# Is Bernie's failure to get young people out to vote the fault of Bernie or young people?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [March 4, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924 "2020-03-04T15:04:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/21 "2020-03-04T17:28:11Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> I think you’re on to something. I think it’s mainly becaue to young people, a lot of the issues are abstract- politicians talking about capital gains taxes might as well be two people reciting lines from Aristophanes in the original Greek, because few young people have investments enough to even have capital gains in the first place. Same for a lot of other issues.
>
> So it seems to me that what fires up the young are more abstract issues- inequality, environmental issues, etc… and the few that are pertinent, like student loans.
>
> How you actually translate that into increased participation, I don’t know. I’ve voted in every general election that I’ve been aware of since I was 18, but didn’t start voting in primaries until I got to about 40, as I rarely had any particular affinity for either party, nor did I want to end up on their lists.
I don’t think I voted until I was 25, and didn’t start voting in primaries until I was around 30. I’ve consistently voted since then though. But I assume patterns like that are failry normal, it takes time to gain the life experience to understand civics is important, and understand how it affects you.
In my 20s I thought I was invincible. By my mid 30s I realized health care was deeply important and who won an election had a major effect on whether I could get health care or not.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/22 "2020-03-04T18:16:51Z")
> [@Hermitian](#):
>
> Well, I wouldn’t exactly say they are wrong.
Indeed, the only argument you can really reach for after that is “Well, voting is about controlling who tells which lies that appall you least of all.” If I’d known parenting was really a long-term sales gig I’d have been more careful.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/23 "2020-03-04T18:24:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> I suspect there are events that could motivate very high youth turnout, but apparently this didn’t qualify. A piece of this may be that voting isn’t always and everywhere trivially easy – for some it’s essentially an all day chore, or several hours at least. But that’s only a piece.
Which events? Hell, I hear you can’t even get them to turn up to a rave anymore.
Would be interesting to see comparative turnout rates in states that have legalized pot. Maybe Timothy Leary’s message is experiencing a resurgence.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/24 "2020-03-04T18:34:42Z")
It’s just youth in general. No idea where I read it, but there was a line in a book on the 1972 McGovern campaign about two students walking through campus, there was an anti-War protest and then they passed by a building which had been ‘occupied’ by student demonstrators for some cause, and they proceeded to their buddy’s dorm to listen to Hendrix and smoke some weed.
As much as you hear about youth activism, it really only applies to a small minority.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/25 "2020-03-04T18:32:54Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> Which events? Hell, I hear you can’t even get them to turn up to a rave anymore.
> Would be interesting to see comparative turnout rates in states that have legalized pot. Maybe Timothy Leary’s message is experiencing a resurgence.
War and a draft, perhaps? Maybe legalizing pot (and I think it’s nuts that the Democrats aren’t campaigning on this, but obviously they’re not consulting me). Maybe some degree of poverty and homelessness beyond the current levels.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/26 "2020-03-04T18:38:16Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> As much as you hear about youth activism, it really only applies to a small minority.
We should encourage such folks – like the young Barack Obama, like AOC, and other passionate and talented potential future leaders of the party.
Right? 😉
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/27 "2020-03-04T18:42:32Z")
You forgot energetic! I thought you had your AOC description hot keyed.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/28 "2020-03-04T19:25:46Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> You forgot energetic! I thought you had your AOC description hot keyed.
Can’t leave that part out! Thank you sir!
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/29 "2020-03-04T19:51:06Z")
13% of “young people” bothered to vote yesterday, yet so many are freaking out about what happens if the “young voter” isn’t galvanized to vote if Bernie doesn’t win.
My response: Guys, if the ‘young voter’ couldn’t support Bernie yesterday in the semi-finals, why do you think they’re going to support him in the Finals come November?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/30 "2020-03-04T20:05:50Z")
I think the problem is that voting isn’t dramatic. You have to fill out some form to register. Then you drive to some building, you stand in line, you punch some buttons on a machine, and then you drive home. The most exciting part of the whole process is getting a sticker.
It doesn’t appeal to people who want their politics to be exciting. They want to march in the streets and go to protest rallies. Or at least to argue with people online. That’s the kind of political activity you can get worked up over.
Then they’re shocked a few months later when the candidate that people quietly voted for somehow beat the candidate they loudly demonstrated for. It’s almost like the volume of the passion wasn’t taken into account.
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### Author:  [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/31 "2020-03-04T20:11:33Z")
> [@Translucent\_Daydream](#):
>
> All the young people in our office voted in the primary, because it was mailed to their house. We are in Colorado. The people in our Texas office largely didn’t vote at all in the young category. They all had to work and by the time they got off (5:15 PM) the lines were down the block, according to the teleconference call we just had. It was the Houston area.
This is pretty important stuff right here. Republicans who currently control narrowly red states (like Tejas) know what kind of small but legal impediments they need to place in the way of voters who go against them by large margins.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/32 "2020-03-04T20:14:59Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> My response: Guys, if the ‘young voter’ couldn’t support Bernie yesterday in the semi-finals, why do you think they’re going to support him in the Finals come November?
Yeah, I’ve been hearing noise about getting out the youth vote, and how important it is, etc… since I was one of the youth voters in the early 1990s.
And for the most part, it hasn’t done a hill of beans worth of difference. And I suspect it won’t in November either.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/33 "2020-03-04T20:23:46Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> It’s the Youtes. My son’s g.f. was all meh, and my son was all, “no, this is important”.
