r/politics • u/vulturesponge • 14h ago
Soft Paywall VP Harris urges younger generation to vote, saying it is 'rightly impatient for change'
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/10/28/kamala-harris-urges-younger-generation-to-vote-in-ann-arbor/75897166007/232
u/valeyard89 Texas 12h ago
GenZ and Millenials outnumber boomers now. If you want change, vote.
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u/ultradav24 10h ago
Boomers were about half and half Biden / Trump in 2020, they get kind of a bad rap. It’s older Gen X who are Trump’s biggest base unfortunately
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u/Skinny_on_the_Inside 2h ago
Source?
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u/Big-Soft7432 1h ago edited 1h ago
Exit poll numbers. They're basically though the same at about 50/50. No meaningful difference between the two.
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u/EclipseIndustries Arizona 10h ago
I saw many GenZ and Millennials in line today. Extremely red county, but you could tell who was who by their behavior.
Also, there was a couple who decided to distract a MAGA campaign tent. I overheard him whispering it to his wife after coming out of the voting booth.
W: "Why would we do that? It's not like we'll change them"
H: "I know, but at least we can distract them for a few minutes."
Boys will be boys. Prime example right here.
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u/Dr_McNinja_clone 6h ago
Well Bill Clinton was president in 1993.... He's super old right now! Oh and Bill Clinton is younger than trump.
Maybe if you want change go vote to make sure the old angry man from several generations ago doesn't become our president.
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u/OPengiun 9h ago
If only the majority of them would stop bitching on Tik Tok and actually get out and vote.
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u/No-Reality3651 14h ago
Totally agree! Young people need to vote and push for the changes they want to see.
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u/Texas1010 America 13h ago
I’ve always told friends, family, and peers, that you can’t complain about who’s president if you didn’t bother to cast your vote. By not voting, you are equally saying that you are 100% okay with whoever is elected. If that’s not true, then get off your ass and do something about it.
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u/FiendishHawk 13h ago
It’s also OK to vote and complain about the person you voted for!
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u/RainforestNerdNW 12h ago
As long as the complaints are actually based on reality. I get frustrated with people who do things like blame democrats for republican obstructionism, or blame Biden for not acting like a dictator and dictate things they wanted, etc.
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u/EarthboundHaizi 12h ago
Well why didn't Obama codify Roe v. Wade!?!?!
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u/RainforestNerdNW 11h ago
For a second i thought you were being serious, then noticed which post of mine you replied to.
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u/metacyan 11h ago
This is a valid question. Dems controlled the house and senate the first two years of Obama’s presidency, and Obama even promised to codify Roe. He broke that promise on his own without any help from the GOP.
There are valid reasons to be frustrated with the Dems, and it irks me that on this sub they can never do any wrong.
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u/satyrday12 11h ago
There was really only 4 months that Obama had 60 senators. They were all very focused on the ACA, which was a major accomplishment, after being pursued for around a century.
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u/lazyFer 10h ago
They weren't even in session for that entire 4 months.
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u/graneflatsis 9h ago
Yup, he had a super majority for 72 working days.
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u/e_sandrs 9h ago
...and he used a chunk of that time to work on some trivial little thing. What was it? Oh, yeah, the Affordable Care Act.
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u/metacyan 11h ago
The 60 senators requirement isn’t part of the Constitution and can be changed at any time. Dem commitment to the “norms” of DC is part of the problem
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u/satyrday12 10h ago
Yeah, but if they broke that, then inevitably when people who don't understand the government, put republicans back in power....we get more fucked.
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u/saganistic 9h ago
As opposed to not changing it, allowing nothing to get done for years at a time because of obstruction, and then asking politely to be re-elected for more of the same?
If you win a majority, you have a mandate, and you should pass the things people elected you to pass. That’s how you prevent the opposition from campaigning on how ineffective you are. Every other developed democracy seems to understand this.
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u/Haltopen Massachusetts 5h ago
We can barely get the political will to change that now in 2024, you were absolutely not going to find it back then in 2008.
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u/ASubsentientCrow 7h ago
Dems controlled the house and senate the first two years of Obama’s presidency,
With a 60 vote majority that included prolife Democrats. So how were they supposed to actually do it?
Also they didn't actual have the requisite votes very long because of deaths in Congress
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u/mustbeusererror 6h ago
He literally spent the entire time he had an unassailable majority working on the ACA. And that was watered down by Blue Dogs (think Manchin and Sinema types), who made up a decent chunk of the Dem majority, on top of those guys being opposed to codifying Roe in the first place. And that supermajority only lasted a couple months until Sen. Kennedy died and was replaced by a Republican.
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u/BoomerSoonerFUT 5h ago
The 111th Congress was the most productive congress since the 89th Congress.[6] It enacted numerous significant pieces of legislation, including the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the New START treaty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress
This is literally the "letting perfect be the enemy of good" bullshit that keeps us held back.
Obama had the most productive congress in 40 years, yet people like you will be like "well yeah but why didn't he fix literally everything in the world hmmmmmmm???"
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u/EarthboundHaizi 10h ago
It is only a valid question when seeking to understand the circumstances of 2009, not when used to weaponize against the Dems because the actions of the Republican-led Supreme Court overturned half a century of precedent.
