stop filling Federal court vacancies as well as legislation that would help strapped Americans cope with this depression.
Campaign on Republicans' refusal to allocate money for road and bridge repairs.
Campaign on the minimum wage increase Republicans refuse to allow out of committee.
Mostly, campaign on the fact that Republican spite has made this the laziest Congress in our history, passing far less than the "do nothing" Congress of 1947-1949, also a Republican led Congress.
The ammunition is out there if wimpy Democrats stop talking about keeping their powder dry and start firing the stuff.
I heard the President speak a few days ago and he used the word obstruction and obstructionists at least a dozen times. It should be the magic word for the next four months.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)obstructionism could be overcome or bypassed. And mean what you say.
"We suck less" isn't a good campaign slogan. "They suck and here's what we'd do if they weren't in office" is a much stronger message.
Viva_Daddy
(785 posts)There are already far more registered Democrats than Republicans in this Country. We just need Democrats to go out in vote in EVERY ELECTION. The main reason we have some gridlock in Congress is that not enough Democrats actually vote. So, how do we change that?
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)How do we motivate the young to vote?
From years ago, i recall a message from a young person who claimed this:
You say it is the Democratic Party, so where the hell is the party? Looks like one big argument to me.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)as possible.
Campaign on reducing the cost of higher education.
Stuff like that.
flvegan
(64,407 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)"Red, White and Brew"
Show up here with an "I voted" sticker on election day and get a free taste of our new beer.
gulliver
(13,180 posts)I agree with the posts above about creating some solid youth-oriented motivations. Youth have also been getting screwed for far too long. Part of it is their own fault, because they didn't vote enough and they naively assumed the old fogies (especially Republican ones) would look out for their interests. So the basic motivating forces are there.
What is missing is the "get that fly offa my nose" action decision. The Republicans are the fly.
In theory, the voting systems of the country could be flash-mobbed by voters this very November 4th, 2014 general election. Ninety percent turnout. Just because we feel like it and think it would be a satisfying thing to see happen. The Republicans' demographic problem would devastate them across the country, and we wouldn't have to wait 20 years for the Republican illusion of relevance to dissipate like we currently are doing.
I'm not sure what the mechanism is. We had "Hands Across America" at one time, and the idea went viral. And the idea behind Hands Across America was vastly more logistically difficult than a "Votes Across America" would be today. We just have to get a big Internet fly swatter going...something like a wave at a stadium...or like a small tropical depression of Republican bye-bye forming quietly out at sea that becomes a hurricane in November.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)winter is coming
(11,785 posts)gulliver
(13,180 posts)Democrats and Democratic leaners outnumber Republicans dramatically. That's why Republicans try to suppress and discourage voting. They know the demographics, and they know they lose if a lot more people suddenly decide to vote. If Republicans created a counter-wave it might only help turn the idea of a voting wave into a thing. if there is a proportional surge of voters on both sides, we win. They lose.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Marriage equality. Affordable housing. Sane foreign policy. These are the things my coworkers and I discuss. But I live in a highly educated, affluent urban-ish area that's a beautiful melting pot.
Anyone know where young voters stand on fracking and environmental issues, say in states like PA and NC?
Is the recent Supreme Court decision re: Hobby Lobby resonating with younger voters? Are they even paying attention?
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)Ms. Warren was right, rates should be reduced to that of banks for the duration of all student loans.
pansypoo53219
(20,972 posts)Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)just an observation. This is not a judgement or anything.
JI7
(89,247 posts)KG
(28,751 posts)I have absolute faith this will never happen in my lifetime.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)How can Democrats who are not neo-liberals win this election?
Because that's a goal that would make a real difference.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)If we don't win, we can kiss it all goodbye.