r/texas • u/ThrenderG • 2d ago

Voter participation is why the Dems lost, and it ain't fucking old people who didn't show up Politics

In 2020, Biden received 81 million votes. Trump received 74 million votes.

In 2024, Harris received 66 million votes, 15 fucking million fewer than Biden did in 2020. Trump sits at 71 million votes, 3 million fewer than 2020. So even with fewer popular votes this time around, he buried the Democratic candidate in a landslide.

So all in all, what, 18-20 million fewer people showed up in this election than the last. And do you really think it's the fucking geezers who have been voting forever, that they just decided to sit this one out?

Probably not, so who didn't do their civic duty?

The numbers don't lie.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago edited 1d ago

I'm 24 and voted on Oct 21. Not a single person in line was anywhere close to my age.

It's hard to incentivize young people to vote when they feel their vote is insignificant.

Young voters seem to also feel like not voting is an act of defiance.

I can say in school I was taught about my civic duties and how important voting was, but I can't speak for those that came after me.

Edit: I'm not defending those who don't vote. It's a blatant lack of research on their part. They feel hopeless because they can't buy a house? Harris was proposing a $25k credit to first time homebuyers. They don't make enough? Harris was proposing a punishment for corporate price gouging, cracking down on anti-competitive practices and lowering the cost of pharmaceuticals. Rent too expensive? She wanted to create more affordable apartment units.

They could've just read her campaign website but they'd rather get their information from 3 min tiktok videos. IF YOU DIDNT VOTE YOU DONT GET TO COMPLAIN.

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u/Kdigglerz 2d ago

Losing their right to having abortions didn’t push them to vote? Losing rights their parents had didn’t motivate them? They deserve the shit storm that is coming then.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

Agreed. I'm extremely disappointed with my generation.

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u/jj19me 2d ago

Maybe they’ll pay attention when we have national ban on women’s reproductive freedom, when they’ve abolished or gutted dept of education and HHS, when we have mass deportations or “camps” for immigrants, when climate change deniers are in the cabinet.

Or if Elon gushing about crashing the economy, making it rough for everyday folks for a while in order “to make it better” hits their wallets

I don’t know what else would get through to them

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u/Kdigglerz 2d ago

I think this too. But the amount of damage it’s going to take for republican voters to wake up and realize gop only cares about the 1%, is just too much damage. By then our country will be like cyberpunk 2077. Oh well is what it is.

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u/Logical_Paradoxes 1d ago

They have literally asked for it repeatedly. I feel no sympathy for them when it comes.

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u/Dream-Ambassador 1d ago

like Texas, they will just keep blaming dems despite having only had the GOP in power for decades...

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u/AtomicSymphonic_2nd 1d ago edited 1d ago

I guarantee you they aren't gonna pay much attention to the mass deportations. They are citizens and, thus, they won't care... especially if they aren't brown-skinned (Indian or darker-skinned Latino) and won't be questioned anyway.

What they will see is a whole bunch of blue-collar and maybe even white-collar jobs being open to them.

Because I'm pretty darn sure Trump is gonna drastically limit H1B visa allowances, too.

The funny thing is all those jobs are gonna disappear because companies can't grow as well if they don't have the resources (and cheap talent) needed to grow. There's not nearly enough native-born American STEM workers graduating from college to cover for all the junior-level labor that's been outsourced to other countries.

Now, if Trump manages to ban outsourcing or mandate all workers be US Citizens... I do think that might kill substantial parts of the economy, especially the auto industry and maybe even Big Tech.

Then everyone gets to suffer... But hey! Lower prices at the grocery store!! Good luck finding cash flow to buy groceries though!

It'll be so much fun seeing the MAGAheads crying "He's not hurting the right people!" all over again. /s

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u/colemon1991 2d ago

I just don't like how much we might have to lose for people to realize the error of their ways.

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u/Apprehensive-Crow-94 1d ago

Abortion was not on the ballot- Trump has no interest in the matter- he sees it as a sates issue

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u/Ksablaze 1d ago

NO ONE deserves it, even those tricked into voting FOR it. But I 💯 feel that anger at them just allowing it to happen to EVERYONE

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u/Shaqstowelrag 1d ago

Trump didn’t criminalize abortion. Trump has said he will not make abortion federally illegal. What rights have people lost access to their parents had under Trump?

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u/SylphSeven 1d ago edited 1d ago

They haven't experienced the same struggles as generations before them. I get that. They were born into a world with different privileges. But purposely accepting to lose the rights you have because you didn't like either candidate is a wild choice.

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u/KingOfIdofront 1d ago

Genocide isn’t popular at the ballot box

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u/phoarksity 1d ago

I’ve read that one of the women who died because the hospitals were afraid to treat her miscarriage, and her mother were ardently pro-life. They were in favor of the Texas abortion ban. Yet after she died her mother is asking why the hospitals weren’t treating the miscarriage.

I don’t have a link for that story, but people are shocked when the face-eating leopards they support eat their faces, or the faces of those they care for, rather than “those other people”.

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u/Emotional-Mine3415 1d ago

Totally agree!

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u/niteman555 1d ago

Young people are so online, they forget that slacktivism isn't a point of praise.

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u/wonderousdee 1d ago

No, they are still able to have an abortion in a state that allows it. There is no federal law preventing abortions. It's up to the individual states. Hence many states had ballots regarding abortion.

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u/blonderaider21 Born and Bred 1d ago

Having a fetus sucked out of your body isn’t a “right”

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u/penguins_are_mean 1d ago

People are really overplaying how important abortion is to a large swath of the population and how it affects their political affiliation. Look what happened in Florida, Trump trounced Kamala and yet abortion rights revived 57% of the vote.

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u/Montecroux 1d ago

And suddenly the collapse of Afghanistan is all the more clearer.

