Bernie's Revolution Has No Future

[workinclasszero]

Bernie's Revolution Has No Future
Bernie Sanders believes his young supporters will bring a political revolution. Just one problem: Young people don't vote.
By John Stoehr | Contributor
April 29, 2016, at 12:30 p.m

Sen. Bernie Sanders is said to be the future of the Democratic Party. Not because he is beating Hillary Clinton – he isn't – but because his unvarnished populist appeal has inspired the next generation of liberal Democrats.

That theory has three problems. First, the Democratic Party was already growing more liberal. Two wars, a worldwide financial panic and a radicalized Republican Party did more to revitalize liberalism than Sanders did. Second, Sanders performed better with independents than Democrats.

Third and most important: A vast majority of young people didn't vote.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-04-29/the-real-political-revolution-would-be-getting-young-people-to-vote

[bkkyosemite]

1. I'm 70 ....it is getting soooooo tiresome......

[silvershadow]

14. Stop it! You're dispelling the myth. nt

[Baobab]

24. Nostalgia for the old folks

[Armstead]

21. Get your nose out of the iphone and stop listening to Beyonce

[bkkyosemite]

39. Get your nose out of you iphone I don't own one LOL

Oh well wrong reply but let it stand lol

[Jitter65]

46. I'm 74 and this is on point! nt

[grasswire]

2. NO WE CAN'T!!!

I say tell it to the tens of thousands of eager and excited people still coming to his rallies.

[HooptieWagon]

3. Then why you so worried?

These posts make me think Camp Weathervane is in an utter state of panic.

[byyiminy]

4. I see you're continuing to win the hearts and the minds...

of no-one.

[SFnomad]

12. They have to have a heart and a mind to being with before we can win them over n/t

[ViseGrip]

5. Wow! Such great messaging!

[pat_k]

6. "It does not take a majority to prevail ..."

"It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
-- Samuel Adams

The campaign has inspired many to get involved -- or renew their commitment. These people won't just vote. They want to turn complaint into action.

A post that contains some thoughts about how to enable some of those newly engaged/reengaged people to become effective advocates of change:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=188164.

[bl968]

7. Progressive ideals

I was a reliably democratic voter for many years. Now I am a progressive voter.

The Democratic Party will promote progressive ideals and put forth progressive candidates or I and many others will no longer vote for them. It's that simple. I will not vote for the lesser of two evils; thus the two party stranglehold has been broken. Evil is still evil, even when it has a (D) next to their name.

DINO's, Conservatives, Corporatists, and Blue Dog democrat candidates including Hillary Clinton will not get my vote. You don't think anyone really bought that "I am a progressive who likes to get things done" shtick, her record speaks for its self.

So the Democratic Party must begin to put forth real progressive candidates, or get ready for a ton of losses starting with this election. That's the legacy of Bernie Sanders.

[CrispyQ]

61. Every time I vote for the lesser of two evils, the party shifts further to the right.

They've been doing this for 30 years.

[mmonk]

8. Becoming a banana republic with a war machine for the rich is no future.

Put a bullet through my brain now.

[pat_k]

10. Perhaps some hope in possibilities for...

... effecting change going forward, with or without Bernie as the torch bearer. A post in another thread that contains some thoughts on the subject.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=188164

[mmonk]

43. The op declared we are not the future.

[Jitter65]

47. It's not the future I am concerned about. It's the present. In the future we will all be dead.

We live in the present. The BS about the future is just a way to not deal with the reality of right now.

[pat_k]

15. And an event next month that sounds worthwhile:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=188241

[rock]

9. Do you notice how ironic Bernie's slogans are?

"A future we can believe in" and "Feel the bern!" are particularly painful now that he's lost! I have no sympathy. Shame on me. Incidentally, good article!

[Eric J in MN]

22. I notice how Hilllary Clinton needs a slogan of 'Fighting for Us'

...while Bernie Sanders doesn't, because we know he is.

[annavictorious]

29. The only person Bernie Sanders ever really fought for

is Bernie Sanders.

