1) Young people are the most undependable voters of any age. For most voting is not their highest priority. In fact it's way down the priority list for all but a few who happened to be the most vocal.

2) They have proved this so far because they have not come out in force for Bernie. They were supposed to provide all of the enthusiasm for Bernie campaign and come out and vote in huge numbers. That hasn't happened. Actually Democratic voting numbers are way down compared to 2008.

3) And neither will the Democratic Party lose them if Bernie doesn't get the nomination. Polls show they will vote for Hillary over Tump by a huge percentages, that is if they remember to voted at all and don't sleep or have something better to do.

4) You have been listening to scare tactics by the other side because they have nothing better to say at this point.

5) they were only interested in the freebies buried where is ovary anyway. When they prove they will learn that nothing is free.

from all others and is the definitive proof that they should opt out if not satisfied.

Scary stuff.

Didnt some movie star guy a while back encourage people not to vote, has a British accent, forgot his name.

If you are young and believe that there is something new about the "no voice" situation, let me assure you that is wrong. You really have, as an American, never had a voice, not really. The limited voice you do have is however quite important.

You do get to choose between a rabid fascist horrible person like Trump and a moderate like Clinton.

It is not the best of choices, but it is clear what you have to do.

Their parents? The people who go to job interviews with them, call their professors about bad grades, call their workplaces when they get bad performance reviews?

Free the Millennials!

But he was talking about not voting in the U.K. He claims he never has.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24648651

a millennial, who posted constantly about his candidate. Would argue with me about my candidate and generally be a pain in the butt when it came to politics. He didn't vote in his state's primary because he didn't know the date and missed it. Lots of talk but when it comes to doing something, no action. He had other things to do.

I can still see the room. I was 18, and I was really, really excited. I'd worked on political campaigns most of my life and I was thrilled to be able to finally vote.

Your story perturbs me.


(Edited - I remember I must have been 18). My birthday is in December, so I wouldn't have turned 18 in November.

And that was very long ago. But he can rant and rant but no follow through

with my mother the first time and reviewed the sample ballot like it was written in Egyptian hieroglyphics. The volunteer thought I was adorable.

Fun story: My grandmother went to vote every time, but was easily flustered and not very good with machinery. We were never too clear about who grandma voted for because she was never sure if she did it right.

My grandfather used to say that she probably voted Communist and just didn't want to admit it. He may or may not have been right.

It was a big day, even though my primary choice lost and then we lost the election in November.

I don't understand people who can "forget" to vote.

because it's not even worth that much attention.

I've voted in every election since I was 18 (even most of the off-off year elections like 2015, although I did skip those during my college years). If anything, it would be smart for them to try to court me--I have a history of showing up. A long history of showing up.

We were actually headed to the polls, but realized we hadn't researched the candidates and couldn't really cast an informed vote. It's been decades, and that missed election still haunts me.

I just can't believe my district of about 4,000 voters allows me, a very far left Democrat, to be 1 of the 100 people who decides most off-year elections.

I drag my husband along (reliably Democrat but somewhat more conservative than I), so that's two Dem votes, and 2% of the electorate.

No one can predict what is going to happen!!! Remember Americans a lot of times have short term attention span!

Example: Trump will probably avoid all racist misogynist type comments going into general election and people will forget how a week ago he was so racist and sexist.

Young people have 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940 years plus to live

24 hours each day 365 days each year to live....

Who knows what will happen every second of all that....

People change their minds...People get religion... lose religion.... etc...

There are averages but every person is an unknown

We all learn lessons...SO WILL THEY

Not worried

I'm also quite aware that this country is NOT going to jump that far left in one election. It is reckless to believe the pie in the sky BS will achieve any of what he is spouting with the Congress he will deal with.

I want a candidate who knows her stuff, is not afraid to challenge Congress yet compromise when need be (which I wish didn't have to happen but it does).

This old broad volunteered for Bobby Kennedy when I was 11 years old. I know how the game is played and not winning the presidency this time is more important that ever with Trump having the GOP by the huevos. The kids need to grow up - they've had everything handed to them in life and the sense of entitlement doesn't fly in politics. IF they are really serious they need to get involved in the local level and change Congress. I doubt they understand that though since that would take some ability to see beyond themselves.

Sure, I was young, but I remember exactly where I was when Bobby Kennedy died. I remember how my family grieved over JFK for years. I remember Martin Luther King and Malcolm X getting shot, too. And that doesn't even get into the attempted assassinations on the right - Wallace, Ford, and Reagan.

We've been through a lot, and I don't think we're quite ready to be silenced and scolded.

I know generations gaps have always existed but this is ridiculous.

