An inconvenient truth for Millennials

[ArtD48]

I've heard how many Millennials are thinking of voting for third party candidates even though they detest Trump.
Here's an inconvenient truth for them.

A VOTE NOT GIVEN TO HILLARY CLINTON HELPS DONALD TRUMP.

[LeftyMom]

1. Nobody's made that argument before, I bet they're all convinced now!

Thanks ArtD48!

[demmiblue]

12. As you can see, they still don't get it.

Insult, insult, insult instead of trying to bring them into the fold... yeah, that totally works!

[GulfCoast66]

25. Just who do you mean

When you say "they"?

Hillary supporters? Democrats? People who hate Trump?

Flesh your comment out some so 'they' can know your true feelings.

Who is 'they'. And wtf can be done for some stupid dipshit who is not voting Democratic at this point to 'bring them into the fold'.

[Charles Bukowski]

2. Donald Trump wants to serve millennials

a massive shit sandwich in the form of increased defense spending + massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. The sad part is these so-called liberal Puritans appear to have brought their appetite.

Obamacare? Gone
A chance at a more liberal SCOTUS? Gone.
Social progress? Gone.

The massive regression a Trump presidency would bring counts as "progress" in their warped minds. Sad!

[BSdetect]

3. Sad choice

I've spoken to a few self described "Libertarians" who are millenials. They are stoopid beyond belief. Yes, I generalize.

Good luck getting them to vote never mind to vote for anyone but their dickhead candidate.

[yeoman6987]

4. I was on a plane to Denver sitting next to two a young couple dating

I was bored and decided to start a conversation on the election. They both rolled their eyes and said the typical two idiot candidates out of 330 million. I said Hillary is good for our country. They laughed and said that they were voting for Johnson. I forgot who they voted for in the primary. I told them it was dangerous to vote third party especially in colorado. They didn't seem to care. I gave up. Too frustrating.

[Kilgore]

8. Exactly my experience more than once.

[vadermike]

5. Well

We had a good run if these delusional idiots act this way it's time to close up shop RIP USA They don't seem to even care Ugh

[Rocknrule]

6. That protest vote for Nader worked out so well, didn't it?

[still_one]

7. The Supreme Court if nothing else

[Hoyt]

13. I do applaud his recent "now is not the time to cast protest votes" comments.

[mr_liberal]

14. He's not very positive about Hillary though

He's sort of like, I know she's not great but he's a lot worse. I just saw him recently on a late show (Seth Meyers I think) and thats the way he came off to me.

[Hoyt]

23. Whether he's jungle up and down with glee doesn't matter, he is right. And he knows some of his

supporters are irrational enough to sit out thinking they'll get what they want in long run. My bet is they will fail.

[Duval]

17. Sanders added voters to the DNC.

And, yes, he did move the Democrats a little more left. I'm 77, and the DLC has definitely harmed the party. We should all be thankful for Bernie.

[emulatorloo]

28. DLC went out of business years ago

Afaik Al From living in a van down by the river

[m-lekktor]

33. That's because their mission was accomplished, they took over and run the show. nt

[emulatorloo]

41. Uh-huh

Makes a good movie plot I guess. Lots of melodrama.

[SunSeeker]

10. It really is as simple as that. nt

[demmiblue]

11. The Democratic nominee should have thought about this beforehand. n/t

[ArtD48]

19. But . . .

The whole idea of "inconvenient truth" is that regardless of what happened beforehand a vote now either helps Hillary or it doesn't. Period. Simple fact.

People are free to give their vote to whom ever they please, of course. But they ignore simple facts at their own (and our) peril.

[emulatorloo]

29. Jeff Weaver should have refrained from lying and poisoning the well

I say that as a Bernie primary supporter

[OnDoutside]

35. + 1000 when the story is written on Bernie's campaign, I believe Weaver above all, will be confirmed

as the one pushing the attacks on Hillary. I honestly don't believe Bernie nor Tad Devine were the driving force in such negativity.

[Music Man]

15. Yeah, kids today.

It's worth pointing out that she's struggling with lots of groups this month. There are stupid adults, you know.

Young voters will close ranks, especially post-debates. When it comes to their health insurance, college tuition and debt, and job opportunities, they'll know what to do in the voting booth.

This 28-year-old will be pounding the pavement this fall for Clinton. All will be well, folks. Breathe.