[TCJ70]

30. You really believe that?

The guy with the lowest net worth in the entire congress has only ever fought for himself? Incredible...

[CorkySt.Clair]

31. You don't need to be rich to have a giant ego

[uponit7771]

35. Didn't Sanders say "We'll see" when it came to supporting down ballot dems? those are his words

[Eric J in MN]

38. There are various ways Sanders could help in the Fall.

He could go around giving pro-Clinton speeches.

He could go around giving anti-Trump speeches.

He could go around giving speeches for down ballot Democrats.

It's fine that he's focused now on winning delegates and doesn't know what he'll do in the Fall.

[uponit7771]

58. True, how many ways he can help isnt relative to the point he said "We'll see" in regards to doin so

[Eric J in MN]

60. If Sanders does nothing for Democrats

...in the Fall then he'll deserve criticism.

But he said "I'll see" because this is the Spring and he reasonably doesn't know his role for the Fall yet.

[uponit7771]

66. Either way he has to help, whether he won or lost... the "we'll see" was not his finest moment and

... only strengthened the notion that he's in this for himself

[-none]

32. Sorry, you are thinking of Hillary.

[rock]

34. Welcome to DU

Hope you stay a while.

[rock]

64. I notice several BSers

Using the poster of Bernie with the slogan, "Bernie is not an asshole". Why is that?

[CrispyQ]

63. I think the right pointing red arrow is what's gonna be ironic if HRC becomes president.

[passiveporcupine]

11. Then this country has no future. n/t

[SFnomad]

13. Another "No We Can't" chant from a BS cheerleader

[workinclasszero]

16. Apparently most young voters aren't feelin the Bern

It is what it is

President Obama had far more of the 18 to 29 vote than Bernie.

Unfortunately they didn't show up in the mid terms and the republicans came right back to screw the country.

[passiveporcupine]

18. Your post doesn't change what I said one bit.

[-none]

33. First it was us old people that aren't feelin the Bern, and when that didn't work out, it is now the

young people. What age group is next, 'cause that ain't really panning out either?

[redstateblues]

42. I'm an old person that is Berned Out. I'll be glad when Bernie

Realizes he's done and starts helping the Democratic Party

[-none]

59. I don't want war, I don't want my Social Security messed with, I want my vote to count...

Bernie is for the people, always has been. Hillary is for Goldman Sachs and Wall Street.
Are you rich enough to benefit from Hillary's 1%. I'm not.

[Eric J in MN]

41. In what state? NT

NT

[pat_k]

17. Unless those people the campaign inspired to...

... act to effect change commit to working for change, with or without Bernie as the torch bearer.

"It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
-- Samuel Adams

A post from another thread the contains some thoughts about how some of those people might become effective agents of change:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=188164

[mmonk]

19. .

[MsFlorida]

53. Yes, they are starting to sing!

[Eric J in MN]

20. Meaningless article. Not one real prediction.

He doesn't say that the 2024 nominee will be more liberal, more conservative, or the same as Hillary Clinton.

He doesn't say that the 2024 nominee will support some-or-none of Bernie Sanders' proposals.

He just gives us blather about young people not voting.

// Enough young people voted to help Sanders to win 17 states and counting. The next candidate who supports Sanders' proposals may do better.

[workinclasszero]

25. That blather as you call it is reality, the young don't vote

hardly ever.

They did in large numbers for Obama's first run then went back to sleep. Bernie didn't wake them up, thats a fact. I guess the Sanders camp is against reality and facts now.

Not surprised.

[Eric J in MN]

26. Enough young people voted to help Obama become a two-term president. NT

NT

[islandmkl]

23. sounds like another shill who sets the standard for a 10-month-old campaign at

total electoral turnout...when young people of any decade have always had low voter turnout...

hey genius...did all the older voters somehow skip their youth...or did they become more involved, at least in terms of voting, as they got older?

these young people will be a growing force as they age...and i have a feeling they will not be waiting to see how it works out this year...

'New Dems' better enjoy these last vestiges of uncontested control of the Party...there are some new kids coming up behind them...and they are right in the 'New Dems' face and being dismissed...

should be an interesting next couple of years...