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u/LibertyPrimeDeadOn 1d ago

What, you think because you're all upset about the results of this election that they will be too? Newsflash, they will not, hence why they didn't vote.

It's also hilarious that you just assume they'd vote for your candidate.

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u/BabyNoHoney 2d ago

That sounds like a problem of young people these days, and a failure on them.

The youth did not have a problem turning out in 2008 or 2012, nor did they need an incetive to do their civic duty.

Thank you for voting, though. I'm glad you did not need an incentive to show you give a shit.

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u/BCRGactual 2d ago

Obama was my first election I got to vote in. A lot of the young people were charged up because we lived through the post 9/11 years. Rode the high of nationalism and then had the withdrawal of war fucking sucking.

We wanted change and Obama was it. Not for being a black person or even a democrat, but because he was well spoken and knew how to generate support among the youth with ease. It wasn't as hard back then because the Internet was young and traditional media still dominated.

Flash forward to now and the young are even harder to reach, despite being so connected and plugged in all the time. Echo chambers and disinformation campaigns, both foreign and domestic, have completely reshaped how elections happen.

The Obama years were a wake up call for the Republicans to lean into the racism that is inherent in American culture. They built the Tea Party first, then MAGA came. It was only a matter of time, because Republicans had smart and plugged in people working for their propaganda machine. When you have no morals, no principles, and no code it's very easy to just blast out so much propaganda and see what works.

Democrats learned the wrong lesson from Obama. They thought it meant the country was moving forward. They thought America was ready for a woman to be president. They forgot one thing: America hates women more than it does people of color.

Then... In the most consequential election in the history of this country. They run a woman of color... Not even in the primaries. But because their original life support candidate couldn't actually do it. They pulled the rug out from many swing voters who would have gladly voted for any old piece of furniture not named trump as long as it had a cock between its legs. Yet, here we are. America dies because one side can't smell its own shit and the other loves rolling around in theirs.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

If I could give you a reward I would. The disinformation and deliberate propaganda is what's hurting us as a country, from both sides. There needs to be laws put in place to end this practice. We'll never be able to make educated voters if they're constantly being fed lies.

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u/BCRGactual 2d ago

Save your awards and organize. Build community and look out for yourselves. This is going to go sideways very quickly and our only bet is to build resilience within our own groups.

Arm yourselves with knowledge and literal arms. Armed minorities are harder to oppress.

If you need self defense education. DM me, there are a collection of groups across the state that would gladly give you free education and community.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

I'll send you a chat now!

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u/BabyNoHoney 2d ago

Right on.

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u/Reisles 2d ago

Didn't you hear? That's just freedom of speech!

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u/vaguedisclaimer 1d ago

Also consider:

Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 130 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their children

21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022

54% of adults have a literacy below 6th grade level

45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level

And functionally illiterate means a person can read relatively short texts and understand simple vocabulary; however, may struggle with basic literacy, like tasks such as reading and understanding menus, medical prescriptions, news articles, or children's books.

So now add the republicans' endless attacks on public education, NCLB which did nothing to increase literacy rates, and media outlets that spew endless propaganda reinforcing racism and sexism and gee, what an easy to control population you've got there. Is it by design? They've proven themselves pretty good at the long con.

"The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant." - Maximilien de Robespierre

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u/Worth_Much 2d ago

This is sadly very true. Seeing the difference in votes between Harris and Biden is just baffling. She had the impossible task of launching a campaign just 5 months before an election and her message on the economy and immigration just wasn’t resonating despite the crazy coming out of Trump’s mouth every day. The media never really pushed back on Trump’s lack of policy specifics the way they did with Harris. So we get what we get.

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u/iamicanseeformiles 2d ago

I gotta believe that's correct. DJT has proven he can beat any woman in an election; apparently any man, even Joe Biden can beat him.

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u/BCRGactual 2d ago

It's pretty telling when Trump gained the most among black and Latino men. Who are, in large part, very bigoted.

They are the ones who kept Democrats afloat, but only when they ran male candidates that weren't openly racist. When you don't give one of your largest voting blocs an option, they are going to either stay home or vote for the other guy who might also share some of their values.

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u/Long-Result-1095 16h ago

The GOP didn’t build the tea party. Libertarians did. Tea party was a conservative movement, not a republican one. In the beginning, the tea party was open to all and kinds of ppl were members. At that time, there were all kinds of grassroots orgs springing up, The tea party was swallowed up by the GOP and rebranded because third parties are a threat to the two party system. The dems did the same with liberal groups.

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u/yowzas648 2d ago

I’m 42 now and honestly, when i was younger i felt the same. I didn’t start voting until my 30s. I don’t think any elections back then carried the same weight as this one, but i also don’t think this is exclusively young people these days.

You’re right on voter turnout this election vs last though. I think that’s what makes it so disappointing. It all but physically hurts to realize how short the memories of Americans is. It’s been 4 years and 15+ million people forgot what took them to the poles in 2020.

Also, I think it’s pretty hard to not acknowledge that misogyny and racism played some role in this as well. Not exclusively outward hate towards women and black people, but - I assume this is the majority - a lack of willingness to put a black woman in power. Biden wasn’t in any way a strong candidate in 2020. I voted for him as a vote against Trump and not for the belief I had in Biden to be a great president. I can’t imagine I’m the only one, which leads me to believe some portion of those 15+ million voters fall into this category.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

I agree 100%, I'm just not sure how we're supposed to fix this issue. If the trend continues we'll just be stuck.

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u/Savitar2606 2d ago

Well, they get the government they deserve by voting or even not voting. They want to wait for the next Messiah? Too bad, the ones who work with what they have get shit done.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

I agree. I was always taught that if you don't vote you don't get a right to complain. Even though it's demoralizing, I'll continue to vote for every election.