[ooky]

37. An interesting poll would be

those under age 26 vs those age 26 and older. This should show if there's a difference in the the one's who are still getting their health insurance on their parents policies (thanks to the democrats ACA) vs. those who have just stepped out into the real world of health care sticker shock.

My two kids didn't give a flip about politics when they were still living off me. Now they are age 27 and 29, and both voting blue.

Another thing millennials may want to consider is their inheritance, if the GOP comes in and cuts their parents entitlements. Not only their inheritance, but saving for the future when they have to take care of their parents.

[ucrdem]

18. Hillary is complicated and opaque; Bernie was simple and true.

That's how the media served up the two Dem primary candidates. Having lived through the 90s, that's not how it appeared to me at all, but I'm not going to re-open that can of worms except to say that I can understand how someone who didn't would be tempted to skip the step where they figure out what the hell is really going on. It isn't that easy.


p.s. came here on a jury.

[democrattotheend]

20. From a millennial Bernie supporter who is fully behind Hillary now

Let me give you some advice: if you want to get more of us to support Hillary, this is not the way to do it. Instead of demeaning our entire generation as clueless and stupid, why not talk about why we should vote for Hillary? I think she offers plenty of reasons for millennials to vote for her, not least of which are her proposals regarding free college and, more important for those of us out of school, student debt relief. Just belittling millennials as stupid and naive for considering voting for third parties is not going to win Hillary any votes.

[Il_Coniglietto]

22. To be fair, that hasn't worked either.

I've tried to convince my classmates, but the problem is that their opposition to Hillary isn't logical. They think she's a warmonger, evil, liar, criminal, shill, blah, blah, blah. When presented with facts proving otherwise, they simply dig their heels in deeper. There is no reasoning with too many of them. Their hatred (bitter hatred) of her is purely emotional. Hillary just "feels" wrong. And no evidence in the world can get through that.

So what can we do? I wish I knew.

[Imperialism Inc.]

26. In your opinion do your millennial friends know how far back Trump will set back things

they care about?

If they want money out of politics, Trump appointed judges will stand in the way of that for decades!
If they care about climate change, Trump will roll back everything Obama has accomplished and more.

I could go on but I'm sure I don't need to tell you all that. Do you think they are just unaware of how far back a Trump presidency will set them?

[emulatorloo]

30. Sorry Jeff Weaver et al poisoned the well. Bernouts too capitivated with rightwing fantasy version

Of HRC to listen to reason. Everything is 'establishment' or 'status Quo' except the predatory capitalist or the selfish libertarian. Facts don't matter.

I say this as Sanders primary supporter. Weaver lied about HRC and dishonestly smeared her. Now Bernie is trying to pick up the pieces. Not gonna work, Bernie has to reap what Weaver sowed. We get Trump and Weaver returns to his successful comic book shop.

[Jamaal510]

24. I don't know

what more she can do to convince people to turn out, aside from shouting and ranting like a lunatic. She was among the most progressive Senators during her tenure, and she had a solid tenure as a former SOS. She has been touching on a number of issues throughout the campaign whether it's race, gender issues, college debt, health care, taxation, immigration, mass incarceration, etc. Much of the apathy towards her among my fellow millennials and among Americans in general doesn't make sense, especially when there is the strong possibility of the arguably worst candidate in history becoming president. A Trump presidency alone is enough to motivate me and my family to get active.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. Several thoughts.

First off, despite what you think, a vote for a third party candidate is exactly that: a vote for a third party candidate. It is NOT a vote for Trump, try as you might to claim such. Just as someone who might otherwise vote for Trump but goes third party. Still not a vote for Clinton.

But more to the point, a "protest" vote is an ineffectual vote. Those in the two major parties don't spend even two seconds looking at the numbers who voted for a party other than the Democratic or Republican party and try to parse what that vote means. In short, a person should vote for the candidate they truly believe in.

Some people (even though I personally don't get this at all) really believe Gary Johnson or Jill Stein or some one else among the many self-proclaimed candidates for President, is a good choice. I don't happen to agree with those people, but I'm willing to respect (somewhat reluctantly) their opinion.

I'm also inclined to think, based somewhat on personal experience, that those who vote for a third party candidate are honestly removed from the political process, and don't fully understand what they mean by their vote.

