Democrats need to ask the question: Why don't people vote?

[rgbecker]

In the Ga. -6 election yesterday, where 50 million dollars were spent mostly on TV lies, a whopping 46 percent of registered voters turned out in early and election day voting. People were amazed at such a high turn out for a off year election. The election was determined by a 2.8% margin or about 6800 votes. That's 1.3 % of registered voters.

Democrats need to turn away from wasting time and money trying to turn Republicans into Democrats and instead give the missing 54% who stayed home a candidate they find attractive enough to bring them to the polls. Where are the surveys asking the "Did not vote" citizens what they are looking for? Is it because they don't see a candidate they like or because they figure either candidate is OK enough? Maybe they think there is no difference or is it that they think no one can change the way the country is going? Do they like the status quo well enough and are happy to just take whatever the rulers hand out?

I'll wager a Democratic candidate that brings a different more radical message would tap into the missing voters and not loose a single normally Democratic voter. This holds for districts across the country. In the recent 2016 presidential election, a turnout of 10 million more voters could easily have won the election for the Democrats. That is only about 7% of the "Did not vote" count. We're talking registered voters here, not even concerning ourselves with those knocked off voter roles because of Republican efforts with Crosscheck, Voter ID's etc.

Let's support candidates that target the majority of Americans who now don't vote, probably because they feel so hopeless.

[Chipper Chat]

1. Neither party speaks for me"

I hear this a lot.
Also "bboth sides do it"
And "both parties are corrupt"

[NurseJackie]

8. Yeah, I heard that a lot from Susan Sarandon and others...

... people like Sarandon who are supposedly our "liberal" allies, yet these well-to-do hacks never miss an opportunity to attack, smear and denigrate the Democratic party and Democrats. I guess it's easy to "sacrifice" when you're worth millions, and when it's OTHER PEOPLE who are actually being harmed.

Sad.

[Hoyt]

2. +1.Do not understand why we can't increase turnout. It's easy to vote in Georgia. Heck a judge gave

us an extra month after the first round of the special election in April to register new voters.

You can vote by mail, there was a month worth of early voting, just about anything works for an ID including utility bills. There is absolutely no excuse not to vote, monsoons or a major illness the day before the election shouldn't matter if one mails in a ballot of votes early.

[RKP5637]

3. YES!!! "Democrats need to turn away from wasting time and money trying to turn Republicans into

Democrats."

[ananda]

4. Voter suppression; intimidation; gerrymandering

and Dems who run to the center-right instead of as
good liberal Dems.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Around here we're constantly asking that but...

It's incredibly difficult to get good candidates. You want someone who can campaign well enough to get the votes and then put up with what's essentially a really sucky job where you have no time off and your entire life is public record. Every thing you do will be analyzed and criticized by people who have no idea what they are talking about. The best people often can't be bothered.

All forms of government are becoming increasingly irrelevant to citizens. People are getting all over themselves about things that have nothing to do with them while forgetting that the job is mainly about filling the potholes. And when they notice the potholes, it's always "my" potholes that should be filled first.

I could go on, but I think the real problem is that these days things are just too complex for people to get a full grasp of. We have to break down a lot of things- but we have to understand them first, before we can explain them.

[Fatemah2774]

6. Neither party speaks to me...

Wait a minute. We live in a democracy and select based on who can do the job. We are not competing for a glee club spot, so we should (and others who say this) we want the good, not the best. Sometimes we have to make a choice that we are not happy with, often called being an adult, but choose you must.

As far as 'both sides do it' shows people who are not informed because that is not true. The KKK and the White Citizens Council are not the same although they may be similar in aim but not in function. I am unsure if that is a good analogy but my point is informed people vote, and make better decisions about the future of our country.

[Fait Accompli]

7. Second largest voting bloc in SC is between the ages of 25-34.

That voting bloc does not care about helping small businesses and wonky stuff like deficit spending. They want single payer healthcare and debt relief.

[EllieBC]

13. So they just stomp their feet and stay home?

Then they get what they deserve. Sadly, they take everyone down with them.

[BainsBane]

9. like in Montana, Omaha, and PA?

You can't point to a single example of success, not one win anywhere. I find it interesting how when the anointed candidates lose, it's never their fault, but when liberals lose, it's because they aren't "progressive" or "leftist' enough.

Obviously voters did like the status quo, which is why they chose Trump. Democrats do not represent the status quo for anyone living in 2017.

And if you don't live in the GA 6th, you have exactly zero say in who runs for office there. Are you proposing that decision be taken away from voters and given to you? How exactly is that supposed to work?Are a bunch of NYers and Californians supposed to pick who is fit to run in parts of the country they've never even visited?

[JustAnotherGen]

11. Plus 1000 adding

From the OP: "I'll wager a Democratic candidate that brings a different more radical message would tap into the missing voters and not loose a single normally Democratic voter. This holds for districts across the country."


That will NOT work in my district in NJ. Neither Trump nor Sanders or O'Malley (In the primaries) won my district. We need a 'name' and honed in attacks on the incumbent. We started in January.

[sweetroxie]

10. People don't vote because

they know in their guts that we no longer have a representative government. It is controlled by plutocrats and Dark Money. People feel that it is pointless to vote because no one will pay attention to what they want. Money talks. Only money talks.

[YCHDT]

12. Voter suppression ?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

14. My general sense

is that people don't get the connection between their lack of voting and the quality of their lives (or lack thereof). Some of the people seem to treat politics as one of a number of "hobbies" that they may or may not be interested in and may or may not try to learn about it and/or participate in it regularly at all. Or if people do vote, they only focus on the Presidential elections (because they dominate media attention every 4 years) and ignore downballot races. As a hopeless political junkie, I don't get it. But it behooves us to find ways to engage as many people as possible in the political process and help them make the connection between their participation and how it affects their lives and those around them.

[HughBeaumont]

15. I'd really like it if we didn't actively cheerlead job losses.

I'd really like it if we didn't "LOL!" dismissively at progressives.

I'd really like it if we didn't think the Democratic standard should be milquetoast centrism.

I'd really like it if we didn't delude ourselves into thinking we can break bread and reason with people who want to see some of us rounded up and killed.

I'd really like it if we swallowed some bitter pills, take hard stands on European standards (like multi-payer health systems and universal education/Trade schools) and not worry what a bunch of uneducated fuckers who decry such standards as "SOSHULISM" or "SOVIET RUSSHA!!" have to say about it.

I'd really like it if we could communicate in factoids.

[milestogo]

16. A lot of people just totally tune out politics

and that is never going to change.