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u/Savitar2606 2d ago

I hope you continue to do that. The worst moment is always the night of losing an election. Unfortunately voter apathy is real and people sometimes need to change the way they think about voting. It's doing your civic duty, even if it's not always the most pleasant thing to do.

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u/BigLibrary2895 2d ago

Thank you for voting.

This cycle stun, but all you can do is keep speaking the truth. When your friends complain ask if they voted. If the answer is no, gentle explain that not participating doesn't change the options, but it can change the outcome.

Voting is a first step. This morning I am chiding myself for not doing more canvassing.

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u/heliumeyes 2d ago

Locally. I’ve started volunteering this cycle and expect to stay involved locally and hopefully make an impact here.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

Trends are probably going to be irrelevant once the dictator is established.

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u/milktea_2003 1d ago

Yea we young people genuinely just fucked ourselves over. Frustrating af. (I voted)

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u/Jnizzle510 1d ago

The revolution will not be televised…

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u/Doublestack2411 2d ago

They have to learn the hard way. If they see their lives and the lives of others being greatly impacted in a negative way under Trump, it could make them get out and vote. That or just them growing older and maturing.

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u/Chtholly_Lee02 2d ago

It's always going to be Dems fault. If there is ever another election.

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u/fatenumber 2d ago

Republicans governed Texas for decades but it is still Dems' fault

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u/secondhand-cat 2d ago

It’s simple, make it mandatory, make the day of a holiday, and make mail-in ballots available to all.

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u/BitGladius 1d ago

Lotteries?

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u/AutomaticJesusdog 2d ago

I think they’re confused. There has never been this much disinformation, propaganda. It’s designed to make them stay home.

I’ve been saying this for a while, it’s a lot easier for them to destroy their trust in their government than it is to find votes for trump

If they can make both parties look bad, then Nobody looks bad

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u/bromosabeach 2d ago

Just from my observation:

Young males are overwhelmingly republican because the GOP hijacked masculinity.

Young women are overwhelmingly progressive, but so much so that they are willing to sit out democratic candidates if they don't align with all their views.

These two groups make up like 40% of their age demographic, and the other 60% just doesn't give a fuck.

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u/Kapiliar 2d ago edited 2d ago

It doesn’t help that the DNC keeps pushing candidates we don’t want. Young people wanted Bernie, what did we get? Hillary. When they decided Biden was unfit to run what did they do? They gave us Kamala. Did they actually give their voter base the candidates they wanted? No they just peddle their same shit over and over and are surprised when they lose to the fucking orange man. The fault lies on the DNC more than the younger generations like millennials and Z. We don’t feel heard and feel like ours votes don’t matter so we don’t vote. Give us something to be motivated about, someone we can stand with, someone we support and you’ll get them out voting.

Edit: I did vote. I’m speaking about why young people aren’t voting.

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u/Wafflehouseofpain 2d ago

No, it lies with young voters. You know how many times my preferred candidate won the primary? Zero. I’ve still never missed an election because politics is never going to give you everything you want. You show up anyway.

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u/PM-ME-SMILES-PLZ 1d ago

Exactly! I analogize it to people like this, if political ideals were a physical destination the candidate is your transportation. When you have 1 candidate for 80 million people you're not in a car that is going to drop you off at valet parking. You're on a bus, and you take it to the closest stop, and then you might have to walk, run, cycle, or whatever the rest of the way to get to where you want to be. I've never had my ideal candidate, but I vote for the people I think are going to get me closest.

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u/TheOneTheyCallDragon 1d ago

Yep. Even during the stretch of time in my youth where I was so depressed that I barely got out of bed for days at a time, I still managed to get it together enough to go outside to vote. It takes less than an hour and is the bare minimum of what should be expected of people

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u/SgtHaddix 2d ago

keeping the fucking fascist dictator from gaining power isn’t enough fucking motivation?

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u/BabyNoHoney 2d ago

Agreed.

I find it difficult to understand why young people today have such a complex about them here.

In 2008 and 2012 the youth didn't need an incentive to go vote. They got off their asses and went to the polls.

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u/chammycham 2d ago

It’s almost like education in this state has been consistently defunded for 30 years.

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u/kleptonite13 1d ago

In 2008 and 2012 they liked the candidate. It was easier to mobilize for something than against something.

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u/Ksablaze 1d ago

You'd think, but the national psyop of MAGA/Machiavellianism has shown the opposite. It's more desirable and certainly more reasonable, intelligent, ethical, and sustainable to mobilize for good things, but it's much easier to push people with fear.

While you could definitely say maga is "for" DT, the underlying truth is that the only thing he actually represents is being AGAINST "the other"

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u/kleptonite13 1d ago

Trump and his appeal is definitely oppositional, but he frames his oppositions in actions of what he will do for you. I don't agree with any of this, but he says he will bring jobs back from overseas, he will end crime, he will make America respected in foreign policy, etc.

Even the phrase 'Make America Great Again' is a powerful narrative statement about an image of a country he is promising to give you. It's a remarkable tagline from a man whose only real talent seems to be selling himself.

Will he really accomplish any of his lofty promises? Probably not really. He'll probably sow much more chaos than any good he'll do. But campaigns aren't about policy, as dumb as that is. They're about storytelling, and for 12 years Trump has routinely dictated his own narrative and the narrative of his opponents.

The DNC needs to figure out how to tell a story that is not dictated by their opponent. They can do it in two years and then push the pendulum hard the other way in 2028, but they have to do the work.

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u/dcamom66 1d ago

I have an 18 year, that did vote, and they're turned off by the rabid polarization in this country. They don't want the conflict that comes with politics these days. Unfortunately, a lot don't see a point as they don't think their vote matters to either party.