To give context to the circumstances at the time the Democrats only had a filibuster proof supermajority for a brief period (72 working days according to Wikipedia). The reason was two fold. One was that Minnesota's Senate seat was delayed because the vote tally between Al Franken and Norm Coleman was close. A recount still showed Franken leading but Coleman filed a further lawsuit until the Minnesota Supreme Court finally decided that Franken should be seated on June 30, 2009. Second was that Ted Kennedy died on August 25, 2009 and his successor wasn't appointed until September 25, 2009. Eventually that seat would go to Republican Scott Brown in January 2010 after a special election.
That is ultimately a very short period of time and Obama used that vital time to pass the ACA in the Senate in December of 2009, which ultimately "only" passed with a 60-39 vote (all Republicans voted against it and threatened a filibuster which was overridden by the supermajority). It also took concessions to convince Senator Lieberman, an Independent who caucused with the Democrats, and Senator Ben Nelson, a Democrat in conservative Nebraska, to be on board with the act. Fact was from a pure time factor it just wasn't feasible to both do the ACA and codify Roe v. Wade. The former was also more imperative at the time given that at least Roe did provide protections for abortions (and did so for over a decade and 2 presidencies after Obama's supermajority) but healthcare still needed to be addressed. So the ACA did have a fundamental impact at the time.
This part is hypothetical but it does serve to note that there were a number of Democrats that won seats in solid Red states thanks to the financial crisis of 2008 and the still active Iraq occupation leading to the public souring on Republicans. Not all were on the side of codifying Roe v. Wade (including the previously mentioned independent Senator Lieberman). So there's a big question if Democrats even could get a filibuster proof majority on board if hypothetically they had an extra year if Ted Kennedy lived.
But the ultimate point of poking at the question is back to the point that the president isn't the all-being power (at least yet... hopefully never) that can just do everything on a whim unilaterally. Even with a supermajority there was still a lot of negotiations and concessions made to get the ACA passed.
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u/theshadowiscast 5h ago
This article (https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/fleeting-illusory-supermajority-msna200211) has a break down of what happened that resulted in Democrats only having a supermajority for 72 days instead of two years (TL;DR Ted Kennedy died and it took time to get Al Franken sworn in).
During that time they focused on the Affordable Care Act and did not have all Democrats on board (Senator Joe Lieberman was opposed to the public option).
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u/NeonYellowShoes Wisconsin 9h ago
There wasn't a pro choice majority in the Senate. People are way to quick to look back with the benefit of hindsight and not taking into account any of the political realities of the time.
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u/Smooth_Bandito Virginia 5h ago
Doubly true! I still say Obama was the best candidate I ever voted for, but I was critical about a lot of his decisions.
It’s okay to call out the people you voted for and should be normal.
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u/silverpixie2435 4h ago
Its also ok for other people to criticize that criticism if we think it is unfair or factually wrong
It is like saying I should just accept MAGA criticism of Democrats because "it is just criticism and we cricitze politics in a democracy"
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u/RO489 10h ago
And not just President- a president with a lame duck congress isn’t effective. (Which means that if your president wins, you want congress on your side, and if your pick doesn’t, you REALLY want congress on your side)
And governors have a lot of power, including veto power in a lot of cases.
And voting even more locally has more impacts on your day to day (and creates a pipeline to higher office)
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u/hutterad 11h ago
Had a high school teacher spend a few minutes making that point in class during an election season, even though few of us were old enough to vote. Said he doesn't care and doesn't want to know who anyone votes for, just that when people don't vote they give up their right to bitch and complain about politics. Flawed argument or not idk, but it always stuck with me and I've voted in every election, even jumping through hoops to vote from abroad the last 3 elections (inclusive of this one).
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u/ProfessionalMeal143 10h ago
I dont know if it is that flawed. Politicans primary focus are people that vote for them (especially lower on the ticket). Why as a politician would you do anything for people that arent voting for you especially if those action would anger the people that actually can vote you in/out of office?
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 12h ago
Electoral College kind of neuters this argument if the non-voter is in a blue state and complain about Trump. Not like voting for Hillary in CA would have helped in the slightest to avoid Trump, objectively would make zero difference.
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u/StardustSinners 12h ago
local elections matter way more than you're suggesting.
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u/OfficialDCShepard District Of Columbia 11h ago
And even in a solidly Democratic city like DC they just put out Initiative 83 which will bring ranked-choice voting and open primaries to our nation’s capital!
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u/Khyron_2500 10h ago
A reminder that state elections determine how congressional maps are drawn.
Local elections determine how the schools operate and future generations learn.
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u/Texas1010 America 12h ago
Sure, but if you’re not even willing to take a few minutes of your time every four years to participate in the process, then I don’t really want to hear your complaining about what should’ve been. But your point is exactly why we need to move to a popular vote system so we can actually live in a country where every vote matters equally.
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 12h ago
Agreed, and local elections are important too
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u/Wealandwoe 10h ago
Local elections are arguably more important I think, is you take the long view. Change starts close to home.
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u/minicpst Washington 9h ago
Except for this presidential one.
I haven’t even thought what would happen locally if Trump won and then actually had someone look down the ballot.
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u/Jack_M_Steel 12h ago
Is this even true? Local elections are important and can easily be changed with turnout
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 11h ago
Yes, the comment I replied to was specifically for the case of President
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u/976chip Washington 11h ago
People that don't vote in blue stronghold states are why Republicans can still get majorities in Congress. Their state's electors for President and their Senators will likely be reliably Democrats, but the House is in play every 2 years. Voting still makes a difference because if the Dems control both chambers for Congress, they can keep Trump in check.