...so that kids can follow an alta kaka they just discovered like he's the Pied Piper? Hey, they want their voices to be heard? Get in line with the rest of us! We're not trying to silence the Millennials -- but we'd like to work with them and there is plenty of work to go around.

but I am not convinced nuances of ideology are of paramount importance when the choice is that of the chief executive.

Clinton is much smarter, much savvier, far more politically connected, and more able to work a deal on her worst day than Sanders on his best. I really don't want Bernie flipping his arms around, pointing, and giving his stump speech when he's dealing with other world leaders.

...I knew better than everyone else. I was awake and they were all sheep.

The things my mom knew were irrelevant because it was a new world now and I knew all about it. During election season we argued furiously as I explained to her in my self-righteous manner that I knew better than she did; all I managed to do was cause her to dig in her heels.

She stayed a Republican until the day I came out of the closet; the very next day she was a Democrat. Best Mom ever.

....is that even though "that candidate" has a lot of support among younger "voters", they don't actually show up at the polls and vote for him (that's why "voters" was in quotes)

to make the case that he deserved the Pledged delegates to turn for him b/c he had the youth vote! and no one else did. Not HRc and not Trump. He said the youth were the future.

Can you believe it? Yes that was ageism. No one else matters. All kinds of people with all types of knowledge, opinions, life experiences, nope. He has the youth therefore he should be the nominee. Disenfranchise everyone else. No one else matters.

Isn't that what he and his campaign have been dancing around for weeks???? The "Deep South" doesn't count. Women vote with their vaginas and now, if you are over 50 your vote doesn't count. I really hate this guy. Why is he in our government???

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

and ultimately both are opportunists cashing in on the angry white men (not only young) terrified of losing dominance. They are both schtick, bluster, anger and blaming someone else with no real solutions.

Now I'm getting even more pissed off. This, from someone who didn't have a full time job until he was 40! He's the poster child for a late and productive career. I have no problem with that storyline, but it's rather rich to cut me off as too old. By his logic, Rachel Maddow herself has aged out of being relevant.

that younger voters shouldn't count, people would be rightly outraged.

People who decide they won't participate because their candidate didn't win do not understand that in democracies, everyone's vote counts--not just mine.

AA Vote and many others

BS says a lot of things.. check them out.. how many have come to pass.. he keeps changing the goal posts. It's beyond pathetic now.

He wanted President Obama primaried, he's demonizing Hillary and the Dems.. and he wants to flip the Super Dels even though Hillary has the most votes and delegates.

If Hillary were doing this the other side would be screaming.

I just posted the video at end of this thread.

after NH they were all in a huff at the existence of the SDs http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/opinion/superdelegates-clarify-your-role.html?_r=0

Moveon still has the petition requesting the end of the SDs - they didn't have the time to catch up!

Just throwing that out there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Democratic_Party_superdelegates,_2016

So he's one of the people who are undemocratic, but he wants them all to flip to him?

as a Superdelegate, Sanders announced his support for his own candidacy BEFORE Vermont voted.

It's more than a little hypocritical.

I like him less and less with each passing day.

telling seasoned vets why said vets don't know what they're doing.

And I say maybe first time voters because they're not even showing up at the polls to vote for their hero.

and fill stadiums for events, but getting them to stay interested and in some cases even getting them to register is a lot more difficult. They also don't follow through to the mid-terms.

How is it possible to be so excited about Barack Obama and then fail to give him the tools he needs to accomplish his goals? How? It's stunningly disappointing.

It is like herding cats. I am not patient enough.

Honestly we can’t truly know if most of those making threats are indeed BS supporters.

But it doesn’t matter, we cannot let blackmail rule. They’ll just need to move on to obscurity.

Like, retirement, rising housing costs (never mentioned by any candidate), healthcare, obviously. I may have to worry about taking care of my parents in a few years. I'll need to retire later than I ever planned on when I started working. This list goes on....

But the thing is, we vote more often and there are more of us. Their votes represent the future, yes, but this is not the future. Oh, the arrogance of youth! I was the same way with Eugene McCarthy in '68 and McGovern in 72. But I grew up.

Information from the candidates. Maybe my civics training in high school has stayed with me a long time, to stay involved in civic matters and make good choices.

in the world, and they think that no one understands the world quite as well as they do.

And then one or two of them actually make it to the polling places.

It's always been this way.

Bernie hasn't made any groundswell among any ages and millennials will vote for Hillary in the same numbers as they would vote for Bernie.

but do you remember our parents lecturing older voters that if we didn't get our way in an election, we might quit being interested in politics forever?

That, I think, is new.

never have seen that in such numbers before.

Probably because so many of them are under 30.