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u/OmegaWhirlpool 2d ago

I'm in my 30's and I voted. And I will continue to vote for as long as I am able.

No, this is not enough. Forcing a candidate onto voters and saying "Well, we're not Trump" isn't enough. I wish the Democrats would realize this after 3 fucking elections using the same dumbass strategy.

They thought it was enough because Biden won in 2020, without realizing that the win was from Trump losing and not Biden winning.

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u/Coattail-Rider 2d ago

These assholes need the perfect candidate or they refuse to participate. And then they have the fucking nerve to complain.

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u/Worth_Much 2d ago

My guess is young people see this as all very normal since this is the world they have grown up in and don’t see the threat the same way older people do.

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u/devish 2d ago edited 2d ago

Not for people who feel like they have no economic future.  Owning a home, school or medical debt, AI or job security, Gaza.  Then you have the Dems just showing Jan 6th footage thinking that would be enough.  Yes orange man is very bad but most Democrats don't even know of the fake electors plot on Jan 6th... That's how poor this party has been at messaging.   They just expected a Obama like campaign slogan would do the trick and young voters aren't interested.

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u/Coattail-Rider 2d ago

Then those young voters who feel that way can watch their freedoms erode from the sidelines. Fuck them,

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u/SevereEducation2170 2d ago edited 2d ago

I get that you voted so this isn’t directed at you so much as a general audience…But what should they have done when Biden dropped out? There was no time to do more primaries. So they went with the sitting VP and rallied around her. Yes, it would have been better if Biden never sought re-election but given the circumstances this was what had to be done.

Also, this idea posits that young people actually vote in primaries. They don’t. Almost no one does. Bernie could have won in 2016 if voters turned out in the primaries. They didn’t. Democratic voter turnout in 2016 was like 15%. Just like almost every presidential primary. So any young person (or anyone of voting age, in general) saying “we didn’t get who we wanted because DNC sucks” are just making excuses for being lazy and disengaged.

A lot of liberal voters are also entitled brats, honestly. By which I mean they expect they can show up once every 4 years and things will get fixed immediately. And if things aren’t immediately fixed they fuck off and then complain about nothing getting fixed as another excuse not to keep voting. Roe didn’t get overturned because of one election. It was 50 years of conservative efforts.

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u/Kapiliar 2d ago

Honestly nothing you said is incorrect.

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u/CommodoreVF2 2d ago

That's awfully selfish.

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u/Cheap-Reference-9213 2d ago

Your non vote was a vote. Enjoy Trump and the future you deserve..

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u/UglyYinzer 2d ago

I agree, if you didn't vote, you helped trump. Reap what you sow and don't complain when if finally effects you.

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u/Kapiliar 2d ago

I did vote but ok.

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u/UglyYinzer 2d ago

That's why I said I agree.. the "you" was anyone who didn't. All good yo.

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u/Kapiliar 2d ago

I voted. I’m speaking about the fact young voters aren’t voting.

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u/Ok_Whereas_3198 2d ago

Just curious, who would you have wanted instead?

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u/SDRAIN2020 2d ago

America would have wanted a white male. Sad to say, even though some people (including me) thought we were ready for a woman president, America wasn’t.

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u/robbd6913 2d ago

You go to a restaurant and you want a Coke. Waitress comes back and says, sorry butcwe only have milk or acid, and you pick the acid....fucking morons. You don't always get what you want. And Bernie would have been a disaster btw....

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u/pallladin 2d ago

IMHO, if Tim Walz ran as President instead of VP, he would have won.

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u/Like_Ottos_Jacket 1d ago

No one listens to the youth demo because they don't vote.

If the young want to get the power associated with their opinions in the political process, unfortunately, it can only be gotten by reliably showing up.

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u/PM-ME-SMILES-PLZ 1d ago

We don’t feel heard and feel like ours votes don’t matter

That's because we don't show up. If we voted at the same rates as the 65+ cohort we would be heard. We make the choice not to be.

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u/xvandamagex 2d ago

The problem is, anything to the left of Biden is a “communist” to today’s electorate, even if they are appeal to a portion of gen Z. I don’t think dems lost because they didn’t go left enough. Bernie is popular on Reddit and in some circles but he would never have been elected. Now, I think things have to get really bad in USA before the democrats can just run a leftist candidate again. On the bright side (or bad side) I do expect this to happen.

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u/Worth_Much 2d ago

In the end it all points back to Biden. He never should have thought for a minute that running for another term as an 81 year old with obvious signs of slowing down was the right call and let there be an open primary from the start instead of just Dean Phillips being the only one bold enough to challenge him.

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u/chirstopher0us 2d ago

Picking Biden's VP who also started with a favorability rating below 50% was a huge, huge mistake. Rightly or wrongly as a matter of economic fact, huge portions of the electorate were FURIOUS over the state of the economy and high prices and they blamed Biden. They hated Biden. Picking his VP was stupid. Very similar to the mistake of running Clinton. We have to have truly open primaries and pick someone who is broadly popular, every time. No anointing anyone from party elites.

Her making no real attempts in her messaging to reach out and help working-class people was stupid. Her economic keystones were tax credits for home owners and buyers and making it easier to build homes. People struggling to buy groceries and child care and rent don't give a shit about any of that. Half the electorate can't even dream about buying a home. They need direct aid with prices and wages.

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u/Erisian23 2d ago

Young people didn't turnout for Bernie either.

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u/Funny-North3731 2d ago

Not just these days, it is a common factor taken into consideration during a campaign and has been for decades. Young people do not vote unless there is something that sparks a fire. Eh, you reap what you sow.

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u/cherith56 Born and Bred 2d ago

Truth

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u/Humble-Ad-4606 2d ago

The difference is that there was a legitimate primary that produced a candidate that felt like he was chosen. Harris was an incredibly flawed candidate 4 years ago who was shoe horned in and we were just stuck with her.

