These all look like internet polls which Sanders naturally does better in because his supporters are young and tech savvy.
I'm young and tech savvy. I will show up to vote for Sanders. I won't vote for Clinton. I don't see the point. If it's Clinton v Goober, I won't even vote. Or I'll throw away my vote at a third party. I just don't see a difference. She's a Republican who supports gay marriage (and even then, only after it became convenient).
That's been a major part of Bernie's platform: convincing the young to vote. They're the ones most affected by government policies and they're the ones that can make changes. But it's been in the interest of political powers for the young to not vote. And honestly, he's the candidate that can really make it happen.
On behalf of every person in the "working poor" bucket, and every person suffering under the weight of unimaginable medical bills, and every person wrestling with unreasonable tuition/student loans, and every person suffering quietly with a disability that should qualify them for some benefits but denied because of bureaucracy.... I HOPE YOU'RE RIGHT. and hell... I used to be a republican.And honestly, he's the candidate that can really make it happen.
I'd love to see it, but I find the argument that 'voting validates a system I am opposed to' very common among young folk that can vote. Personally, I find that argument ridiculously convenient and self-defeating, but it persists. Coupled with plenty of young voters that just don't care, I find it unlikely they will put Bernie in the Whitehouse.
This is what I tell young people with this attitude, hope that I can help smack some people with a 2x4 here. Old people vote and then go to church, or bingo or their social clubs and shame those who don't vote. Want to know why social security is untouchable? Want to know why Medicare is untouchable? OLD PEOPLE VOTE. Want to know why politicians don't seem to give a shit about the future? OLD PEOPLE VOTE. Want to know how a climate change denier can get reelected every two years? OLD PEOPLE VOTE. Even if you go to the polls and write "I love weed" as the candidate you vote for, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FUCKING VOTE. Want a politician to treat you like a human being? Show up to the polling place, sign in and return a ballot on the next 3-4 primaries and then don't miss a general election. When I was young and stupid I did work for a campaign. We got a list of people who voted in the last election. The people working on the campaign also had the lists going back 10 years. If a name showed up in those lists, THEY GOT A CALL. They got a personalized letter from a city councilman asking for a vote. They did not get the junk mail, they got the fancy letter. Be the person who's ass gets kissed. Start local. Vote in every election, even if all you do is vote against the judges and keep the fundamentalists off the school boards. The reason politicians don't give a shit about millennials, and continue to make fun of them is that they don't show up and at least put in the effort to look like they care. Every time you don't vote, the old people win. Remember that.I'd love to see it, but I find the argument that 'voting validates a system I am opposed to' very common among young folk that can vote. Personally, I find that argument ridiculously convenient and self-defeating, but it persists. Coupled with plenty of young voters that just don't care, I find it unlikely they will put Bernie in the Whitehouse.
Hate to say it, but I'm afraid you might be right. However, it's that same kind of thinking that made me look at trump as some sort of cute side show at first. Now I'm not so sure. It does feel like some sort of change is in the air.
This sentiment resonates with me. Although I do vote, I steadfastly believe that the United States is an oligarchy. I'd point to Occupy Wall Street as proof that they do care. Regardless of the effectiveness of the drum circle as a means of economics and political reform, a lot of man-hours went into that. Apathetic people generally don't invade the financial district. He doesn't need to convince them that the political system works. He needs to convince them that the window hasn't yet closed for them to mobilize and fix it. He needs to convince them that the window is closing, not closed. I think that both Sanders and Lessig's decisions to run were attempts to do that. I also think it is possible. Ron Paul's bottleneck was being libertarian, but he showed that strategy has merit. He brought in disenfranchised voters and captured 10% of the Republican party. These people didn't just vote for him, they tried to learn the system and take over the party's local infrastructure. If America had been in a different place culturally, they might have had the numbers to do it.voting validates a system I am opposed to
Coupled with plenty of young voters that just don't care, I find it unlikely they will put Bernie in the Whitehouse.
Then work to get a city councilman elected who aligns with your ideals. Knock on doors and make calls. Congress is screwed up, but the local guys win with human contact, not cash.This sentiment resonates with me. Although I do vote, I steadfastly believe that the United States is an oligarchy.
But then the negative aspect of tying your hopes and dreams to a single candidate like this is that I fear that if he doesn't get the nomination, young people will not bother to vote in any election this year, let alone the presidential one. I support the shit out of Bernie but people need to think about the bigger picture (i.e, don't let a Republican into the Oval Office and vote in every local/congressional election under the sky). Shit, I'm 21, haven't properly lived in the country since I was 10 and I've voted in every election that I've been eligible to, even last year's disastrous mid-terms. I feel like it is a mistake for my generation to just collectively turn its cheek in exasperation and be like 'I WON'T VOTE AT ALL BECAUSE IT IS ALL SHIT' just because it means we won't even get baby steps towards the things we like, let alone progress at all...
Or even worse, he could go on to win the election and then have nothing really change. That was my experience with Obama, and while I was certainly naive in my youthful optimism, there are some other takeaways from that experience. The nature of politics is a brutal lesson.But then the negative aspect of tying your hopes and dreams to a single candidate like this is that I fear that if he doesn't get the nomination, young people will not bother to vote in any election this year, let alone the presidential one.
Reddit's /r/SandersForPresident is likely responsible for those results. I wouldn't trust those results to represent the average voter's opinion.
Personally, I've lost all faith in change (that matters) through the democratic process. As far as I can tell, the only way anything is going to change is through instability of either the economic or the ecological system. Sanders definitely looks good, though, as far as these things go. I just wonder if the US citizenry haven't been burned too badly by Obama to vote for another democrat promising a better way.
Sanders' plan is more long-term than to just get elected president and try to change everything. He wants to create a massive socialist movement of some sort, to try and fix the problems before they get bad enough that we need a real revolution. With any luck, his movement will last much longer than he lives. Keep in mind that's just based off my analasys as a leftie. But what I hear when he says "political revolution" is "I will not live to see these problems fixed, but I'm gonna get the ball rolling."