Then OK.

But here, the problem is with Sanders or anyone else making the claim, not what some young people may have said.

That's what's unusual. In 2008, no one wagged their finger at me (figuratively) and wailed (figuratively) that they were so worried about driving younger voters away!

1) Young people are the most undependable voters of any age. For most voting is not their highest priority. In fact it's way down the priority list for all but a few who happened to be the most vocal.

2) They have proved this so far because they have not come out in force for Bernie. They were supposed to provide all of the enthusiasm for Bernie's campaign and come out and vote in huge numbers. That hasn't happened. Actually Democratic voting numbers are way down compared to 2008.

3) And neither will the Democratic Party lose them if Bernie doesn't get the nomination. Polls show they will vote for Hillary over Tump by a huge percentages, that is if they remember to voted at all and don't sleep in or have something better to do.

4) They are only interested in the freebies Bernie is offering them anyway. When they grow up a bit they will learn that nothing is free.

You have been listening to scare tactics by the other side because they have nothing better to say at this point.

So my first vote of my life was Hillary when she ran against Obama. I was excited and thought there was no way she could lose. Then she did. I cried, I was angry, I was enraged at all of those who had turned their backs on the Clinton family. A week later I started working on the Obama campaign. He was not the one I wanted but he was the nominated democrat and the democratic party and its ideals mean more to me than my candidate winning. Bernie supports are taking this hard but I took it hard too. I think we all do when we first get started in the political process. Bernie supports will be angry but as soon as Hillary is against Trump they will side with her. I am not too worried. Young people's larger issue is growing up in a era that congress and the government in general has done so very little. They don't have faith in the government because they have never seen the government actually working. All they know is disappointment. We were told we would have jobs if we went to college but now we just have debt. We were told that you get married and have kids in your 20s but we just have roommates. We were told that we would own houses and have money to buy things but we have a huge income gap. Bernie is just another disappointment in a long line of disappointments.

But here is the thing, the difference between success and failure is persistence. Hillary has failed over and over but look at the success she has because she just kept going. We all get tired, start to believe that it doesn't make any difference, but after we cry and take a nap, we wake up ready to keep trying because acceptance is too bitter of a pill to take. People my age will get tired, but they are young and will get over it. I watched my father rebuild his life more times than I can count. If he can still do it as an elderly man, I have faith in my generation to do it in their 20s.

thank you!

I just think to myself:

Won't someone please think of the children?? Think of the children!

I've had my heart broken in during election periods- you wallow, and you get back up again because you are a citizen, and you keep trying to make America better.

I think the under 30 crowd will bounce back. They won't just give up. They have many years in front of them still.

RACHEL MADDOW 03/18/2016 ONE-ON-ONE BERNİE SANDERS

interview is from 7:50 mark till the end of video

In all of our aged wisdom we bear some responsibility for not guiding the younglings a bit better.

And before anyone starts with the "in my day" rant. Full disclosure im 46 with kids of my own.

Its OUR job to help them get wise to what they dont teach you in school (have you SEEN civics curriculum lately)

Its on US to help them develope their critical thinking skills. Even if its frustrating sometimes.

WE should be talking with them about how important local and off year elections are. What party politics is all about and how it affects them. You know, teaching them to fish.

Ageism is just as unacceptable towards boomers as it is to latchkey kids (gen x) and the millenials getting slammed here.

Derision towards a group of truly beautiful, generous, caring group of people who will have to deal with future problems most of us cant imagine is wasted energy and just plain sad.

My 2 cents and no offense meant.

We know that.

HRC attracts older voters. BS has a problem attracting older voters, wondering why is that?
Media is making it about the younger voters and HRC's problem attracting youth. We could turn it around, couldn't we?
The narrative can get disrespectful for either cohort. None is more important than the other.

Then he attacked Planned Parenthood (and she got a merit scholarship). I had to push her hard to even register to vote. Anyway, "millennial"= white youngster if you're talking voting demographic. POC seem smarter, younger - maybe because they had to mature faster.

LOL!

They're just angry. It's an empty threat, frankly. And it is the most stupid argument in the HISTORY of stupid arguments:

Look, even though my candidate is losing by MILLIONS OF VOTES and statistically would have to pull a HAIL MARY that makes Doug Flutie's toss look like a casual hand off, y'all have to abandon your principles and good sense so these little special voters--who are so SENSITIVE, and might get UPSET--won't be disappointed!

Gee, what a compelling reason to vote for the second best candidate...not!

I've never seen it, seriously presented, outside of DU, really. It gets stomped on and laughed out of the room everywhere else.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/iowa-caucus-college-students-2016-213564?o=1

No candidate has as much to gain from the college crowd in Iowa as Sanders, and no candidate has as much to lose from the peculiar caucus rules.