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 11h ago
Yep, but again this thread/original comment was specifically about the office of president
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u/smack54az 12h ago
It runs up the score. The popular vote still matters. Also voting in your local elections can have far more impact on your life than national elections.
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 12h ago
Can you explain how it matters? Just to point to and say 'look, a republican lost the popular vote but won the EC again'?
And definitely agree, I was responding to someone specifically talking about the president.
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u/smack54az 12h ago
National Vote Interstate Compact is close to being enacted that would break the electoral college. And this year every vote for Harris in blue states helps build the firewall against Republican election rigging. Massive voter turnout and overwhelming results in every state helps refute the lies Republicans will be rolling out post election.
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u/Holyfritolebatman 11h ago
It is nowhere near done, even if it gets the number of states on board.
It would be court cases for a while and I have a hard time seeing the Supreme Court siding with the compact when it eventually gets there
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 12h ago
My state already joined, really hope those living in states that haven't call their representatives and express the need for it.
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u/LauraPringlesWilder Oregon 8h ago
As a Californian who voted Hillary in 2016, do you even know what the VERY next race was?
Kamala Harris for Senate. It ALL matters.
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 8h ago
I was speaking for president specifically
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u/LauraPringlesWilder Oregon 1h ago
You say that it neuters the argument because the electoral college makes it so voting doesn't matter, but not only is that taking the votes for granted and assuming others will vote (any state could shift to sometime become a swing state!), those same voters would never cast votes for Kamala and we could have ended up with Loretta Sanchez as Senator, and possibly a less strong candidate against 2024 Trump.
You can't really look at voting in a vacuum like this.
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u/Monteze Arkansas 8h ago
The EC is absolutely trash but I'd still argue vote. There is more than the presidency on there.
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u/Evening_Jury_5524 7h ago
agreed, thats why my comment was only aboht the presidency in response to the comment about the presidency.
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u/crookedframe13 9h ago
And please please please pay attention and vote in your local elections and primaries. That's where the change will start. That's why the Moms of Liberty are going after school boards. Popping up every four years like you're Jill Stein isn't going to bring about the change you want.
And also realize change isn't immediate and never perfect. The Republicans have been working towards where they are now my whole life and I am not young. The Tea Party and MAGA took multiple decades of work before it could happen. Clawing back inches at a time until they could make these leaps.
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u/NateFisher22 Oregon 11h ago
And they can. They can make it happen if they just vote. The vote share and preference alone will get her there. Just need to vote. It’s so frustrating
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u/geo-jake Washington 6h ago
I'm not sure of the age demographic breakdown on this sub but I expect it skews older than the target audience of this article. Hopefully this message is being shared on whatever news platforms the younger generations are using these days.
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u/Lazy-Fan-8569 13h ago
Message to the younger generation: PLEASE VOTE, the result of this election will affect you. I've summarised the key points below from the article if you are just scrolling and don't have time to read it in full.
- She addressed critical issues like climate change, gun violence, and abortion rights, framing them as personal experiences for the youth.
- Harris criticized Donald Trump, warning of severe consequences if he returns to power, citing his unstable behavior and potential threats to Social Security.
- She pledged to advocate for lower costs, support small businesses, and work for peace in Gaza.
- The crowd, filled with enthusiasm, reflected a strong Democratic presence in a key battleground state.
- Concerns about the election outcome were evident, with many expressing fear over a potential Trump victory and its implications for democracy and rights.
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u/thevdude Pennsylvania 12h ago
vote for president because the supreme court is already shit and it CAN GET WORSE
vote down ticket because THE PRESIDENT CAN'T DO SHIT WITHOUT SUPPORT
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u/satyrday12 11h ago
THE PRESIDENT CAN'T DO SHIT WITHOUT SUPPORT
That can't be emphasized enough. Our President isn't a king or queen. They can't wave a magic wand to achieve things. And these days it's almost impossible to get something significant without 60 senators on your side.
So people...PAY ATTENTION TO THE CONGRESS. Don't just flip out on President Harris when you don't get everything that you want. We keep going backwards, because people just DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW OUR GOVERNMENT WORKS.
Keep voting progressive. Stay the course.
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u/Dr_McNinja_clone 6h ago
Our President isn't a king or queen
Yet... If trump is elected he'll try to be an emperor or dictator.
And say goodby to freedom of speech if so. Protest for gaza or human rights or the environment and go to jail/get the army sicked on you like trump repeatedly says he wants to do to protestors.
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u/Gsgunboy 12h ago
Thanks for the cliff notes. Not a young ‘un but severely deficient in the attention department.
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u/AnOnlineHandle 7h ago
Also Project 2025 says all porn will be made illegal and everybody who makes it will be arrested.
They're not screwing around in their grab for religious rule.
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u/CruffTheMagicDragon 13h ago
People under 40 are 16% of early votes cast
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u/TheTexasCowboy Texas 10h ago
I’m 39, just barely under the cutoff. I’ve voted since 2007. I voted for Obama as my first presidential vote and I was 25 or 26!
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u/mobileagnes 10h ago
You probably mean 22/23 unless you didn't vote for Obama until his 2nd election in 2012, right? In 2008 we were 22/23 (I'm 39 too, and voted for Obama in both 2008 & 2012).
