# Why did Gen Z think Trump would be in their best interests **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 2, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613 "2025-08-02T02:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/82 "2025-09-23T18:58:15Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > there always seem to be one or two members like Manchin or Sinema staying in the way of getting anything done. Back when nearly everyone was someone like Manchin and Sinema, was when things were getting done. You could get a clean 51% of progressives and simply pass the new Communist system, an all vegan diet, and population-wide orgy. And then, two years later, it would all be gone and replaced with the new Corporatist system, an all liver diet, and eugenic breeding programs. And won’t that be thrilling! The stronger you press for hard left policy, really, the less you’ll ever get of any of it except for fleeting moments, followed by hard crashes and villainy from the other side. All you really accomplish is to help remove the checks and balances that are there to prevent mandatory carnivore diets and prevent any real progress towards meaningful, long-lasting reforms. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2025, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/83 "2025-09-23T18:58:16Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I don’t recall that the article mentioned the age factor, and I met many older progressives online who said they wouldn’t vote for Harris. On the other hand, recalling how I voted when I was in my twenties, I can understand how frustrating it is for young people. We barely take control of the Senate, and even when we do, there always seem to be one or two members like Manchin or Sinema staying in the way of getting anything done. I don’t see what age alone has to do with it. I’m 48 and started voting as soon as I was old enough. I voted for Bill Clinton back in 1996 and have voted D in every general election since, at least at the national and state level (local is another beast, where the old saying of politics makes strange bedfellows still applies). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/84 "2025-09-24T16:54:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > replaced with the new Corporatist system Do you you mean like right now? SCOTUS has historically been the backstop to prevent anything grom going too far in either direction, but today it’s basically in Trump’s pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/85 "2025-09-24T17:05:12Z")
There was someone who pointed out that one of the biggest reasons Democrats got routed in the 2010 midterms was because they greatly disappointed their base. Their base had worked so hard to get a historic victory in 2008 and Democrats had been handed bigger majorities in the Senate and House than they’d had in a long, long time. And in return, all they got was a greatly-watered down Obamacare. With all that work leading to so little payoff, many young Democrats became disillusioned and bitter and didn’t bother showing up in 2010 - “What’s the point of working so hard to give Democrats so much if they’ll just do so little with it?” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/86 "2025-09-25T14:08:52Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Do you you mean like right now? I am describing the general direction of things. If you’re enjoying it then, by all means, continue. Personally, I’m not seeing how a national Hatfields vs McCoys somehow turns good. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/87 "2025-09-26T06:30:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I am describing the general direction of things. > > If you’re enjoying it then, by all means, continue. Personally, I’m not seeing how a national Hatfields vs McCoys somehow turns good. That _isn’t_ the “general direction of things”. What we have now is one-sided persecution; the Right attacking everyone else with barely any resistance. Not “Hatfields vs McCoys”, but “the Hatfields rampaging across the countryside after beating the McCoys to death in their sleep”. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/88 "2025-09-26T19:47:55Z")
So let’s see the history of attempts to allow the party in power to commit such acts as the current administration is doing: **Timeline of Initiatives to Empower the Majority Party** Introduction of Cloture (Rule XXII) 1917 Successful President Woodrow Wilson / Senate Democratic Description: For the first time, this rule allowed the Senate to end a filibuster (prolonged debate) with a supermajority vote, originally set at two-thirds of senators present. Judicial Procedures Reform Bill (“Court-Packing Plan”) 1937 Failed President Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Description: A legislative proposal to add up to six new justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, which FDR argued was overworked. Critics saw it as a political move to create a court more favorable to his New Deal legislation. Lowering Cloture Threshold 1975 Successful Senate Bipartisan (Led by Democrats) Description: The Senate reduced the supermajority required for cloture from two-thirds (67 votes) to three-fifths of all senators (60 votes) for most business, making it easier for the majority to overcome a filibuster. “Nuclear Option” for Lower Court & Executive Nominees 2013 Successful Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Democratic Description: Invoked a rules change via a simple majority vote to eliminate the 60-vote requirement for cloture on all executive branch and judicial nominations except for the Supreme Court. The new threshold became a simple majority. “Nuclear Option” for Supreme Court Nominees 2017 Successful Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Republican Description: Extended the 2013 precedent to Supreme Court nominations, eliminating the 60-vote filibuster requirement and allowing confirmation of Supreme Court justices with a simple majority vote. Proposed Elimination of the Legislative Filibuster 2021-2022 Failed President Joe Biden / Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Democratic Description: A push to eliminate the 60-vote requirement for passing legislation, which would have allowed major bills (like voting rights reform) to pass with a simple majority. The effort failed to gain the support of all 50 Democratic senators. Now, let’s imagine today if none of the above had occurred. How would it be different? How would it be different if the initiatives had all passed? How would a simple majority rule for the Senate with no filibuster, and a packed court, under Trump? Better or worse than where we’re already at? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/89 "2025-09-26T20:03:28Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > With all that work leading to so little payoff, many young Democrats became disillusioned and bitter and didn’t bother showing up in 2010 - “What’s the point of working so hard to give Democrats so much if they’ll just do so little with it?” Democrats do what they can in a hopelessly conservative and libertarian country. Obama wasn’t happier than anyone else with the “Pinto” health care reform that we ended up with. And we bareky got that under the wire before the Tea Party took over. I’ve heard similar complaints about the fact that the Democrats never codified Roe v. Wade. But at no time could they realistically obtained the needed supermajority in the Senate to carry it through. The tragedy is that refusing to vote only sets back the progressive agenda further, and we see the results of that now. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613/90 "2025-09-27T02:31:26Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Now, let’s imagine today if none of the above had occurred. How would it be different? How would it be different if the initiatives had all passed? How would a simple majority rule for the Senate with no filibuster, and a packed court, under Trump? Better or worse than where we’re already at? No difference, given how supine Congress in general and the Democrats in particular have been. And how willing to ignore laws and rules Trump and the Republicans are. If there’s one lesson Trumpism should teach us, it’s how _useless_ laws and rules are when the people in charge of enforcing them don’t care about them. The problem isn’t the _rules and procedures_ of government; it’s the _people_ we’ve put in charge of that government. As soon as we put people like that into power the rules stopped mattering, because there was no will to enforce or follow them. Rules have no power on their own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-gen-z-think-trump-would-be-in-their-best-interests/1021613.md?page=4)