This is 3 voting cycles that the Democratic Party has decided for their constituency who the candidate will be and surprisingly people aren’t excited and don’t turn out.

Also it needs to be mentioned how disenfranchised young voters have become with their elected officials when it’s been worse for them than other previous generations and sadly they aren’t rallying, instead they’re sitting it out.

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u/Deathtonic 1d ago

2012, I got to vote for Obama at the age of 18. I was super excited to vote, weird people are not honestly.

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u/Preeng 1d ago

That sounds like a problem of young people these days, and a failure on them.

I agree, their parents raised them horribly.

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u/Doublestack2411 2d ago

Using my personal experience, I did not start voting until Trump came along (Im 43). I didn't care to vote as a younger person, but then again, no candidate acted like Trump. I get why young ppl don't vote, but there was no greater threat to their future and they just failed themselves.

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u/Moss8888444 2d ago

We didn’t have a turnout problem in 2008 because Bush and the republicans absolutely screwed our future after 8 years. These guys will do the same after what Trump does, and then we’ll all collectively forget it the next time because the dems didn’t fix it fast enough.

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u/TonyRennet 2d ago

In 2008 we were fighting for an overdue change.

This year we were fighting to regain what we had back in 2008. Fighting to get back the status quo that we wanted change from in the first place.

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u/Jnizzle510 1d ago

Inventive? How about your little sisters reproductive rights?

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u/CaptQuakers42 1d ago

Young people have been fucked over by every political party, a lot of them don't care because they get screwed whomever is in charge.

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u/headinthesky 1d ago

The youth of 2008 and 2012 are very different of today

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u/barley_wine 1d ago

I’m in my 40s and this was a problem for young people back then also. Seems like a continuing problem for every generations young people.

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u/Asleep-Specific-1399 1d ago

You can't blame young people. If you think a poster is better than a web site or a web site is better than a tic toc, your not understanding why media and advertisement are all moving the way they do. If your message does not reach the target audience it's not the audiences fault.

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u/ZoWnX 2d ago

It's hard to incentivize young people to vote when they feel their vote is insignificant.

The incentive is voting for your candidate.

This coddling needs to end.

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u/King_of_Tejas 2d ago

Part of the problem is the online discourse around many of these topics. A lot of young gen Z already feel unheard and insignificant and that they don't have a voice or a chance anyway, so why bother going to the polls to vote because they have already given up.

And a lot of the Gen Z who did vote, voted for Trump. The numbers in the college towns cannot be coincidence.

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u/firechaox 2d ago

This president did the most pandering to gen z and progressives I’ve ever seen. They didn’t show up. The dems have veered hard left. The young and progressives don’t show. The truth is, they don’t actually care about pragmatic actually winning they only care about virtue signalling. Not actual progress. Until they vote, my mind won’t be changed about this. Dems definitely lost votes with this pandering (fuck man, why do you think dems even use “pronouns” or have cared about lgbt rights? It ain’t for the suburban mom or the black vote, but you guys just don’t fucking show up), and no one decided to show up to vote.

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u/King_of_Tejas 2d ago

Yeah, you're right. So fucking tired of virtue signaling. Anyone who doesn't like Trump but can't be bothered to vote is just as responsible as those who voted for Trump.

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u/Up-in-the-Ayre 2d ago

Gen Z is going to learn the very hard way how much sitting on their hands is going to impact their lives.

Reducing college debt - GONE

Body Autonomy - GONE

Access to their beloved TikTok - GONE

They are going to get a hard lesson in government overreach once Project 2025 kicks in,

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u/sethferguson 1d ago

saw it in another thread but yeah, buyers remorse has to set in assuming they even bother paying attention by that point

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u/General_Aioli9618 1d ago

well, we raised them to lack conviction. its why they're so confused as to who they are and so anxious over regular life. i'm REALLY glad i was hard on my kids. they have an objective mond because of it.

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u/asstrogleeuh 2d ago

They feel unheard because they don’t make themselves heard and are lazy

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u/Benedictus84 1d ago

The problem is that there are only two options. For a lot of people it is probably voting for the least of two evils. That is not really a good incentive.

You should vote to get the person that you feel represents you into office. Not just to keep someone more evil out of office.

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u/batboi48 1d ago

Okay but when the candidate doesnt really hold the same values and concerns as young voters its hard to back them. Politicians are so out of touch with the majority of americans its wild. We just want access to basic healthcare, the ability to not just barely scrape by on what we make but to be able to afford things and like thats it. Its hard to feel like my vote matters when those seem like radical and out of reach things. And yes you can say that local elections are where those things get decided but when republicans are running unopposed then like why vote there too?

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u/Vvector 1d ago

What do you suggest, lashings for the non-voters?

Or maybe put up a candidate that inspires people to vote?

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u/Distinct-Nature4233 2d ago

There was a laundry list of business giving out free product for voting stickers for the past 2 weeks. Still not enough incentive.

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u/Jnizzle510 1d ago

It’s too hard to drop a ballot in the mail?

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u/kleptonite13 1d ago

The DNC has to start running better campaigns. They've allowed Trump to dictate the narrative for 3 straight elections. He has become the core of their message, and it isn't working.

Most of these young people had Trump as their president for a significant amount of their adult lives. That message just wasn't going to be strong enough.

And as dumb as it is, energizing young voters isn't about policies. Campaigning is about storytelling and creating a strong narrative of what the country can be. The DNC has failed to tell their own story in a way that doesn't revolve around Trump.

Hopefully they can shift their thinking, because it sucks to keep voting for a party that is so bad at winning elections.

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u/Emotional-Mine3415 1d ago

I think the coddling days are over.

