The vast majority of non-troll DUers will vote for the Democratic nominee in the general

[Fumesucker]

Outside of DU I'm not so sure, I'm of the opinion that many of the non voters, crossover voters and occasional voters who are enthused by Bernie simply won't bother to show up at the polls if Bernie is not the nominee.

I really don't have a good handle on the Hillary supporters but given the way things turned out in 2008 I suspect that at least some of them have as strong an emotional attachment to Hillary as many Bernie supporters do to him and they too won't show up although probably not as big a percentage of them as the Sandernistas.

The Democratic party desperately needs to increase turnout not just of Democrats but people who while not Democrats as such will vote for Democrats if sufficiently motivated, I honestly don't see Hillary doing that and I think Sanders might be able to, there are a lot of people out there who don't feel either party is on their side and for that reason don't bother to vote. Quite a few of them turned out for Obama in the elections where he was on the ballot but Obama was to a big extent a tabula rasa, a blank slate without much legislative or executive record and people projected their own wishes on him.

Neither Hillary nor Bernie is a Barack Obama and neither will have all of Obama's coalition.

[redstateblues]

1. The folks on DU that wouldn't vote for HRC

if she is the nominee probably aren't Democrats and wouldn't vote Democratic anyway. They might say they are but I'm a little suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of posters on DU that were Naderites. The number of people here that don't support the Democratic President confirm that. This place may be called Democratic Underground but it isn't really. It should probably be called something else. SU maybe?

[RobertEarl]

3. That matters not

The independents will not turn out for Hillary in the GE and so she will lose to a damned republican. There are not enough votes from DU for any body to give a shit who votes or not.

[Fumesucker]

4. Back in 2001 all you had to do was be anti-Bush to be a good DUer

Of course there are independents here, actual Democrats only make up about a third of the electorate and not everyone who loathes the Republican party and is interested in politics loves the Democrats.

What counts is votes, not whether a particular person is a "Democrat" or not.

We saw in 2008 that some Hillary supporters won't vote for anyone else and that's not likely to change in this election either, I understand their emotions even though I don't share them.

[liberal_at_heart]

2. I can only speak for myself. I have voted straight Democratic ticket for 20 years

and just can't do it anymore. I have become part of the group that feels that neither party represent them. I used to be a naive optimist who thought as long as Democrats were in charge then there would be someone there to fight for the poor and the middle class. Well I am not 20 years old anymore and am not as naive or optimistic anymore either. I don't know if Bernie will win or not. He may not. Those in control of our country right now have immense power. But things didn't look so good when the Labor Movement started either. They faced what seemed to be insurmountable odds and violent push back. But they knew they had to fight, and they did. That's how I feel right now. I don't care how impossible it seems. As far as I'm concerned I have no choice but to fight. Even if Bernie doesn't win, I still plan on fighting.

[Hydra]

6. Right with you there

I vote because I want other people to see it makes no difference- but we need to try everything to turn things around.

Fighting for a good cause is good for the soul

[Old Codger]

5. Quite true

The alternative is scary as hell....

[Bluenorthwest]

7. To avoid being haunted by spirits of Democratic family passed, I have two choices in each election

I can vote for the Democrat or against the Republican. Either method works just fine.

[Fumesucker]

8. I just recced this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027334050

On top of this, in November, Electoral College arithmetic means that the highest-value voters will be swing voters in swing states. Most states are reliably red or blue. The ones that aren't, the key swing states, number -- depending on whose analysis you like -- 11 , seven , five or just three . Many of those states will tip one way or another by a very small margin, which means that the presidential election could be decided by a crowd that wouldn't fill the Rose Bowl. Though there will be some effort to pump up the turnout of the base, most advertising buying, ground game spending and candidate scheduling will be driven by the pursuit of those undecided voters.

Next fall, if you want to know what winning the White House is about, ignore the liberal or conservative tribes. The data most worth knowing will describe people who will have spent the past two years ignoring pretty much everything that Democrats and Republicans say they stand for and will do. These Americans will be unlike you, but the difference will not be ideological. It will be the difference between being passionate about a leader who shares your beliefs, and being uninformed, disengaged, alienated, indifferent.

Just like you, they'll have only one vote to cast. But theirs will actually make a difference.

[MineralMan]

9. The vast majority of Democratic voters will do the same.

Democrats vote for Democrats. I am a Democrat, so I'll be voting for the Democratic nominee next November.

[Fumesucker]

10. I know you are much more intelligent than this

Why not speak to what I wrote rather than some unrelated talking point?