Something significant to remember for whoever wins the nomination: there are a lot of people out there who don’t see Trump’s regime as a big deal, and not all of them are or generally vote Republican.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/34 "2020-03-04T20:23:50Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#):
>
> This is pretty important stuff right here. Republicans who currently control narrowly red states (like Tejas) know what kind of small but legal impediments they need to place in the way of voters who go against them by large margins.
That’s nonsense. Polls are open from 7 am straight through until 7 pm, and are typically at nearby schools, churches or other civic facilities (I early voted at a library once).
And employers are required to give you up to 2 paid hours off to go vote on election days if you don’t have two consecutive hours off already within the voting hours.
They could have gone in at 9 and voted early, or told their bosses that they had to go by 5, and their employer would have HAD to let them go or face a fine.
[https://twc.texas.gov/news/efte/voting\_time\_off.html](https://twc.texas.gov/news/efte/voting_time_off.html)
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/35 "2020-03-04T20:38:43Z")
In [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=238670&highlight=young) 2004 thread, I posted the following about the collapse of the Dean campaign. The point is still valid in 2020.
> [@BrotherCadfael](#):
>
> Dean is only the latest casualty of the old “we’ll energize the young people, and they’ll make a real difference in this election” canard. Gene McCarthy, George McGovern, John Anderson, and now Howard Dean have all found out the hard way that the 18-24 year old demographic in this country is the LEAST politically active group around. The few who ARE politically active tend to be very enthusiastic, which gives an exaggerated impression that the press picks up on, but when you comes right down to it, the bulk of the 18-24 year olds have other things on their minds…
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/36 "2020-03-04T20:53:29Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> That’s nonsense. Polls are open from 7 am straight through until 7 pm, and are typically at nearby schools, churches or other civic facilities (I early voted at a library once).
I’m seeing reports of people waiting 3 to 6 hours in some places in Texas, linked to the strategic closing of hundreds of polls especially affecting minority areas
> **[Here's why Texans had to wait six hours to vote](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/texas-primary-lines/)**
>
> The state closed a record 750 polling places from 2012 to 2018.
There are probably a lot of reasons for poor youth voting in general, but I also suspect there is an additional element of disconnection from the idea of voting in primaries specifically.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/37 "2020-03-04T20:56:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> I think the problem is that voting isn’t dramatic. You have to fill out some form to register. Then you drive to some building, you stand in line, you punch some buttons on a machine, and then you drive home. The most exciting part of the whole process is getting a sticker.
>
> It doesn’t appeal to people who want their politics to be exciting. They want to march in the streets and go to protest rallies. Or at least to argue with people online. That’s the kind of political activity you can get worked up over.
>
> Then they’re shocked a few months later when the candidate that people quietly voted for somehow beat the candidate they loudly demonstrated for. It’s almost like the volume of the passion wasn’t taken into account.
There are some who think their vote should count more because it’s an enthusiastic vote. It should be similar to Olympic diving where a Bernie vote gets a 1.7% score differential based on degree of enthusiasm.
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### Author:  [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/38 "2020-03-04T21:54:12Z")
> [@bump](#):
>
> That’s nonsense. Polls are open from 7 am straight through until 7 pm, and are typically at nearby schools, churches or other civic facilities (I early voted at a library once).
>
> And employers are required to give you up to 2 paid hours off to go vote on election days if you don’t have two consecutive hours off already within the voting hours.
>
> They could have gone in at 9 and voted early, or told their bosses that they had to go by 5, and their employer would have HAD to let them go or face a fine.
>
> [https://twc.texas.gov/news/efte/voting\_time\_off.html](https://twc.texas.gov/news/efte/voting_time_off.html)
I don’t know the schedule that they work down there, other than they are on 10 hour days. We all did the “Election day was yesterday, did everyone vote?” thing on the conference call. They said that some went and stood in the line and didn’t get through, and that the lines were long and they didn’t get out of there until 5:15 or so. Take that for whatever you want. It didn’t sound like anyone there got to vote for whatever reason. It would have been in somewhere in Harris county in Texas. I know a lot of them live pretty far away, so I don’t know if that means that they couldn’t vote in the area where they were working. I want to say that some live in different counties.
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### Author:  [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/39 "2020-03-04T21:56:23Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#):
>
> I’m seeing reports of people waiting 3 to 6 hours in some places in Texas, linked to the strategic closing of hundreds of polls especially affecting minority areas
>
> [Here’s Why Texans Had to Wait Six Hours to Vote – Mother Jones](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/03/texas-primary-lines/)
>
> There are probably a lot of reasons for poor youth voting in general, but I also suspect there is an additional element of disconnection from the idea of voting in primaries specifically.
Thats the county, I didn’t catch it before. Holy shit that one guy waited 7 hours to vote? What the fuck is that?
I am so glad my ballots come in the mail.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/40 "2020-03-04T22:02:08Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#):
>
> I’m seeing reports of people waiting 3 to 6 hours in some places in Texas, linked to the strategic closing of hundreds of polls especially affecting minority areas
I think the Democrats should make voting rights a very high priority if they win power in the upcoming election. And that means we have to play the game by the rules the Republicans have set up in order to have the power to change those rules. It’s not fair but refusing to play won’t fix the problem.
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