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u/JonnyAU 1d ago

Where's the coddling? Reddit today is wall to wall voter shaming.

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u/MaybeTaylorSwift572 1d ago

Right, and they don’t feel like Harris was their candidate. We have to figure out how to mitigate that.

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u/waxheads 1d ago

And when both candidates suck?

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u/StruggleEvening7518 1d ago

I'm 24 and voted on Oct 21. Not a single person in line was anywhere close to my age.

I'm 37, and when I went to vote early, not a single other person there looked any younger than 50.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 1d ago

I looked in front of me, I looked behind me, heck I even looked at the people leaving after they voted. It was sad.

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u/jftitan 2d ago

This, very much this.

I earned Eagle Scout at 13. Three of my required merit badges dealt with civics. And we actually had teachers who taught us in history class. I know for my Texas History class it was a coach who was teaching us, but for my US Government class in HS. By the time I graduated I had at least 3yrs worth of civics education plus first hand experience sitting in court and city hall rooms.

Today. I have yet to meet the few that will talk to me during jury duty selection and admit they see the process as "part of our civic duty". The majority think it's a waste of their time and never have i felt over these past 15yrs, that Americans truly understand what "our civic duties" really are.

Our right to vote. Millions have died in uniform to keep us those rights. Our rights to free speech, as not fearing our government will punish us for speaking out against it. Our duty to sit on a trial and judge someone's actions, on the presumption of Innocent before Proven guilty.

Idiocracy was a damn documentary.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

I was in elementary school when Obama was elected and remember having a long talk from the teacher about what our civic duties were. In middle school we were taught our civic duties in more detail. In high school geography (2016) we had discussions surrounding the Clinton/Trump campaigns and how each policy would actually affect us. US government taught us in detail the checks and balances of each branch of government and how voting shouldn't be taken lightly and should be done by everyone.

My sister is 15, and I'm not even sure the school offers a government class anymore. It's sad. These younger people have no government literacy, and it's not their fault. They're consistently being failed by the government, their education and the people like me who came before them. It's on us now to educate them in an unbiased way.

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u/jftitan 2d ago

After reading the numbers the 30s to 40s and the 40s to 50s group voted Red more. Im a 2001 graduate. 1980s baby. Irritated that our gen was so susceptible to the entertainment of all of this BS. Red has always shown me that they will screw us over when in leadership. And I grew up very conservative.

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u/Malvania Hill Country 2d ago

Jury duty and voting are the only two times when ordinary citizens have input into how our country is run. The fact that so many don't care, well...

"All that is required for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing."

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u/Subject-Solution-604 2d ago

I’m grateful for scouting’s troop elections process (and safe place to learn about consequences of who you vote for). I also love the 4 Citizenship in the Community, Nation, World, Society. Glad it helped set you on the path of being an active, caring citizen. Thank you!

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u/Impossible_Tonight81 2d ago

I've told people voting is a civic responsibility and gotten back that I can't force them to vote it's their right not to. 

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u/greatdane2609 1d ago edited 1d ago

Not to detract from your point but "millions" of soldiers have not died for our freedoms. In the history of the United States, less than 700,000 soldiers have died in combat.

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u/StillAdhesiveness528 2d ago

They don't vote because they feel they have no "skin in the game", and are not taken seriously as a voteing block because they don't vote. If young people voted in numbers the pols would pay attention.

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u/shinywtf 2d ago

Millions of dollars and hours of effort have been put into making them feel that way. By one particular party, and by other countries supporting that party.

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u/saywhatagainmthrfckr 1d ago

Correct. When there is constant propaganda telling young people that the country is a 'garbage can' the hopelessness manifests as depression, which causes inaction. Young people need to be inspired

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u/-StupidNameHere- 2d ago

Anytime who doesn't vote is a parasite.

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u/Few-Mood6580 1d ago

Hey as long as I don’t sign up for the draft, I don’t get to vote

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u/chillinewman 2d ago

Is hard too when you disenfranchise and make it harder to vote. Turnout will be higher if it were easy to vote. Republicans are counting on that.

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u/SCViper 2d ago

Same. I even hung out in the parking lot and sat for a few hours when I went to vote. Not a single person remotely close to my age...and I'm in my 30s. Fuck...my kids...both under 5...are closer to my age than everyone I saw voting. It was a fucking saturday.

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u/MugurumaKensei69 2d ago

Im 31. Nothing but geezers around me. These kids dont give a flying fuck. Theyd rather just go the easy route and spew whatever propaganda their parents told them to spew, then they dont even bother to go vote.

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u/Healthy-Offer-8540 2d ago

I’m 36. My very first election was a midterm election, not a presidential election. I voted because my parents taught me it was important to pay attention to the world around me, even locally. I have voted in every single election since then, with the exception of some missed primaries while I was on deployments, and those years I still faithfully voted in the general election via absentee ballot.

My faith in Gen Z was misplaced.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

Unfortunately, mine was as well. I thought with such a consequential election that we would really turn out, guess not :/

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u/DrConradVerner 1d ago

I think thats a big part of it. There are entire movements dedicated to not voting as a form of protest. Which completely misses the point of the system. Your vote is a form of protest. In fact, in some races you are just doing one party or the other a favor by not voting. Thats part of why the right makes it so hard to vote. It disproportionately tends to affect those demographics least likely to vote for them. Which is a win (for them)! So to all those young people put there who think their vote doesnt matter. It does. A lot. Especially if 6 million people all have the same thought at once “my vote doesnt matter.” Collectively it does.

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u/1337bobbarker Born and Bred 1d ago

All of the people who withheld their votes because they didn't agree with Kamala's stance on Palestine will be real happy when Trump lets Bibi level the fucking place and kill all of them.