[Agnosticsherbet]

27. Sanders personal failure to win the nomination doesn't end a revolution.

The expected surge of young voters that did not show up at the polls and his placement as a distant second in the nomination for the Democratic candidate indicates more that the revolution just didn't get off the ground.

The leftward move of the Democratic Party, and the nation as a whole symbolized by the expanded individual freedoms to marry and the first ever creation of some type of national healthcare system happened before his campaign, so they don't really count as part of his revolution.

[Smickey]

28. Young people don't

follow a set of rational arguments, they will follow someone they trust.

[redstateblues]

45. How can anyone trust someone that makes promises he knows he can't keep?

Bernie came up with a brilliant scheme- targeting a gullible segment of the electorate with poll tested promises that he knew he couldn't deliver on.

[Smickey]

69. I have not seen

any evidence of what you wrote. I caucused in my state and listened to the young folks talk about their lives and how Bernie gives them some hope for the future. I do not kid myself that Bernie is some completely altruistic man, of course he is a politician our system is such that one must be, but he has a proven track record of giving a shit about "we the people". Young people see this and feel like they have someone who is thinking about them and their futures. Gullible, well maybe. Smart absolutely. IMHO

[snowy owl]

36. Opinions on Bernie are a dime a dozen. We don't care what you think. Fighting for change the mission

No population is predictable. Some care and some don't. Why try to analyze what all of any population/demographic will do?

[Bluenorthwest]

37. Hillary can't even remember the past, much less help make a better future:

Her supporters are Reagan Democrats and other conservative types, DOMA-crats who I've spent a lifetime battling just as I battle the Republicans, it's the same battle.

[redstateblues]

48. BSS favorite ad hom- calling Loyal Democrats Republican. What a pant load.

FYI Hillary was one of the most liberal Senators in Congress. You obviously haven't been paying attention to politics very long

[Doctor_J]

40. And a Hillarian says this gleefully.

You people are really disgusting

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

44. I have voted in every single election since I was old enough.

Everybody that I know has been the same.


Perhaps that jewel of infirmation about the young not voting is BS.

[redstateblues]

49. The numbers don't agree with you. The youth vote is notoriously unreliable.

Everybody I knew at the time voted for McGovern. How is it possible that he didn't win?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

57. I can't speak to that. I can only tell you what I know to be true.

[LWolf]

50. Irony.

The irony embedded in your username and what you choose to post and support is strong.

[rateyes]

51. This post is utter bullshit.. newsflash..old people die

and young people become old people. The revolution is coming, and Hillary is the third ways last gap. I predict that if Hillary does win, but doesnt govern as a true progressive, she will be a one termer, and will lose a primary election in four years.

[redstateblues]

56. We'll see if it's a revolution if Bernie can get his followers out in the mid terms

To take back Congress. I have my doubts.

[Democratic Divo]

52. It had no past either. n/t

[KPN]

54. So you don't want to see

a $15 minimum wage?
free public college for 4-5 years?
universal health care?

[MrMickeysMom]

55. Aww....

You trying to imagine apathy again? I don't care about that.

[CrispyQ]

62. Then America has no future.

The country/world is being hollowed out by the 1%. The playing field is skewed more every day. Poverty rates are climbing, not decreasing. Climate change is accelerating faster than all the models & all we do is sign stupid agreements to reduce emissions by 2030. We're so fucked.

Above is the largest calving event to be captured on film. The actual event took 90 minutes. Go to 1:50 & see the whale jump out of the water.

I think the revolution is too late, but I'm still all in.

[whatchamacallit]

65. I've always found your handle suspect

considering the nature of your posts.

[basselope]

67. You do realize this analysis tells you Hillary can't win, right?

[Jamaal510]

68. It's too bad

that more people around my age don't vote, regardless of their political affiliation. I wish that public schools would make classes on government and civics a higher priority than they are. There are far too many people who will complain about nothing going right in D.C. and/or not feeling represented, but they refuse to get politically-active for every election. Politics is what shapes the country and the world.

[Orsino]

70. The Establishment, whistling in the dark. n/t