# 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:** 3
### Author:  [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/41 "2020-03-04T22:07:38Z")
Young people. However, banking on young people voting and setting your strategy accordingly is definitely Bernie’s fault.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/42 "2020-03-04T22:27:52Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> 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?
The primary is not the general. Not voting in one does not presage not voting in the other.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/43 "2020-03-04T22:30:40Z")
> [@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)
Yeah, and were they being told that by the Texas Democratic Party? Even knowing that, would they be willing to risk being disciplined or fired by an employer that doesn’t care?
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/44 "2020-03-04T22:39:08Z")
This tweet from a crybaby Bernie Bro sums up perfectly why they don’t vote. ‘Voting is hard, waaaahhh!
[https://twitter.com/paco\_jrmr/status/1235313766146945031?s=21](https://twitter.com/paco_jrmr/status/1235313766146945031?s=21)
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### Author:  [@str8cashhomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/str8cashhomie)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/45 "2020-03-04T22:41:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> 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.
Hard agree; as Buttigieg would say “it’s the issue that affects every other issue.”
Generally, while I wouldn’t say I “blame” Sanders, the Super Tuesday turnout is a pretty big deal - a big part of his pitch to Democrats is that he can turn out the youth vote. If he’s no better than everyone else it absolutely hurts his electability.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/46 "2020-03-04T22:44:52Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> This tweet from a crybaby Bernie Bro sums up perfectly why they don’t vote. ‘Voting is hard, waaaahhh!
>
> [https://twitter.com/paco\_jrmr/status/1235313766146945031?s=21](https://twitter.com/paco_jrmr/status/1235313766146945031?s=21)
Finding random strangers on twitter to mock is an interesting hobby! Is it more fun when they’re struggling young minorities?
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### Author:  [@frognot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frognot)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/47 "2020-03-04T22:53:00Z")
> [@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.
This is the problem. Let them vote online and their numbers will soar.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/48 "2020-03-04T23:06:53Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> Finding random strangers on twitter to mock is an interesting hobby! Is it more fun when they’re struggling young minorities?
Random stranger? You mean a mutual Twitter follower?
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### Author:  [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/49 "2020-03-04T23:07:23Z")
> [@frognot](#):
>
> This is the problem. Let them vote online and their numbers will soar.
You’re not plugged into the zeitgeist: voting should be as low-tech as humanly possible, no computers involved at all, strictly pen and paper no matter how many races, questions, etc. are on the ballot or how many hundreds of thousands of votes must be counted. 😉
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### Author:  [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/50 "2020-03-04T23:36:18Z")
I have to blame the potential young voters.
There are now more Millennials than Baby Boomers, but more Boomers vote.
In the UK, young people heavily supported Remain, but Brexit won because fewer young people voted. Young people turned out to vote for Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 but not in 2019, so the Conservatives went from a slim minority to a huge majority. Quebec separatists are generally young (at least they were in 1995!), and separatists lost the last referendum because their supporters didn’t turn out to vote.
The trope that “young people don’t vote” is so pronounced that when said trope is averted, it’s called a youthquake. Obama seems to have pulled that off twice (while much is made of his appeal to people of color, they’re younger on average too). Twice in a row was enough to cause people to forget voting patterns and assume that the Democrats would always get the support of young people.
I have always been interested in politics but I used to vote only about half the time until six or so years ago. I used to work part-time, so it’s not like I was too busy to vote. I also had no understanding of the economy. Getting a good job (with pension and benefits) really changes your outlook, and a lot of young people are struggling even to move out of their parents homes so they can rent.
A lot of this youthful enthusiasm seems to be based on social media echo chambers. “I’m a Bernie Bro but I didn’t vote” probably comes up a lot. (Jeremy Corbyn made the mistake of investing heavily in social media, unaware that instead of extending his reach he was just talking to the converted.)
> [@frognot](#):
>
> This is the problem. Let them vote online and their numbers will soar.
Instead of flimsy accusations of fraud there would be **actual** fraud. “Putin… er, young people… voted for the Republicans this year. That was surprising.”
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/51 "2020-03-05T00:05:22Z")
Youth turnout in the primaries and the general were higher for Obama as I recall. And even better for Sanders primaries 2016 than now.
So Sanders 2020 has to shoulder some responsibility for the failure.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/52 "2020-03-05T14:31:23Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> Finding random strangers on twitter to mock is an interesting hobby! Is it more fun when they’re struggling young minorities?