Pollsters for Sanders last year saw indications that the under-25 set would embrace the 74-year-old Vermonter if he pushed issues they cared about—free college tuition, same-sex marriage, legalized marijuana—and those projections were right. Ask young Sanders supporters what they like about him and the responses often echo what was said about a certain former Illinois senator whose Iowa victory over Hillary Clinton in 2008 served as an opening springboard to the White House.

While Sanders seems unlikely to generate the same turnout levels that Obama did that year —a record 240,000 Democrats caucused that cycle—he’s still seen as coming closest to capturing some of that energy. On Iowa State’s campus, for example, the Students for Bernie group says it has collected thousands of commitment cards from classmates who promise to caucus for the senator, as well as offers to volunteer from upwards of 600 students. And that’s before Sanders had made a single visit to the campus itself (he’s finally scheduled to attend an event on Monday).

The polls in Iowa and nationally have steadily reflected Sanders’ appeal to the youth vote, and a recent survey that garnered attention in the Des Moines Register showed him topping Clinton in the three Iowa counties that are home to the state’s largest academic institutions: Story (Iowa State), Johnson (University of Iowa) and Black Hawk (University of Northern Iowa).

But there’s one logistical problem with the Iowa Democratic caucus: The pure number of votes you can pull in doesn’t matter. What matters is how many caucuses you win—so running the table in Ames, Iowa City and Cedar Falls doesn’t help much. In fact it might waste votes.

So Bernie’s campaign is trying an unusual strategy: Rather than rousting students from beds, bars and study halls, it’s trying to get some of them to spread out across the state. This “Caucus for Bernie” effort—targeting college students who live within a reasonable driving distance of their hometowns—includes online ads via mobile phones and social media accounts, as well as a special new website that is aimed at helping interested students to coordinate ride shares. “I think we’ve rented every van in three states to make sure we have the ability,” Pete D’Alessandro, Sanders’ Iowa state coordinator, said in an interview.

So are students really excited enough to leave campus next Monday? Talking with dozens of the senator’s student supporters across Iowa, many told me they were surprised that a Sanders-led campaign to caucus at home would even be a thing. Logistically, students said they’re challenged just trying to squeeze the caucus into their otherwise busy schedules, never mind adding a late-night winter road trip before Tuesday morning classes. Several students also noted that they wanted to caucus where they’re most comfortable, among fellow classmates and where they’ve only just started to shape their own political views. Publicly declaring their political stripes in a caucus back home in front of family and long-time friends, especially in more conservative parts of the state, could be awkward.

“I just kind of like being in a community where there are a lot of people who share the same interests and who I can talk to about all this,” said Holly Prohaska, a 20-year old Sanders supporter and University of Iowa sophomore who said she didn’t have any plans to travel back home for the caucus to Cedar Falls.

The University of Iowa-Iowa State University football game in Ames, Iowa last September was a popular tailgating destination for 2016 candidates such as Marco Rubio, who used the day to bond with an ISU fraternity.
The University of Iowa-Iowa State University football game in Ames, Iowa last September was a popular tailgating destination for 2016 candidates such as Marco Rubio, who used the day to bond with an ISU fraternity. | Getty
Rosie Cook, an Iowa State freshman who is leading her school’s Students for Bernie group and also working on caucus night as one of the senator’s precinct captains, said she worried that the campaign could overthink its strategy and end up shrinking its vote totals in college towns. That could really cause problems if there were an unexpected wave of Clinton backers.

“I think our votes are best utilized here in Ames and on the campus in our precincts,” she said.

***

And however much students might be feeling the Bern, or hoisting one for Rand, the campaigns also face one basic challenge: boosting awareness of what the caucus is all about.

Clinton’s University of Iowa student volunteers say they were talking with students last year who didn’t even know who was running for president. As for explaining the caucus itself, with all its strange nuances that turn it into an event quite unlike the familiar secret ballot of a general election, well, good luck with that.

“I can’t say I’ve heard of it actually,” Thomas Johnson, a 19-year old who had just transferred to Iowa State from the University of Missouri, said when asked if he had any plans to participate in the caucus.

“I don’t know where one is or how to get to one,” replied Sarah Palmer, a 19-year old freshman at Cornell College who said she had been leaning toward supporting Clinton. Interviewed a few minutes after watching O’Malley speak on her campus, she said she was “really impressed” with the former Maryland governor. But she was on the fence about even participating.

“I’m not super involved. I don’t keep up on it,” she said. “I’m not sure I have enough information to cast a caucus quite yet.”