From a young follower: We trust Bernie. He is the grandpa of American youth

[kpete]

From a young follower
By MNscrappyliberal
Sunday Nov 08, 2015 9:39 PM PST



I am 19, living in MN.

..............

My dad is a spitfire liberal. I grew up with spitfire liberals in a sea of old conservatives. Rural Minnesota is not as blue as the hipster den known as Duluth or the happy green pretentious beer garden called the Twin Cities. For this reason, the liberal discourse in my family seemed to ferment, getting so potent that I didn’t see my dad for a few days after the 2004 election. This is my origin story so you know where the next part is coming from.

Hillary just doesn’t fly with college kids. I have no facts to back this post up, but don’t abandon me yet. I can tell you I’ve never heard college kids talk positively of Hillary. Republicans are out of the question. Any college student who is a Republican is beyond the point of redemption, but they are a minority. There are more college libertarians, feel, but they are low key and less likely to vote.

Back to the point...Hillary, whenever she tries to touch base with us, ends up looking like an “alien space lizard” (a term coined by a friend). Don’t get me wrong, most college liberals would pick her over any Republican, and Bill Clinton’s legendary appearance on campus a few years ago still reverberates around the halls from time to time. Kind of like how, in Dante’s Divine Comedy, Hell was still experiencing earthquakes hundreds of years after Jesus came crashing through.

It’s just…Hillary just doesn’t seem to notice us, or understand us, or stand for us.

Why is this important? Yes, college kids are naive. Super naive. We also do a ton of stupid shit. But nothing is more infuriating to college liberals when the older generation regards us so condescendingly. I was told once that young liberals are too naive to accept the fact that Hillary will get the nomination. The things we ask for are brushed off by politicians as being the result of the recklessness of youth.

Recreational marijuana? Oh college kids. So cute.

You want free community college? You do realize this isn’t like kindergarten where everyone gets a medal for participating.

Bernie Sanders? You college kids are too unrealistic.

These are some of the things older Democrats have told me. It is disheartening. Furthermore, when we try to point out Hillary’s rather Machiavellian stratagem, we are disregarded as being “conspiracy theorists.” Even though some of Hillary’s top donors control a large contingent of the media.

Naive and idealist? Yes we are. But we are not stupid. We know what kind of world we want. Most college kids don’t vote, that’s a fact. But why? Yes, some are lazy, hungover, or busy with homework. Others just don’t connect with politicians. Hillary doesn’t put a spring in our step. She was an amazing Secretary of State, she sure can debate, and the Saudi family would be toned down a bit, but does she really understand American youth? It isn’t easy being young in America.

Look at Bernie’s rallies. Look at all the young people. Bernie gets us. He is the first candidate that lights a fire in our hearts. Hillary has changed her views and discourse so much to the point that no average voter could seriously know what opinions she really holds. Whenever Democratic discourse sways one way, Hillary is quick to jump on the bandwagon. Bernie is the bandwagon. Bernie wants to be president because he wants to fix America. Hillary wants to be president because she thinks it’s her turn.

We all know American democracy is always in danger. Some would even liken it to plutocracy- a country that is controlled by the rich. If Hillary gets elected, it is just another case in a long line of examples where rich interests get what they want. If no large donors were involved, what would the campaigns look like now? If Hillary wins it means that more people voted for her. That’s fair. But in today’s climate, we can’t discern if people voted for her because rich interests empower her and influence voters, or if that support is truly organic. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate whose support is undeniably raw- support built from the ground up, and not given the adrenaline shot that Super PACs offer.

We trust Bernie. He is the grandpa of American youth

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/8/1447349/-From-a-young-follower

[JaneyVee]

1. Yet Hillary leads or ties among millenials...

Depending on which state. Go figure.

[Betty Karlson]

4. Thanks for brushing off half the people born after 1980

It's not like we need their enthousiasm to win, right? It's so much Hillary's turn that we should just mock those who feel abandoned by her and the rest of the DLC / DWS group.

By the way: those poll results rather depend on what poll sample you use. If DWS refuses to register Democratic voters at Sanders rallies, and the pollster weighs whether or not someone is aregistered Democrat, millennial support for Sanders is inevitably undersampled.

[JaneyVee]

5. I was born in 1981.

[Betty Karlson]

6. And I was born in 1982. How is our own year of birth relevant? eom

[JaneyVee]

7. Because author is asserting no millenial enthusiasm...

For HRC. Which is obviously incorrect.

[Betty Karlson]

8. The author voices what at least half our generation is feeling.

You are ignoring that half purposefully: claiming that their enthousiasm for Sanders is irrelevant because it's Clinton's turn. Their votes are taken for granted in the GE, even though the author warns of the lack of voter commiment especially among college students.

[JaneyVee]

9. Sorry, you are misstating my post.

It really wasn't that deep. Just defending against the assertion HRC has no millenial support. The polls show a different story. Nothing more.

[Betty Karlson]

10. The author's sphere of reference is college kids.

Maybe Clinton's support among the millennials is primarily among the millennials with little education / low information voters?

But again: which Democrat has ever managed to win without the college kids? We try that every midterm election, and we always lose. Would you like to try that strategy again in the GE?

[JaneyVee]

11. Well that's offensive.

Again, you're completely misstating my post. And here's a tip: just because someone doesn't go to college doesn't make them "low info".

