TBF, the young have rarely voted in great numbers and there are less 18 year olds now than there have been as Americas median age continues to grow older with each passing year. Millennials were the largest generation of young people ever numbers have been receding since Gen Z reached voting age.
I promise you for every one activist on any one of those topics, there were thousands more that were just like “why can’t we have our prom?”
Being sharp and cogent is hardly a feat of strength. The public isn’t asking him to lift boulders I am asking him to be able to hold a constructive two way conversation with another individual either in public or on camera. Being old doesn’t mean he’s not up to the task but If he is not able to accomplish that bare minimum then the Dems should move on to a candidate who can. Full stop.
There’s a pretty big gap between aware and actively engaged/disengaged too. It’s on us to get the information out there.
But we all live in our siloed echo chambers at this point. So it comes down to who is yelling loudest. The Trumpers are getting fed whatever their algorithm feeds them which will be Trump is great and the savior of the world despite media’s attempt to prove otherwise.
The Biden administration working with the “deep state” is more than capable of keeping government/democracy running as well as it has been for the next 4 years. The issue is Biden’s candidacy. It’s much more difficult to claim competency if the figurehead that voters are being asked to vote for is shows himself to be addled during public moments where he is expected to give the air of a decisive leader. If Biden cannot provide that assurance and there are others who could while keeping much of Biden administration framework in place then it seems like that would be the best direction to go?
The replacement part is moot until Biden decides to bow out. I personally would like to see them release all delegates and have a contested convention to determine the nominees.
I don’t really think it is though. This seems all fairly unprecedented to me. I still think Harrison could do more if he wanted to. Biden doesn’t actually chair the party, just like Trump doesn’t actually chair the Republicans. They are the public face of party leadership but not the actual leadership.
You nailed it. It's exactly why fact-checking Trump does no good. His latest rallies with him riffing on airports and electric boats doesn't seem to dissuade his voters either. Even if the Dems had a whip-smart bulldog for a debate session against him, no 'loss' would stick. I have been feeling so hopeless about all of this for awhile.
I agree with this whole heartedly, if optics didn’t matter Hillary Clinton woulda been president in 2016.
Hard to say. They are only now at the age where they can vote and they're already pretty apathetic about the whole thing. Most are still heavily influenced by their parents and there's a lot of Trump voters around here. The odd thing is that both of the students who said this to me are Black. They really don't see a big difference between Trump and Biden. Biden really dropped the ball with Black voters. He got a bit of a pass because of Obama last time, but I think it's fair to say neither party has really done much of anything to help fix the problems in black communities. And it's tough to convince them as a white guy that I agree with them, but that one side is actively working against them while the other is just not doing anything. Even as we talk about it in their courses many still just have knee jerk reactions. Most don't really even understand what conservative or liberal/Republican or Democrat even mean. They are one or the other because that's what they've been told they should be. "Some" of the youth are trying to get active. Of those there is a minority that is hardcore Trumpian, but they turn off a lot of their peers because they're extremist about it like it's a gang or a cult. And a lot can see through their idiocy. The problem is that they know Trump supporters who aren't like that, so they don't see them as actually representative of what Trump is advocating for. The other side is larger, and is mostly women who have gotten "slightly" more political because overturning abortion directly impacts them even if they don't agree with getting one (at the moment). How that all translates comes election day is anyone's guess. I think those who are most passionate on both sides will get to the polls. And I think most of the students, even those who say they'll vote one way or the other, will only go vote if there's nothing else going on that day and the line isn't that long. They just don't see the point. I started asking my students about a decade ago if they thought democracy was worth saving. Less than half did for the first few years I asked. Toward the end of Trump that number rose back up to about 60% saying we needed to save it, and last semester it was down to about 30% again. They don't know what the alternative is, but they have no allegiance to American style electoral politics. I don't know the answer. When I was in college I was far more engaged and involved in activist communities than a lot of my peers, but I don't even see activist groups on campus anymore other than the alt-right ones. It's depressing.
You know, I used to just ignore those conversations with family because they don't seem to go anywhere. But the last few years I've gone the opposite direction. I feel a need to stand up to family now when I see them doing something that is genuinely harmful to our country and the world their children and grandchildren inherit. I've cut some off because life is too short to tolerate hate. I don't have a lot of family still alive, but for me it's a question of how can I accept the love of those who spew hate towards those I love? I stopped speaking to my grandfather years ago because of his racism. I have Black sisters and an Asian sister. Am I going to put him over the dignity and respect my sisters and other folks deserve? Hell no. So I call him and others out on it. If they won't reign in their hateful comments then they don't get me in their life. I'm not the one losing out because what do I get out of a relationship with a person like that? They lose out and they complain on social media to whoever will hear, but they're only alone because they've been awful to people who otherwise they could have had loving relationships with. If they are willing to put Trump over their grandkids, then screw them. I know that won't sit right with a lot of people, but personally I think we're past the point where we need to take moral stands even when it hurts. Because if we don't, who will?
This encapsulates a lot of my feelings, as well as why I bristle at the notion that "we're so divided" in America, as though the blame is mutual and equal. From where I sit things are certainly contentious, but one side is being contentious in the name of hate and actively destroying the lives of many innocent people. Is it truly uncivil to refuse to sit at the table with someone who doesn't see me as a human?
