Young voters aren't warming up to Biden. They know it means Trump could win again.

return2ozma@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – -34 points –
Young voters aren't warming up to Biden. They know it means Trump could win again.
usatoday.com
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Is there some chance Biden might win Tennessee? Why do we care about what a bunch of 20 year olds in Tennessee specifically think?

We don't. The news, however, does. Their mission is to get clicks, and shit like this gets clicks.

(I mean I didn't click on it, but in general I think it's far far more effective than updating people with what's going on with the Houthis or another story about how Trump is a crook or something like that.)

Democrats: we don't care what you think, but we demand your vote.

I don't think it's reasonable to discount what people (especially working people or Palestinian people) think, no. And the Democrats have a long, long track record of doing that, fair play. As a great example, Hillary Clinton's "if you're not in a swing state or you're not one of my delegates then fuck you" attitude definitely didn't do her any favors.

I do think however that it's perfectly reasonable not to care what one particular person thinks, who clearly has been victimized by a certain level of corporate misinformation in the media. That whole situation is clearly worth talking about as a problem, but not as a "Biden needs to do a better job of agreeing with what this person thinks" problem. In my opinion.

I don’t think it’s reasonable to discount what people (especially working people or Palestinian people) think, no. And the Democrats have a long, long track record of doing that, fair play.

And yet, the party is still doing it. Your comment is consistent with the party's "fuck you, we're never changing and you're going to vote for us" message.

Why are you arguing with me dude, on this I'm agreeing with you

Why are you arguing with me dude, on this I’m agreeing with you

You agree that your comment is consistent with Democrats' "Fuck you" messaging? Ok.

I think you're just wired for conflict maybe 🙂

  • Establishment Democrats: Fuck you
  • You: They shouldn't say that
  • Me: They shouldn't say that
  • You: You agree that your comment is consistent with Democrats' "Fuck you" messaging

I feel I've said pretty much what I need to say about it at this point

You know which comment I was referring to, and have chosen to misrepresent what I've said. Expecting honesty from you was a mistake that I'll never make again.

So here's what I meant by that: I'm actually specifically agreeing with what you say about the Democrats being tone deaf and dismissive of legitimate concerns. I think it causes harm to the Democrats (in elections) and harm to the country (because it leads them to pursue a harmful neoliberal agenda and not listen to criticism of it a lot of the time.) What you're saying, I'm agreeing with.

I'm also saying that this particular thing is not a fully legitimate concern. I've talked at length about my factual reasons why a big chunk of the article's laundry list of complaints about the country -- which the list is 100% legitimate, yes -- shouldn't be applied to Biden, because he (rather unusually for a Democrat) has been taking concrete steps to try to address them. And, that not voting for him will definitely make a whole lot of them (probably the entire list) much, much worse.

You can disagree with all that, and that's all good. We can talk if you like. But IDK man... if you've ever been on the receiving end of this kind of "how dare you not even apologize for X, I'm so upset" "but I didn't actually do X" "there you go again, how dare you" circular argument I think you can understand the difference between those two things -- no?

This exchange:

Why do we care about what a bunch of 20 year olds in Tennessee specifically think?

We don’t.

Sure seems consistent with the "fuck you" messaging.

Let me be more specific, then:

Ramos is one of many young voters stewing with grievances over the country's future, from the existential crisis of climate change to the frustration over inflation, reproductive rights, high interest rates, Israel's war in Gaza, immigration reform and the power corporations have over their working conditions.

She's mad Biden and Democrats have failed to protect reproductive rights or wipe out student loans. (emphasis mine)

These people are wrong. Full stop. The logic they're using makes no sense, because factually, their ideas about what Biden has and hasn't done don't line up with reality.

And, I strongly suspect that this particular article has cherry-picked these particular people to present a particular narrative, instead of honestly trying to inform its readers about what's actually going on.

So maybe it's OTT for me to say I don't care what these people think. If you want to talk about fixing the media so these particular people won't be so wrong that they'll bring up student loans as a big example of something Biden hasn't done, that would lead them not to vote for him even over Trump, then that sounds great. But if the idea is that I have to listen to their ideas and take them seriously, then no, I don't think I do, because they're wrong. There's a huge difference between that viewpoint and the standard DNC viewpoint of "IDC if you're suffering, I don't want to listen or try to help you solve it."

I took some time to carve out and explicitly agree with you about the standard DNC viewpoint, because you and I are on the same page about it. If you want to argue though that these particular people are ones that Biden needs to be listening to because they're worth listening to, I'm going to keep saying, no, they're not.

In the same comment I just quoted, you said you hadn't read the article yet. Your problem couldn't have been with something you hadn't read yet.

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Do you really think this is a Tennessee-only problem?

No, but I do feel like their responses partially reflect certain regional attitudes which is irrelevant unless states like Tennessee can greatly improve turnout, educate their average voters and overcome Republican vote suppression.

What specifically about their responses gave you that impression? Nothing in those responses had any Tennessee specific concerns, most were very national issues consistently among the top concerns of young voters. You could find the same viewpoints in Michigan where youth enthusiasm could win the election.

This is true, TN will never vote Biden.

Wow. Do you have an actual picture of yourself in your profile? As a lemmy user? I gotta ask: why?! Especially if you came from reddit

Edit: genuinely not trying to be a jerk. Just curious. I've seen your comments here and there and you seen like a nice guy

Yup! That's me! Never be ashamed of who you are. ;) I TRY to be a nice guy... some times it's more difficult than others.

I appreciate that you responded and didn't take it personally. I guess what piqued my interest in the first place was the motivation. On this platform and others like it, you have nothing to gain by posting an image of yourself, but you potentially have something to lose considering it's a pathway that links your real life to your profile. It makes you traceable.

I just don't get it. It's not like this is Instagram or Facebook, where part of the point is to link your profile to your identity. Why expose yourself if you don't need to?

I think, having a picture, humanizes the posts. It's no longer random text scrolling on a screen, it emphasises that there's an actual, real human being here.

Something that's otherwise precious easy to forget on platforms like this.

It's a really good point and I'm genuinely impressed that you have made that choice.

It's not like I am embarrassed about any posts that I've made here, but I don't think I could do the same. The transparency is both admirable and terrifying to me. Anyway, I'm glad you're part of this community. Shine on you crazy diamond.

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