# Has anyone done research on how many Bernie Bros don't vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 18, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723 "2020-03-18T11:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/1 "2020-03-18T11:25:03Z")
Bernie supporters sure make a huge amount of noise on the internet. But then they apparently don’t actually turn up at the voting booth. They are mostly young, and we know that young people don’t vote as much as older people. So it’s easy to dismiss them with snarky comments about “kids today” , who think twitter is the real world. But I’m wondering about actual, measurable numbers: How many Bernie supporters are actually out there, and how many of them voted? How many of those posts on social media are from actual human beings, not just bots? If anybody here knows someone personally who supports Bernie with the same kind of passion that an evangelical Christian posts about Jesus…do you know if that person actually got out and voted for Bernie? I’m wondering about the disconnect between the amount of passion Sanders can attract–(he filled stadiums to overflowing)–and the low numbers of votes he actually receives. Are there any serious studies? ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/2 "2020-03-18T11:58:53Z")
Fanatics only get one vote, just like everyone else. Thousands of Bernie supporters go to Bernie rallies and scream their bloody heads off, then go out to vote for Bernie. Millions of Biden supporters go about their day as usual, then go out to vote for Biden. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/3 "2020-03-18T13:00:49Z")
I agree with Monocracy. There’s no reason to suspect the people who treat Bernie like a rock star at his rallies aren’t voting, it’s just that his support is a mile deep and an inch wide. Most voters don’t go to rallies, they stay at home and decide who to vote for and go out and do it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/4 "2020-03-18T14:03:46Z")
I believe on Super Tuesday, it was reported that 16% of the youth vote turned out. I don’t know if that is accurate, but many of Bernie’s supporters are younger and did not turn out to elect him. I think the same would have happened in November if he got the nomination. While he is definitely more popular than Trump(personally and policy wise), I think he doesn’t get enough votes from…the people who actually vote. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/5 "2020-03-18T14:24:13Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > but many of Bernie’s supporters are younger and did not turn out to elect him… yes, that’s what I suggested in the OP. But my question is WHY? It’s always been true that young people are concerned with the immediate issues in their own lives, and not interested in boring stuff like politics, pension funds,etc. But if you are passionate about something, you usually act on your passions…whether it’s politics, or drinking beer. And Bernie supporters are passionate…I’m wondering how many of them were passionate only on social media exhorting everyone to vote for him, and then hypocritical in their own personal life but not voting themselves. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/6 "2020-03-18T14:36:03Z")
Sanders is pulling between 20-30% of the vote. You can fill stadiums when you’re supported by 30% of voters, so there is no disconnect where you’re looking. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/7 "2020-03-18T15:09:14Z")
Ron Paul held big rallies for the Republican nomination in 2012. He came fourth. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/8 "2020-03-18T15:23:49Z")
Here’s a rhetorical question for the OP: Nickelback sells out enthusiastic stadiums. What percentage of the population do you think buys Nickelback music? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/9 "2020-03-18T16:54:06Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > yes, that’s what I suggested in the OP. But my question is WHY? Just speculation, but I suggested earlier in another thread that it may be an issue of how people express particular feelings. You’ll see a lot of Sanders supporters speaking about the importance of passion and emotion and energy. These are feelings you want to express through dramatic gestures, like going to a rally or a protest march or even just ranting on an online forum. But passion and emotion and energy don’t move a person to fill out a registration form and mail it in and then drive down to the polling place to stand in line. The Sanders campaign has had difficulty directing the support it receives along the path where it will be most useful. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/10 "2020-03-18T17:14:24Z")
It isn’t that there are a lot of passionate Sanders supporters who then don’t follow through and vote; it’s that there aren’t as many passionate Sanders supporters as you think, because there aren’t as many active voters in the younger cohort as there are in the older ones. I’m sure the people who show up at his rallies actually do get out and vote, and many of them probably canvass or otherwise volunteer too. But that small group is just that – not as big as the rally crowds and online presence suggests. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/11 "2020-03-18T20:36:12Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Here’s a rhetorical question for the OP: Nickelback sells out enthusiastic stadiums. What percentage of the population do you think buys Nickelback music? I’ve seen all kinds of unflattering comparisons made of Bernie supporters but that just goes too far. Too far. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/12 "2020-03-18T21:43:37Z")
I was pondering the number of individual supporters that helped fund Bernie’s campaign vs. the number of individual voters for Bernie and I realized something. I do the election thing the exact opposite way from Sanders’ supporters- I always vote, and never send any money. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/13 "2020-03-18T22:19:45Z")
While I don’t dare venture into the cesspool of the Bernie subreddit, it was common for people to follow Bernie around the country and couchsurf by finding hosts in whatever city he was giving a rally If you’re familiar with the rock band Phish or the Grateful Dead from years past, it’s very similar. Another example is a person I worked with on the 2020 Pete campaign. She’d organized almost her entire dorm for Bernie in 2016, but then realized that a lot of people weren’t registered and missed the cut off, registered independent, or didn’t request an absentee ballot in time or registered at their parents house but couldn’t vote on campus. All that ugly boring paperwork stuff negates all the ‘enthusiasm’ for Bernie. And, it’s also true that he’s got a small but very loud Twitter group, the average Biden voter probably doesn’t spend hours on Twitter every day. Even the despised boomers who still call it the tweety bird, well their Biden votes count just as much as an enthusiastic Bernie vote. This isn’t Olympic diving where your vote gets extra style points. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-done-research-on-how-many-bernie-bros-dont-vote/849723/14 "2020-03-18T22:29:56Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I was pondering the number of individual supporters that helped fund Bernie’s campaign vs. the number of individual voters for Bernie and I realized something. I do the election thing the exact opposite way from Sanders’ supporters- I always vote, and never send any money. Plus Bernie’s individual supporters include the same people giving over and over again. On the Pete campaign, I met plenty of people who liked Pete and donated the full legal amount of $2800 up front and that was that. They liked Pete and voted for him in the first 4 states but they didn’t live, eat and breathe Pete 24/7, many are busy professionals or involved in other activities besides politics.