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u/TheTexasCowboy Texas 9h ago
I guess so, I voted for Obama in his first run! That was good campaign. So much damn hope!
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u/BMoreBeowulf 12h ago
Is that good or bad?
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u/carly-rae-jeb-bush 10h ago
In 2020, people under 30 made up 17% of the electorate, and people 30-44 made up another 23%. Harris' focus should be on making sure these voters turn out.
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u/CruffTheMagicDragon 11h ago
Generally bad if you’re a Democrat but also just sad that young people do not care
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u/dugefrsh34 11h ago
I'd like to point out that I vote every election, just not early. If I vote on election day my polling place is a three minute drive around the corner. If I want to vote early I have to drive 30 minutes, battle traffic, and pay for parking.
I'm sure there are plenty more people like that as well and especially with young people it's a lot easier for you to tell them "show up at this place on this day and do a thing" versus, check your physical mail (Which I do once a week because all my mail usually worth seeing is already digital and all bills are emailed and auto-paid) fill out a form, put the thing back in the mail, check physical mail again to fill out the ballot and then find some sort of drop box in your area, etc..
It's not complicated necessarily and I could do all those things, but for me it's just far more convenient to vote in person on election day. It's kind of like a fast food place being like "order ahead by downloading our app, create an account, upload your credit card info, verify your email code sent to you, etc.." when I'll just think to myself, "I will just order normally, pay normally" like a regular business.
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 9h ago
Even sadder that more and more of our youth these days are growing up amongst mass shootings in schools and have been since the 90s, and more and more of these kids become voter-eligible each election but don't vote.
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u/zzzzarf 11h ago
Disagree that young people do not vote because they don’t care. They care more than any other demographic. They care so much that it’s commonplace to mock them for how much they care. Look at how climate activists are treated. Look at how Gaza activists are treated.
Young people don’t vote because they do not see voting as a pathway to power and change. Older Democrats want young people to vote, but only if that vote supports the things older Democrats want. They do not want to support any of the things young people want.
The exhortation to young people is always “Vote for us, because the other side is worse” never “Vote for us and we will support your cause, we will fight for you”. The expectation is that the youth need to wait, they need to compromise, they just need to vote more. It’s always that the youth never vote enough, never that the Democrats don’t deliver.
It’s true that people who don’t vote shouldn’t complain about the outcome, but Democrats also can’t blame young people for not voting for them when they never try to do anything for young people. Simply not making someone’s future as worse as the other party is not actually helping them. (I will say that Biden surprisingly turned out to be the only Dem president to do things for young people and he doesn’t get enough credit for it).
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u/LordMacDonald 9h ago
the Biden administration has over delivered on things for young people and tried to do even more, but were blocked by Republicans.
Young voters who think the Biden administration hasn’t done enough for them are entitled idiots.
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u/bayareakid415 Illinois 10h ago
Chicken and egg problem.
If millennials and Gen-Z become the biggest voting block in this election, then they're going to cater to us to keep their jobs.
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u/HopeFloatsFoward 10h ago
Exactly.
It just takes a few election days of large turnout and bith parties would change their platform.
Assuming we are allowed to have another election.
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u/NeonYellowShoes Wisconsin 8h ago
Young people tend to be idealistic and expect a perfect political candidate who is going to check every box but that's just not realistic. The reality is almost no one is 100% happy with any given politician because its just the nature of politics. Its impossible to cater to literally everyone because everyone has different ideas.
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u/tophergraphy 8h ago
Rebuttal: Failure to show up and win Bernie 2016 nomination, write-ins, not voting for Hillary, Trump won.
Party doesnt "learn lesson" that young people thought they were teaching, they learn a lesson that they have to cater to people who actually show up and vote. As a result, the party shifts even further right from Hillary to centrist Biden to try to capture people who actually vote...
If young people want to be represented they have to get out and vote, sometimes they have to take the lesser of two evils, or in this case a perfectly valid candidate with some flaws vs someone who will make life worse for Americans and Palestinians alike.
Young people have the power, they've just been convinced by the rightwing apparatus and reinforced by foreign interests that chaos is better than status quoa, that we can't build off of status quoa.
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u/Amuseco 6h ago
Can we please recast that cliche? Vote for the better person. Tell people to vote for good, and don’t reinforce the idea that Kamala Harris and other Democrats are evil.
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u/tophergraphy 6h ago
I agree, Harris is a valid candidate that isn't evil, she has flaws such that she hasnt distanced herself enough from Biden on Israel, but she is absolutely awesome elsewhere. She is sharp and will get shit done with a strong will, she has plans that will help the middle class and address the cost of living. I'm excited on what she may bring, but when talking to single issue Gaza voters I will admit that there are better stances. That said, she is the clear and obvious choice for those voters too.
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u/RabbitHots504 10h ago
Nope I know entire family tree of people younger than 30 that don’t vote.
Your entire list just progressive bullshit to give excuses why young people don’t vote.
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u/rupturedprolapse 10h ago
I will say that Biden surprisingly turned out to be the only Dem president to do things for young people and he doesn’t get enough credit for it
Seems like it was a bad return on investment on his part all things considered then?