Now, why bring his ethnicity in to this?
Tons of young people stayed home due to apathy but used the “screwed over” excuse. What makes you give this guy the benefit of the doubt?
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/53 "2020-03-05T14:32:19Z")
> [@asterion](#):
>
> Yeah, and were they being told that by the Texas Democratic Party? Even knowing that, would they be willing to risk being disciplined or fired by an employer that doesn’t care?
None of that is the state’s problem or responsibility, except that the State would be the ones enforcing their laws against the employer.
But if it’s important to you to vote, it’s also equally important to understand stuff like that.
And if the Texas Democratic Party isn’t getting the word out on that kind of thing, it seems like a pretty huge failing on their part to distribute necessary knowledge like that to their constituency, which presumably would be more likely to need to know that versus the average Republican voter.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/54 "2020-03-05T14:38:17Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> Now, why bring his ethnicity in to this?
Just curious about the desire to mock strangers on twitter. Especially when it’s “punching down”. Punching down is bad and people shouldn’t do it.
> [@](#):
>
> Tons of young people stayed home due to apathy but used the “screwed over” excuse. What makes you give this guy the benefit of the doubt?
Not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/55 "2020-03-05T14:50:54Z")
More to the side of the argument that it is Bernie’s Fault more - [2018 youth turnout](https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/04/behind-2018-united-states-midterm-election-turnout.html).
> [@](#):
>
> Among 18- to 29-year-olds, voter turnout went from 20 percent in 2014 to 36 percent in 2018, the largest percentage point increase for any age group — a 79 percent jump. …
>
> … Among Hispanics, voter turnout increased by 13 percentage points, a 50 percent increase in Hispanic voter turnout. …
That was the highest percent turnout of the age cohort in midterms since at least 1978. The engagement _was_ there and somehow he manage to throw a damp towel on to it.
One can only hope that the relative depression of youth engagement he has caused does not spill over into the general against Trump.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/56 "2020-03-05T14:53:03Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> Just curious about the desire to mock strangers on twitter. Especially when it’s “punching down”. Punching down is bad and people shouldn’t do it.
If you cannot mock strangers on Twitter, where can you mock them? (FWIW, I don’t use the platform but I’m not ignorant of how it’s commonly used by those who do.)
We mock strangers on SDMB. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. Pretty sure the mockery was deserved in cases that come to mind. If not, I’m prepared to issue an apology.
Point is, you can’t go around assuming the mockery is based on motives not in evidence.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/57 "2020-03-05T14:57:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> 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.
You guys do realize that polling places, etc… are set by the local county governments, and in the cases of Houston and Dallas, where the long lines were reported, those county governments are STRONGLY Democrat.
I’m more inclined to attribute a lot of it to snafus and incompetence than somehow the local Democratic-controlled county governments intentionally sticking it to their own people, so to speak.
Now had this been in one of Fort Bend or Collin counties, I could maybe have understood it, as they’re right-leaning and seem to be filled with just the sort of hostile middle class white people who might engage in these shenanigans. But Dallas or Harris counties? No way.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/58 "2020-03-05T14:58:21Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#):
>
> If you cannot mock strangers on Twitter, where can you mock them? (FWIW, I don’t use the platform but I’m not ignorant of how it’s commonly used by those who do.)
>
> We mock strangers on SDMB. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. Pretty sure the mockery was deserved in cases that come to mind. If not, I’m prepared to issue an apology.
>
> Point is, you can’t go around assuming the mockery is based on motives not in evidence.
Okay, mocking strangers on twitter isn’t really a big deal. I’m probably still a bit stung because my preferred candidate didn’t do as well as I hoped (and still a bit annoyed by that poster’s extreme vitriol towards Bernie and Bernie supporters). But I don’t like punching down, and I’m pretty sure I refrain from it. If you can find an instance in which I punched down, that’s bad on me, but I doubt you’d be able to find one.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/59 "2020-03-05T15:18:33Z")
It’s great that you’ve personally decided that latinx people are off limits to criticism. It’s awesome. But a little unrealistic to expect of everyone else.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bernies-failure-to-get-young-people-out-to-vote-the-fault-of-bernie-or-young-people/848924/60 "2020-03-05T15:30:33Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> It’s great that you’ve personally decided that latinx people are off limits to criticism.
I didn’t decide this.
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