[Scootaloo]

15. No, "offensive" is using Stormfront as a source to try to trash Sanders

[pinebox]

25. Owww DAMN!

[think]

26. Exactly.

[bravenak]

27. Me too.nt

[saidsimplesimon]

17. Betty, I agree with the context of your post.

Millennial participation is not captured by the polls, imho.

[Betty Karlson]

29. Did you expect it to be?

In 2012, millennials wee consistently undersampled. Why would 2016 be any different.

As far as the 1%, DWS / DLC and MSM are concerned, we exist only as background noise.

[Android3.14]

18. You say that as if it were a good thing. Luckily, we know you just spread a lie...again

More misinformation willfully spread by a supporter of a candidate who is unable to articulate why he or she supports that candidate.
Millennials warming to Sanders, cooling to Clinton

Go figure.

[LiberalArkie]

2. He has the same feeling that I did back then about RFK. And how the establishment candidates

did not understand us.

[livetohike]

3. So was Ronald Reagan. He was a good storyteller and young people just loved him.

He was 69 years old when he took office. I never could see his appeal to young people other than they were in need of a Grandfather figure in their life.

[starroute]

23. Reagan got his lowest percentage of votes among young people

These are the figures for 1980. The first column is the percentage of the total vote represented by that age group. The second is percentage of votes for Carter, the third is votes for Reagan, and the fourth is votes for John Anderson.

18–21 years old 6 44 43 11
22–29 years old 17 43 43 11
30–44 years old 31 37 54 7
45–59 years old 23 39 55 6
60 years or older 18 40 54 4

[livetohike]

30. Interesting. I guess all those young people didn't show up

to vote. I was just 28 when he was elected, but I remember the enthusiasm for him.

[starroute]

32. Partly it would have depended on where you were living at the time

But a 50-50 split is enough for there to have been plenty of Reagan supporters in their 20s. In 2008, the split for people in their 20s was 66% for Obama to 32% for McCain.

What I don't remember, though, is any young people embracing Reagan as a kindly grandfather figure.

[Enthusiast]

12. Kicked and recommended to the Max!

[beerandjesus]

13. I'm hearing similar things from my high school kid.

This is also anecdotal, obviously, but what he's telling me is that at his high school here in South Carolina, the teachers and smart kids like Bernie, the dumb kids like one Republican or another, and no one seems to give a shit about Hillary.

For what it's worth, which probably isn't much, haha!

[Fawke Em]

35. If it's anecdotal, it's catching.

My son's school is EXACTLY the same way here in Tennessee. The smart kids and teachers like Bernie. In fact, upon hearing Hillary was the front-runner on the news, my son couldn't understand how that could be because no one he knows likes her or is voting/would vote for her.

[The River]

14. Perfect Comment

from the responses at Dkos.

"She comes across as a piece of plastic in a rubber mask."

That pretty much sums up the Clinton candidacy.

[cantbeserious]

16. K&R

eom

[retrowire]

19. If Bernie is the grandpa then...

Jane is the mom.

Having met them both, I can assure you she is SO MOM LIKE it'd insane.

I feel like I could totally wake up in the morning, she'd pop in the room and yell "get ready for school!" while I'd protest and roll over.

Oh, first lady mom, you know I don't like school!

lolol

[kelliekat44]

20. Hillary know you are there. You have just been told that she doesn't and you have been told to

ignore her.

[jeff47]

28. No, her policies take care of that nicely.

For example, her plan to make college more affordable is to slightly increase grants, and then the vast majority would have to take out loans. Her plan is to reduce the interest rate on those loans, but that just means it's easier to carry more debt.

So instead of having $30k in loans, now they can afford $50k in loans. Which means the tuition spiral continues unabated.

Also: Pretending "the kids" are morons is not a terribly good way to appeal to "the kids".

[whatchamacallit]

21. Get out and vote kid

and bring all your friends with you.

[Demeter]

22. Bernie reminds me of my grandpa, too. And I am 60

I miss my grandpa's wisdom and straightforward speaking. Bernie brings it all back: the Can Do attitude, the reasoned explanations, the New Deal, for Chrissakes! The sense of Family.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

24. What gets me is all of Europe has all of that unrealistic stuff....

You'll hear the excuse "they're a lot smaller than us" but we're a whole lot RICHER.

Our nation's wealth is going towards the greediest people in our society.

To top it off, Republicans are creating the ILLUSION of "hard times" by making us drive over falling bridges and pothole filled roads so we believe nobody has any money.

[reformist2]

33. Each little country in Europe may be smaller, but together they are bigger than the US!

And to my knowledge, almost all of them have free (or almost free) university education!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

34. One of the excuses we hear is we can't do that because we're bigger.

[coyote]

37. You know

Last edited Tue Nov 10, 2015, 01:36 PM - Edit history (1)

I lived in the US for almost 30 years of my life and in Europe for the last 15. I can tell you that it has been an absolute eye-opening experience living in Europe. Basically, I never realized how bad we have it in America until living somewhere else.

Americans can also have all the social programs that Europeans have, there simply needs to be the political will. The only person that bring us there is Bernie....Hillary will just continue the status quo and backing up her corporation/banker friends.

[pinebox]

39. Same

I lived 10 years in Germany and it really is amazing how bad we have it, people haven't a clue.

[sabrina 1]

31. Bernie has the young vote, no doubt about it.

[pacalo]

36. K&R!

[a kennedy]

38. K & R