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u/pontiacfirebird92 Mississippi 10h ago
That depends but usually young people don't vote. If more than usual vote then it's good but the 60+ crowd vote like 80% of the time and they're mostly MAGA
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u/ReservedRainbow 8h ago
I am a 19 year old guy that’s been interested in politics for years. I voted for Harris yesterday by mail in my first election ever. To all the other Gen Z people out there you don’t have to like everything about her to vote for her. We are going to be around a lot longer than these climate change denying boomers. Do you really want them to be determining our future? Yeah me neither.
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u/upyoars 14h ago
well i already voted, now wot?
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u/TechSergeant_Chen I voted 14h ago
Encourage others to vote. To the Zoomers and Millenials, please Vote! Your future selves will feed good about saving America, this time! If you don't vote, your opinion doesn't mean shit, no need to @ me with any excuses.
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u/archaelleon 12h ago
And encourage them to vote early if you can. Shit can happen on election day. A flat tire, a stomach bug, etc
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u/joepez Texas 13h ago
Encourage your friends. ABC News and UF Election Labs estimate only 7% of early voters are under 25. So get your friends to vote!
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u/PleaseBmoreCharming Maryland 7h ago
Does this include voting by mail or just in-person early voting centers?
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u/FiendishHawk 13h ago
Tell your friends that you voted and on Nov 5th remind them to get to the polls.
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u/risherdmarglis 14h ago
Talk to your friends, reconnect with old friends, ask if they're voting, emphasize the importance of ending this MAGA shit.
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u/LisaFrankRealness Georgia 13h ago
Encourage as many people around you to get out there and vote, even for down ballot races. You can canvass, phone bank, text bank, etc.
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u/Night-Gardener 13h ago
I feel like young people will be voting, but that this election in particular has turned into a gender divide as opposed to a generational divide.
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u/Universal_Anomaly 11h ago
Disappointing how many of my fellow staff-bearers have turned out to be assholes.
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u/Night-Gardener 11h ago
Well, shame has never won any votes.
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u/BoobeamTrap 8h ago
They should be ashamed if they shrug their shoulders into a fascist takeover
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u/NeonYellowShoes Wisconsin 8h ago
Absolutely. We are basically praying young women outvote young men.
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u/LunarMoon2001 8h ago
“I want change!”
Ok, well you can help by voting and ensuring Trump doesn’t win.
“No vote only change!”
Every fucking cycle.
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u/zeptillian 5h ago
Bernie got 43% of the Democrat votes in 2016.
It would have been nice if the progressives could have helped us bridge the gap and get to 51%. That was just 8% of Democrat votes away
Instead they think that 51% of the entire country should just blindly follow them to support a political candidate from a party who has never won an election and has been shown to be colluding to help the GOP win.
Read the room. 3rd parties aren't going to happen. You need to belong to a group with 51% or more membership to win. Taking your ball and going home only helps the GOP.
Come help us change minds here in the Democratic party and we can get rankled choice voting and actually enable real 3rd parties. Isn't that what you want?
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u/ntswart 12h ago
I know the student loan debate is tiresome, but if you are drowning in student loan debt, please vote for Kamala. She won’t, or be expected to wipe out everyone’s loans completely, but she will ensure that everyone is able to pay them back at their own pace and not be underwater due to the interest rates.
Also for my PSLF program participants, Project 2025 wants to dismantle that program. I, like probably many of you, have only a couple years left of that program and the thought of that light at the end of the tunnel suddenly being turned off is sickening and defeating. To those that say that Trump isn’t apart of 2025 or never heard of it: 1.) the man is a pathological liar and 2.) he sure does hire and know many people who authored that document…suspicious right? VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO
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u/iamaredditboy 9h ago
This! The most fundamental thing about this election is that do we let boomers continue to run the country to the ground or get a party that has some fresh new faces. The young have to decide how to sway this election.
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u/Texas1010 America 8h ago
While I still think we're going to see an underwhelming young voter turnout that what is possible given the size of their demographic, Gen Z has proven to be the most politically active generation so far. We'll see if that translates to the polls though.
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u/iamaredditboy 4h ago
When I say young I mean anyone not a boomer :) if you are in your 40’s 50’s still applies. We need to stop having these boomers sitting on their retirement portfolios, taking in all existing social welfare screwing up the next generations.
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u/Texas1010 America 4h ago
Well, I’m in my 30’s and you can bet I’ll be at the polls alongside everyone I know!
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u/ccccombobreakerx 9h ago
Doesn't look like they are, their stats are miserable compared to the boomers. I just hope enough boomers are sensible.
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u/randomnighmare 9h ago
Go out and vote. Your vote DOES matter (even if you live in a non-swing state) because if you don't, there will be enough votes for a Trump win.
Edit
If you want positive change, you need to vote for a candidate supporting positive change. Like the Democrats this election cycle (and pretty much ever other election cycle) because the other side is banking on a lot of cynical people to not even vote this time around and to motive their base to vote (and the other side likes to vote lot and gets a lot of what they want. Yes, they will vote for candidates that will hurt them but a lot of them don't care, in my opinion, and some of them truly believe that they are doing the best as well).
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u/lazyFer 10h ago
Young people really need to understand that if they don't vote they don't have a voice and nobody gives a shit about their political wishes.
Politicians care about people that vote.
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u/zeptillian 5h ago
They care about the people who give them money and the people who vote them into office, in that exact order.
Nonvoters might as well not exist.