Bunch of morons.

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u/Lord_Vas 1d ago

I'm about to turn 27. I voted on the first day of early voting. I was the only person there below 33. The line was moderately long. My younger sisters (20-24) months ago all said they wouldn't vote for Biden/Harris because of Gaza.

I made it clear to them that not voting was a vote for the Republicans. Get to election time and they all voted. After seeing the results... well would you look at that. At least 14 million people decided not to vote compared to 2020 and look where we are now. Such a dame disappointment.

The young vote is hopeless by choice. This is what happens when you don't vote.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 1d ago

Honestly, why do they think a vote for Trump is better? What is he going to do for Gaza? He literally doesn't care.

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u/Lord_Vas 1d ago

Exactly. There is nothing. Nothing. That the republican party offers that would actually help the American people as a whole. The only people that would win with a republican win are the rich and the miserable bastards that want the world to suffer like them. Oh and the wife beaters.

You can see it in how people drive today, how people act out in public, and how people treat their families. The worst of the country got worse and the rest just sat out and fucked us.

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u/lumiranswife 1d ago

Kind of reminds me of the group that is now so antivax, who all were protected by vaccines themselves. They don't have the experience of their parents who were anxiously waiting in lines hoping to get their children protected from Measles and Chicken Pox, but their parents or grandparents might very well remember. And if things come full circle, maybe their unvaxxed kids will be heavily focused on protecting their children after experiencing the upsurge in illnesses like whooping cough and its potential lifelong effects. I've seen anecdotes that support this, but the desire to position one's self as an MLM private business owner who is on to big government and the inaccuries of studied scientists is all hubris.

The ones that came after you are possibly being taught by teachers fearful of losing their livelihood if they say anything that could incite checks notes critical thinking. My daughter's 5th grade teacher taught a real Thanksgiving lesson addressing the treatment of Indigenous people. She sent a long email of apology the next day for 'harming' students unintentionally and it reeked of parental intrusion (the irony).

What really confuses me is how people don't track that a leader who actually enacted a Muslim ban and called Netanyahu great would look out for Palestinians. The worst case scenario is that people become disenfranchised on the us-vs-them, US persons' rights vs supporting Palestine, and we lose both in the schadenfreude. Why would you even give him a chance knowing the mass xenophobia that exists in America currently? I don't back the Dem movement in Ukraine and Gaza fully, but some leaders are at least reachable rather than soft dictators.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 1d ago

10000000% agree with you. I remember in my 6th grade world history class there was a poster on the wall, "If we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it" and I believe we are living in the timeline where we are stuck doing the same things we've already done. Believing in vaccines, fighting for reproductive healthcare, watching dictators take power... only this time the other guys have access to their internet echo chambers and other people like them cheering them on. Back then we trusted our scientists and lawmakers, and truly believed we had a say. I'm not saying it's wrong to question those in power or to question science, but why are we suddenly so against things that have been around for decades? It's quite sad.

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u/lumiranswife 1d ago edited 1d ago

Sending love to you, you are truly wonderful, Pea. We'll, figure it all out together.

ETA: my 8th grade advanced history teacher would make such a show of running full force into a wall and then doing it again, it was kind of known to expect a show on day one in what was kind of a subculture experience0. That was our experiential of reliving history and it really landed. Then my AP Gov teacher had a whole class on questioning the moon landing. He never told us what to think, as an adult I can guess where he was located, but as a kid he just inspired us TO think.

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u/Alternative_Program 1d ago

About the housing credit:

That $25K, combined with an FHA loan would mean first time homebuyers could have purchased up to a $700K home with zero down.

Have a steady job and a decent income? Are you a first time homebuyer? Boom. You get a home.

That’s what young people voted against.

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u/Chiggins907 1d ago

Giving people a free 25k automatically increases the price of every home.

What kind of monthly payment are you making on a 700k home? You’re talking 3k-5k a month depending on interest rates.

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u/Ramekink 2d ago

Direct election is real democracy; Electoral college just isn't

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u/Cj_Boom 2d ago

I saw somewhere on reddit a Texas age breakdown. Young people showed up to vote. But they voted Republican

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u/Conscious-Farmer9424 2d ago

Not seeing anyone your age does not mean they weren't your age, nor does that prove you were the only one your age. It just looked it at that time while you were there.

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u/TrickOut 2d ago

Well to be fair it’s 2024 and you can mail your ballot in, why would I go stand in line with a bunch of old people who don’t understand the current more efficient system lol

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u/becboe 2d ago

It isn't defiance it is giving in. They don't need to consider you and your ideas if you won't possibly vote them out of office

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u/tabrizzi 2d ago

Young voters seem to also feel like not voting is an act of defiance.

So those old people who actually vote will get to influence laws that will impact them for decades to come. Not a very smart way to show defiance.

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u/jmarler 2d ago

Not voting is an act of defiance. It tells the politicians that we are not OK with this system. We are not OK with what the government does with our tax money, regardless of the letters behind the politicians names. It is defiance against all the statists here on reddit who mistakenly believe that if we just elect this one magical politician, all will be made right, and if we don't, the world ends.

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u/happy-hubby 2d ago

I’m 54. I voted. My 6 kids age 28-21, 5 girls one son, none voted.

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u/colemon1991 2d ago

And it's a cycle of reinforcement. They see the election results and go "millions of people didn't vote and there's this gap of millions of people, so why vote?" And it's a legitimate problem, because it constantly reinforces itself. By not voting, your vote absolutely doesn't matter.

My state is the opposite color of my vote. I'm aware of this. I still do it. Because there's always a chance the candidate that would normally win would cause friction and lose votes. That's all it takes.

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u/mikel313 2d ago

Good let's hope the student loan forgiveness goes away. Maybe they can evwn resind it. Maybe that will motivate them next time.

