I figured out why so many BSers won't vote for HRC in Nov

[stopbush]

Apparently, many of them just don't like voting, considering how they couldn't be bothered to show up and vote for Sanders in the primaries.

[JanetLovesObama]

1. Those kids supporting him just want

their FREE STUFF. No FREE STUFF no votes.

[misterhighwasted]

11. They'll have to send bernie $27 more, to get more free stuff.

That's how it works. Duh!

[yallerdawg]

2. Now, the Poly Sci professors were impressed...

when the students walked across the street from the dorm to attend a Bernie concert.

But registering, meeting primary voting requirements, and actually getting to the polls?

"Look at all the young people who showed up at the rallies? That doesn't count?"

They did do it for Obama, though...

[KittyWampus]

14. That's because Obama had been a community organizer and built that knowledge

into his campaign.

Sanders/Weaver/Devine didn't bother spending time/money to organize their supporters.

[NanceGreggs]

3. A lot of (alleged) BS supporters ...

... never intended to vote for a Democrat, no matter who the candidate was.

Political websites have been full of people who were supposedly ready to take up torches and pitchforks, and storm the Capitol in furtherance of "the Revolution". But when asked to do one simple thing - go to the polls and vote for the leader of the "Revolution" they supposedly believed in - they couldn't be bothered.

[IamMab]

15. Fact is, too much of his support is disaffected libertarians with no one surnamed "Paul" to vote for

That's why we're seeing so many blatant right-wing tactics and news sources used to prop up Bernie and drag down Clinton.

They're not fooling anyone except themselves.

[SharonClark]

23. Agree - they are probably the worst

[NYC Liberal]

4. Where was this "revolution" in 2010 and 2014

during the midterms, when we could have used one to take back Congress (or not have lost it in the first place)?

[Koinos]

8. Occupy Wall Street fizzled in a similar way.

It couldn't make the transition from protesting to political action and voting.

Protests and rallies are meaningless gestures if they do not lead to getting candidates elected and getting out the vote.

[NYC Liberal]

9. But voting's like, the establishment, bro.

[Koinos]

10. Thanks, NYC Liberal.

They don't seem to get how changes are really made. "But voting's like, the establishment, bro." As is campaigning for party candidates within "the system." Too much work too.

With the exception of bloody revolutions, all reform takes place within some sort of system.

"Dropping out" of the system means giving up a seat at the table and having no say in the decisions made that end up affecting you, whether you like it or not.

There is no escaping "establishment" of some sort or other, even in a rural commune. Society at large makes rules for you, whether you participate in the process or not.

So it is one's own self-interest to be a member of the group that does the deciding.

As a corollary, it makes sense to join and work for change within a political party.

[IamMab]

16. BLM is heading the same exact way, if they don't adjust course soon.

Maybe interrupting Democratic allies gets them headlines, but it accomplishes nothing. Less-than-nothing, if you factor in the bad blood it generates between elected officials and BLM activists.

Keep in mind, we're dealing with an age group that is used to instant gratification and endless participation trophies. I'm not even sure if they have the stomach for the hard work of politics.

[Koinos]

18. Hard work is inconvenient.

[justiceischeap]

12. I've been shocked by how little some people actually know about the political process

I see a lot of ignorance on Facebook but I've seen my fair share here too. If these supporters of BS really want to make things change, they have to door more than go to rallies and vote in the general election. For example, Bernie should have told his supporters that if they are registered Independents (like he was) how simple it is to change to Democrat (like he did) so they too can participate in Democratic Primaries. Once they've participated, they can then switch back to Independent (like I'm sure BS will do). It's that simple to participate in closed primaries--and it's not like we didn't know the primaries were coming up.

But yeah, I'll always remember when I lived in PA and I was in my late 20's I participated, as I always do, in mid-term elections and was interviewed by the local news station. The woman asked me why I was voting because most of the issues pertained to Sr. Citizens. I told her it was my duty as an American to participate in our democracy and that I hoped to be a Senior Citizen some day, so my vote that day may effect my future. She seemed shocked and I ended up on the evening news, go figure.

Anyway, if the BS supporters want sweeping, significant change, that change certainly doesn't start at the White House and you actually have to vote more than once every four years (if they even vote then) to make that change happen.

[NYC Liberal]

13. I remember reading this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251669345

and it was just a massive facepalm. Sanders supporters were complaining that the DNC wasn't registering voters for them. That's when it became very obvious to me that his campaign had NO clue. Every campaign organizes registration drives, but apparently Sanders wanted other people to do it for him. And then he complained that people weren't registered when it came time to vote.

[justiceischeap]

17. Oh man, I just fell into a hole reading that

I'm a firm believer that public schools really need to bring back civics classes because too many people are just unaware of real world politics and how they work.

Not really on-topic but this question struck me after reading your reply. Has the Sanders camp been putting money aside for down-ticket races like Clinton has since they obviously didn't have that whole voter registration thing down?

[Koinos]

19. Sanders has been putting no money aside for down-ticket races.

When he entered the race, he signed an agreement that he would do so; but he hasn't fulfilled his side of the agreement.

[justiceischeap]

20. Well, I guess there's still time but we'll wait and see.

Thanks for letting me know.

[Koinos]

21. He used your words.

Actually, when he was asked in an interview (by Rachel or whomever) whether he intended to contribute to down-ticket races, Sanders' answer was, "We'll see."

I was pretty horrified by that response, actually. He is spending every penny he raises on his own campaign. That's not what a Democrat intending to elect Democrats to help him govern would do.

The DNC created a "Victory Fund" for Bernie, as it did for Hillary. The Sanders' campaign has accused Hillary of misusing her Victory Fund, but the money from that find has been properly dispersed -- part to Hillary, but most to down-ticket races for the Democrats.

Sanders has not raised money for his Victory Fund. It was originally "seeded" with $1000 by the DNC. Some of that $1000 appears to have been spent, but no money has been added to the fund. All of this public record.

[justiceischeap]

22. I get that he's supposed to, which is where my "we'll see" comes in

but it's pretty appalling that he said that.

[Koinos]

24. Yep, pretty appalling. Seems selfish to me.

Nice chatting with you!

[Cha]

5. Yeah, no worries!

[Thinkingabout]

6. It would have been a good time to register them to vote when they attended the concert

[LiberalFighter]

7. The number of people that showed up at Bernie rallies

was still smaller than the number of people that voted for him.

In the NYC area consisting of 17 congressional districts 788,312 voted for Clinton and 464,324 voted for Sanders. Out of those 464,324 Sanders voters only 27,000 showed up at the rally. Why weren't the rest of them there?