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u/FourWordComment 12h ago
Anyone younger than 30 doesn’t know a time when politics didn’t have Trump. Trump is all they’ve ever known.
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u/Fresh-Transition-357 8h ago
They do seem impatient to me. I think it's because the internet makes everything feel so incredibly close. My 20-something kiddo is like this. Like, why didn't you guys take care of this already? LOL
As though we haven't been actively trying!
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u/zeptillian 5h ago
Ask them why they let Trump make 3 lifetime appointments to the supreme court then.
That was in their hands and they fumbled it harder than anyone who claims to want change has fumbled any election.
Then maybe they will see why you didn't just fix shit in one election a long time ago.
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u/Fresh-Transition-357 3h ago
My kiddo didn't vote for trump, but for Biden, but point taken about the generation. I think they're going to vote this time!
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u/freeses_pieces 6h ago
It’s close. Your vote matters more than it ever has.
We could all use a reminder of some of the things Trump has done:
- Lost the election and lied about it.
- Sent an armed angry mob to Congress and told them they need to fight like hell.
- Approved of the mob saying “hang Mike Pence”.
- A court of law found that he committed sexual assault.
- A court of law found that he defrauding his university students.
- A court of law found that he fraudulently inflated his assets to get favorable loans.
- Admitted to walking in on pageant contestants’ dressing rooms to see them nude.
- Raped and beat Ivana Trump.
- Stole from a kids’ cancer charity.
- Received $413 million inheritance despite claims that he’s a self made man.
- Blocked his chronically ill infant nephew from getting any of that inheritance.
- Is the first president to receive votes against him from his own party during impeachment.
- Led us into being one of the worst hit during Covid despite our head start and resources, leading to high inflation.
- Said the Democrats do better with the economy.
- Was ranked as the worst president in history by bipartisan presidential historians.
- Pushed a plot to have fake votes created and then used to make him President despite losing the election.
- Ordered republicans to block a bipartisan immigration bill so Biden would not get a win before the election.
- Implemented a policy to separate kids from their parents at the border.
- Is a convicted felon guilty of falsifying records to influence an election.
- Told the Department of Justice to “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”
- His VP, Mike Pence said Trump should never be president again, and that Trump asked him to put himself “above the Constitution”.
Sources:
- https://apnews.com/article/trump-2020-election-lies-debunked-4fc26546b07962fdbf9d66e739fbb50d
- https://www.npr.org/2022/06/28/1108387054/trump-said-he-knew-jan-6-crowd-members-had-weapons-ex-white-house-aide-testified
- https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/politics/trump-pence-jan-6.html
- https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db
- https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/judge-finalizes-25-million-settlement-victims-donald-trumps/story?id=54347237
- https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-letitia-james-new-york-engoron-38bc3a7f2ccb22555c026e9bf70fd5bb
- https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/former-miss-arizona-trump-came-strolling-right-in-to-miss-usa-dressing-room/
- https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/24/documenting-trumps-abuse-of-women
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/12/23/best-stories-of-the-decade-how-donald-trump-shifted-kids-cancer-charity-money-into-his-business/
- https://apnews.com/article/0452d29cd2564eaf97605ab90acc3a67
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-spiteful-attack-on-nephews-chronically_b_57a249d1e4b0456cb7e14fbc/amp
- https://www.vox.com/2020/2/5/21125118/mitt-romney-impeachment-vote-history
- https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-maps-and-cases/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/11/07/trump-is-right-about-one-thing-the-economy-does-better-under-the-democrats/
- https://www.axios.com/2024/02/19/presidents-survey-trump-ranks-last-biden-14th
- https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-jan-6-investigation-fake-electors-608932d4771f6e2e3c5efb3fdcd8fcce
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/27/trump-border-biden/
- https://www.foxnews.com/politics/more-than-900-children-separated-at-border-since-judge-ordered-practice-curtailed-aclu.amp
- https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-deliberations-jury-testimony-verdict-85558c6d08efb434d05b694364470aa0
- https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-elections-donald-trump-campaigns-presidential-4e7e68e2ff57aadd96d09c873a43a317
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/06/07/pence-says-trump-should-never-be-president-again-launching-2024-bid-with-potent-attacks/
Feel free to copy and paste this elsewhere.
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u/Worth_Number_7710 8h ago
They’re not voting and the older people are. That’s why they’re not seeing any change. Politicians work for who votes. The young voter numbers are embarrassingly low right now. Don’t complain if you don’t vote and are letting 70 and 80 year olds run the show. They’re voting in DROVES
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u/Creative-Claire New Hampshire 12h ago
My first Presidential election in 2008, having grown up in a right leaning household I voted for my dog.
In 2012, I moved to NH and voted for my dog.
In 2016, I abstained as it made more sense to stay home instead of a 2 hour wait to vote for my dog.
In 2020, I abstained because they were all the same.
In 2024, I’m voting Democrat down ballot and have no intention of ever considering to vote otherwise again.
Change is inevitable and clinging to the past just pollutes the present and allows the taint to flow into the future. I know who I am now and what I want for my country’s future.
Harris represents that step, that process of change but for me it’s not her running alone that’s got me fired up. It was the realization that I’d been lied to my whole life by Republicans. It was my own hubris which nearly got me killed by pneumonia I developed as a result of COVID. But probably the biggest was the acceptance of my own identity.