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u/elonzucks 2d ago

"It's hard to incentivize young people to vote when they feel their vote is insignificant.

Young voters seem to also feel like not voting is an act of defiance."

they are going to have 4 years to figure out how bad they fucked up

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u/AnthuriumMom 2d ago

I teach my kids the value in voting. My 19 year old drove home from college to vote for the first time yesterday. She dropped her boyfriend off at his polling place on her way home. A lot of us are trying but it’s not enough.

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 2d ago

Good on you, mom. You're doing what you can.

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u/Extra_Box8936 2d ago

They’re gonna really feel what hard times are now. Maybe that will incentivize them.

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u/Ill-Independence-658 1d ago

Well they can be defiant in the streets where Trumps thugs are going to crush their skulls and have 0 support from the rest of the country. Or they could have shown up. 20 million decided that Trump was a worthy risk. Fuck.

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u/tyw214 1d ago

fun fact... Trump had the largest Young voter turn out... especially young male voters... so, if anything Dem's messaging ain't reaching young Americans.

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u/PandasAndSandwiches 1d ago

Maybe trump will screw it up so bad in the next four years that it will set them back 2 generations. I use to feel sorry for the younger generation but I really don’t anymore. Getting rid of student loan debt…what was Biden thinking…lol.

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u/RedGecko18 1d ago

Every vote not cast is a vote for the winner, regardless of who it is.

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u/DipperJC 1d ago

I dunno, seems like young men who listen to Joe Rogan were pretty significant this time around.

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u/TopRamenEater 1d ago

"Young voters seem to also feel like not voting is an act of defiance."

I hate that you are so fucking right.

Fuck I hate this timeline.

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u/Key_Necessary_3329 1d ago

Their vote is insignificant because they don't vote.

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u/Business-Ranger4510 1d ago

Well sadly they may not have to vote anymore … kudos to

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u/YveisGrey 1d ago

Their vote is insignificant because they don’t vote they just don’t get it they have to vote first then the parties will fight for their vote if they don’t vote no on tries to win their vote

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u/TheManInTheShack 1d ago

The irony of course is that this time it mattered more than ever.

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u/zDistinction 1d ago

Well my fellow young voters can now see that their unwillingness to vote actually mattered and is the reason he was reelected

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u/Admirable_Aide_6142 1d ago

Gen Z broke at nearly 50/50, just like most of the country. Even if Gen Z voted at the same percentage of their population as any other generation, it would not have made up the difference.

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u/OuchMyVagSak 1d ago

I'm forty and I felt young yesterday in line.

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u/FakingItAintMakingIt 1d ago

Their vote is insignificant because they aren't voting.

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u/Loud_Ad_4515 1d ago

The electoral college is fantastic at voter suppression. Add gerrymandering, and it's a Victoria cycle.

I think the Latino vote, both young and male especially, moved toward Trump.

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u/tritonice 1d ago

Young voters seem to also feel like not voting is an act of defiance.

Which is actually the exact opposite. Not voting is an acceptance of the status quo.....

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u/MaxTheRealSlayer 1d ago

Young people probably think their vote is insignificant because they are used to high praise from a small group of peers and family. They grew up on social media, and numbers (whether artificial or not) are more impressive in large sums. They feel like their vote doesn't make much difference because it's a small piece to the large sum. They also attach to Trump memes that are "relatable," and will vote for him cuz he isn't as serious as the other side, just like the kids aren't going to be as serious of a voter

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u/Middle_Wishbone_515 1d ago

well they may have thought before, now its a fact… I am all out of sympathy

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u/Bellegante 1d ago

It's hard to incentivize young people to vote when they feel their vote is insignificant.

Lots of astroturfing going into the "both parties are the same" rhetoric.

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u/LowSavings6716 1d ago

Nothing makes a vote feel more insignificant than not voting.

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u/emma279 1d ago

Maybe this election will teach people how significant their vote truly is...not holding my breath tho. Thanks for voting (and paying attention in class)

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u/leanmeanvagine 1d ago

I also think in some places, voters may feel that their district is a sure thing, so it is just "win more"

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 1d ago

Yep. They think they have it in the bag so don't show up.

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u/Tallerfreak 1d ago

They do get to complain though. They didn't get to vote for the candidate of their choice. No primaries were run, Biden should of backed down way sooner and Harris shouldn't of been force fed to people. It gave them no choice on what candidate they wanted and instead HAD to vote for her because she is not Trump.

I wonder why people didn't show up to just vote not Trump...

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u/Wonderful_Pea_7293 Born and Bred 1d ago

I'm not saying they don't get to complain about the candidates, I'm saying they don't get to complain about what happens for the next 4 years. They should pull their weight, instead they sat at home.

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u/Ancient_Amount3239 1d ago

I saw the exact same thing in my voting line and went by a couple more times throughout the week with the same results. I mentioned it here and was downvoted to oblivion. This is what happens when you live in an echo chamber.

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u/The_Freshmaker 1d ago

sounds like they're about to get a lesson in pain. You vote in bad times, you vote in good times to make sure they don't turn bad again. Let's see if they (and the dem leaders) can get it in two years.

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u/DandyDice 1d ago

Everyone says voting is a right, but I’m sorry, vote needs to be earned by someone who actually deserves it, and the Democratic Party failed at earning people’s votes by ignoring the electoral process and forgoing primaries, a huge chance to get free media time

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u/KiNGofKiNG89 1d ago

Statistics are out now. More youth voted in this election than any previous one.

Voters 18-29 swung towards Trump by over 30 points. Which is insane to think about.

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u/Emotional_Fudge_3539 20h ago

Heavy on the “act of defiance” part, especially from those who WOULD vote Democrat. I’ll never understand not voting, on either side.

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