More than once I've pointed out that the real down side to Jill Stein or Gary Johnson winning the election (even though that's pretty much impossible, but bear with me here) is that if either one wins, neither one would have a single member of their party in Congress. How in God's name are they thinking they could govern? Who would they select to be in their cabinet? How would they propose legislation? How would they name Supreme Court Justices? Or any of the very many other such offices the President needs to nominate someone to?

There is a shocking, even disgusting, naivete on the part of those who smugly say they'll vote for some third party candidate.

Heck, if there were an organized write-in vote for Bernie Sanders, and in some bizarro world he were thereby to win the election, at least he's been in the mainstream of politics almost his entire political life, and so he'd be able to function as President. Okay, I know perfectly well that won't happen, but my point about being inside or outside the real world of practical politics is still there.

[Imperialism Inc.]

36. It's a mathematical fact that voting third party (or staying home)

instead of voting for Clinton, increases the chances that Trump will win. So, in terms of consequences a third party vote has the consequence of helping Trump win. There is no arguing with this.

I think the problem is that people don't see voting as a strategic decision but rather as a chance to make a statement about themselves. If they would take the time to think in terms of strategy and consequences they would have to see that they are hurting their own causes.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. Those who might otherwise vote for a Republican

but stay home, is that a vote for Clinton? Or just no vote?

I really think those who keep on saying that to stay home is the equivalent of voting for Trump are simply wrong.

It's important to keep in mind that both Hillary and Donald have extremely high negatives, and I suspect that a significant percentage of those who in the end vote for one of those two will be doing so because said voter believes the other candidate would be an even worse President.

In the end, it really is up to the candidate to make a strong case for why we should vote for him or her, not merely against the other one.

[Imperialism Inc.]

39. Yes. Those who would otherwise vote for a Republican

are indeed increasing the chance of a Clinton win if they stay home. Obviously. Unarguably.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

40. So we should encourage Republican voters, disappointed that

Trump and not someone else is the nominee, to stay home.

[radius777]

31. White privilege, pure and simple.

Trump is a neo-nazi, Pence is a teabagger fundie.

There are still too many out there who for whatever reason are unable or unwilling to face the reality before us.

The choices in this election are as clear as they've ever been, how or why anyone could stay home or vote third party boils down to some combination of cluelessness, spite, hipster/outsider identity and (let's face it) white privilege.

Hillary is a dependable and predictable mainstream center-left Dem like any other, like Obama, Biden, Kerry etc, who would advance similar policies - yet gets painted as somehow "scary" and "untrustworthy" by some on the left, as well as many millennials and others who have bought into 24 years of anti-Hillary (and anti-Clinton) hysteria and sexist framing.

Wake up people. SCOTUS is at stake. The next president will definitely appoint one or more justices, that'll likely affect the balance of power on the court for a generation.

That president can be a Democrat who will appoint justices that will uphold all of the liberal achievements of the past 50 years (women's rights, civil rights, worker's rights, voting rights, environmental protections) and overturn Citizen's United (all 4 liberals on the court, including Ginsberg and Breyer, who were appointed by Bill Clinton, voted against Citizen's United).

Or that president could be a neo-nazi/teabagger admin that will appoint justices that will make Scalia look like a moderate.

[Duckhunter935]

32. It really is not that simplistic

And depends on the state. There are 50 state elections and quite a few do not matter.

[Rocknrule]

34. I was gonna vote Democrat, but then I got high

I was gonna help stop Trump, but then I got high
Now I'm living through a nuclear winter, and I know why
Because I got high, because I got high, and because I voted third party

La-da-da-da-da-da...

[radius777]

44. lol, that's a good one, here's another:

I was gonna vote Dem in 2000, but I got high
The cool people said both parties were the same
so I voted for the Nader guy
Bush invaded Iraq, wrecked the economy, SCOTUS bye bye,
and now I know why
because I got high, and voted for that Nader guy.

[jimw81]

42. Stop with the finger pointing and convince them

To vote for Hillary. This isn't the time for playing the blame game. I been talking to sanders and on the fence ppl on social media to vote for her. Stop it

[GreenPartyVoter]

43. You want to know what would help? Promises of election reforms. Get third party voters to support

Clinton in exchange for a transformation from a plurality voting system that forces us to cast strategic ballots to one that makes it possible to vote FOR candidates rather than against them.