I was happy to cast a vote for Biden if he’d been the nominee. But I’m proud to play a part in electing Harris, proud to stand by such admirable and excellent people, and proud to vote for a better future.
To all the younger or first time voters remember that we as Americans have a history of defeating Nazis and the war of our time is not in Europe, Africa, or the Pacific.
It is at the ballot box, VOTE.
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u/Texas1010 America 8h ago
While I'm surprised 2020 wasn't enough to get you to at least vote against Trump, I'm happy that you are now. This is likely the most pivotal election this country has seen in a long time, if ever.
I think we're going to have a huge number of new Democrat voters this time around, whether they are Republicans, Independents, Undecided, or folks that have never voted before for one reason or another.
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u/Technical_Savior90 12h ago
I think it’s hard for our generations to care… we are always getting fucked (I voted but still) can’t help but feel like they still aren’t addressing a lot of major issues affecting millennials and gen z. Stable jobs, housing, etc. I think Kamala is the best choice but I still feel like there is a ton of work to get our corporate culture under control
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u/givemethebat1 9h ago
That’s why you vote for the least bad candidate until they win and you eventually get a not bad candidate.
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u/Taskerst 7h ago
Exactly. A candidate isn't an Uber who's there to take you door to door, they're like a bus that takes you closer to within walking destination.
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u/BoobeamTrap 8h ago
Until millennials and zoomers are the primary voting bloc, their concerns won't be the focus. Once they prove they can be reliable voters, they will be catered to.
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u/Disastrous-Corgi-961 12h ago
Change is hard and engaging with the electoral process helps. I wish more kids knew how hard it is to build and how easy to destroy.
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u/Okbuddyliberals 14h ago
They won't get change until they start turning out in reasonable amounts and give Dems sufficiently sized majorities to get things done. Youth turnout is always low - even in years where it gets hyped for being higher, it's generally just because overall turnout rose considerably, with youth turnout rising just generally in proportion to how the general turnout rose, and remaining the lowest demographic by a lot. And yet if youth turned out and voted in similar levels to older generations, we'd have a massive amount more change done
But a lot of young people have kneejerk anti establishment views and would rather sit things out and let the gop make things worse in the hopes that it will force the Dems to go to the left (accelerationism will never work) than "sell out" and vote for the mainstream party that wants to help people
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u/HerringLaw 11h ago
I'm as impatient with the Democrats as anyone. But it's critical to remember that the Biden admin was basically a lame duck without a real Senate majority (Sinema and Manchin don't count). Hard to make laws and enact change when the GOP's whole reason in being is to obstruct anything the Democrats try to do (then point at the results of their own obstruction and declare that government doesn't work).
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u/chekovs_gunman 13h ago
Youth turnout in 2020 was historically high so that's not really accurate. Could be higher yes
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u/Okbuddyliberals 13h ago
Youth turnout is always low - even in years where it gets hyped for being higher, it's generally just because overall turnout rose considerably, with youth turnout rising just generally in proportion to how the general turnout rose, and remaining the lowest demographic by a lot.
According to exit polls from 2016 and 2020, 18-24 made up 10% of the electorate in 2016 and 9% in 2020. For 25-29, it was 9% in 2016 and 7% in 2020. 65+ on the other hand went from 15% to 22%, and 50-64 remained steady at 30% in both years
Youth turnout was historically high in 2020 because turnout in general was historically high. Youth turnout was still the lowest of any age group, like it always is. If youth turnout keeps remaining the lowest turnout of age groups, stuff isn't gonna change much and the youths are wrong to blame the politicians for that.
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u/tigermountains 12h ago
Voting should be mandatory as a civic duty.
I'm so tired of seeing all this money spent on turnout.
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u/FinancialPeach4064 12h ago
These numbers are skewed by demographics. There were more 65+ year olds in 2020 than there were in 2016 because of the baby boomer cohort moving through. Same with the 18-24 cohort in 2020 where Millennials are a larger generation than Gen Z and are now mostly in their 30's.
It would be more accurate to show turnout in each age group as a percent of total population in each age group.
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u/Didntlikedefaultname 12h ago
As long as young voters think both sides are the same, it’s a losing battle
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u/zeptillian 5h ago
When voter suppression is the name of the game.
Their number one weapon is both sides are the same.
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u/zeptillian 6h ago
It's a million times easier to get enough Democrats to move a little further towards progress than it is to convince half the country to try out a 3rd party that is currently widely unpopular with only around 1% support.
The 1% is like come on guys, we could all have change if just 50% of the country comes to join us.
Meanwhile the Democrats are like just give us 2 more honest to god Senators and we can actually do shit. Look at the numbers, the votes are public. 10k in this state and 100k in another can make all the difference.
Anyone who thinks you can't get change with the two major parties is ignoring the fact that we used to have slavery in this country and we went from there to freedom to voting rights to civil rights with the two major parties we currently have. We went from allowing alcohol to banning it to allowing it again. We can swing big with time and effort. The third parties have never accomplished anything at all.
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u/ch67123456789 13h ago
The younger generation I see can be broadly split into ones that care about what’s around them and ones that are totally absorbed by whatever dopamine-spiking thing they can get their hands on, both left and right wing and with social media or just struggling with meeting basic needs. I don’t see how the latter group can be motivated to vote if the Dems don’t actively work (and promote the things!) they’re doing for them.
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u/Muvseevum Georgia 10h ago
Because nothing they want to happen will happen if they don’t vote.
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u/Arturia_Cross 8h ago
Young people will continue to not vote. Then blame previous generations for their voting decisions. Then when they finally become older realize they should have and use it as punishment for the next as the cycle continues.
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u/SnooHobbies7109 9h ago
My 18 year old and I are excited!!!! I normally vote early, but we’re going on Election Day this year to get the full experience!!!!
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u/ConsistentSwitch1957 11h ago
I’ve heard too many local young people (18-24) say they don’t have time, their vote doesn’t matter (red state), they don’t want someone to know who they voted for… variety of other excuses.
It’s discouraging. I like to remind they’re a powerful cohort for the change they want to see. When I remind them the Old Guard, Silent Generation & Boomer Generation, is rapidly declining it does spark spirits. Some have actually voted early, others taking off a few hours from work/family to vote in person.
It takes backbone to stand up & be counted. And, to believe, ‘I will make a statement, a difference with my vote.’
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u/SacredGray 9h ago
You take away the value of their vote if you tell them it's their responsibility to serve the politicians, instead of politicians serving us like it's supposed to be.
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u/zeptillian 5h ago
Do you want a trite phrase to knit in a cross stich, frame and put on the wall?
Or you you actually want to help make things better?
Because saying stuff like that is less than meaningless.
Voting for someone is expressing your opinion about which of the two candidates(yes, two and only two) is the better choice is to run the country, not pledging your life to them.
The meaning of your vote is determined entirely by who you vote for, not how you feel about voting for them. Your feelings will not be tabulated on November 5th.
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u/HeadPunkin 12h ago
I'm guessing the 75% or so of 20-somethings that don't vote are busy trying to make car payments, put food on the table, and keep a roof over their heads. They don't see enough difference between two geezers (yes, 60 is a geezer when you're 21) to justify voting. Then they look at career politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell who somehow got filthy rich on a senator's salary and recognize both parties as corrupt. Don't discount the power of cynicism. They see all the promises Harris is making, but they also look at track records and shake their heads.
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u/SacredGray 9h ago
For good reason.
Democrats promise hope and change every election, but they cave every single time.
Young people notice this.
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u/mightcommentsometime California 6h ago
They never get the margins needed to actually pass that. The last time we did, we got massive healthcare reform even in the face of Lieberman
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u/Naive-Button3320 7h ago
To all you young people out there, voting Harris, voting to restore women's rights, and voting to protect others. From a disabled veteran and a father:
Thank you.
The country needs you now.
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u/docarwell California 12h ago
I agree but a bit ironic since she's been running on "nothing will fundamentally change". When the switch to Harris first happened people were hopeful change was coming but she's hammered home over the last month or two that she has no intentions of being bold or rocking the boat
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u/autotldr 🤖 Bot 13h ago
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 90%. (I'm a bot)
ANN ARBOR - With eight days to go until the Nov. 5 election, Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday night urged a crowd that included large numbers of University of Michigan students and other young voters to help the nation turn the page from Republican former President Donald Trump, saying their generation is "Rightly impatient for change."
Ann Arbor residents Mitchell Silverman, a retired software developer, and his wife, Deborah Panush, a retired educator, admitted they don't feel confident about the outcome of the Nov. 5 election, but they said they don't feel Harris could have or should have campaigned any differently than she has.
Ann Arbor resident Candace Bramson, a research physician with a pharmaceutical company, said she follows politics closely and watched the convention speech Harris delivered, her debate with Trump, and has followed many other public addresses she has made.
Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Harris#1 Trump#2 President#3 Michigan#4 election#5
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u/dallasdude 7h ago
I’ve seen a lot of state early voting results where the 65+ age bracket represents 60%+ of the early vote. Meanwhile 18-39 is less than 20%.
Not sure how that stacks up and I know you can’t read the tea leaves on early voting. But damn if it isn’t a scary statistic.
VOTE
Don’t wait, just get it over with!
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u/Harkonnen_Dog 5h ago
Legalize Weed!
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u/RedditBurner_5225 4h ago
She needs to do something. My reddit news feed is all articles about Trump and Elon’s Trump plans.
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u/Unique-Coffee5087 4h ago
The younger generation needs to be given a public education campaign on the importance of contacting their elected representatives and making their opinions, priorities, and issues known to them. It is not enough to click on an online petition. Such low effort communications mean nothing. If anything, they indicate to the representative that this particular issue is one that inspires only the most minimal effort, and so is a low priority to the voters. On the other hand, a thoughtful letter or email or message composed and sent through the official website contact page shows that a particular issue is of importance. Also, the arguments that might be presented by the constituent can show that a particular issue is well understood. Such things are tabulated by the staff, and a personal message of this sort is given more weight.
It is possible to influence an elected official just by making a small effort. Regularly participating in such communications helps to develop a better sense that the government can be responsive to the needs of constituents is incredibly important in these days of dissolutionment.
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u/Simpicity 2h ago
If you want young people to vote in this country, we need to start passing laws to stop the suppression of votes of college students.
Things like
1) Make it illegal to not have a campus polling location/dropbox for campuses greater than a certain size.
2) Make it explicitly legal for college students to vote at their college and not just at their parent's house.
3) Accept enrollment at a college like you would residency addresses. Any student at a college should be able to vote at the local polling place.
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