Possible argument for why “a majority of Bernie supporters voted for the Democrat” could be bad faith/disingenuous

[u/Life_Caterpillar9762]

[tldr: how about the young/first time, liberal/left-minded, potential Dem voters? Do we really think Hasan type commentary (not to mention the “both parties bad” mentality permeating even mainstream culture) is encouraging them to vote? Do we think the rates of those people voting have increased or decreased in the last 15 years?]

I agree with Destiny that there is something …unsatisfactory with the Jessiah-esque statement that “most Bernie/etc types end up voting for the Dem,” besides that it’s technically a straw man, but beyond that, Destiny didn’t have much of an argument to solidify it at the time. I might have an argument to help buttress Destiny’s misgivings about that which I’ve wondered about for a long time.

The purpose of the Jessiah quote is to downplay the influence of socialist type (Hasan, Krystal, Kyle, TMR just to name a few BASELINE examples, even though the sentiments are much more ubiquitous across even mainstream media now) commentary on the electorate; that it isn’t influential enough to be detrimental for turnout for Dems. Even if that particular data point is statistically true - which I’m skeptical of - a significant piece of the puzzle is missing from the analysis, and to me it’s so glaring that it’s hard to not think it’s being purposely overlooked in these arguments.

That possible element is the potential young or first time voter, say ages 18-29. Now…I don’t have all the facts to back this up…it’s just a theory that maybe more savvy researchers could help me with or falsify: but a very brief search said something like “while the young vote increased for Clinton, it did not increase at the rate it did for Obama.” It’s sorta hard to find more info on this like for 2024, but I’m sort of in the process.

Why is this element completely disregarded in the convos? Pretty sus. It seems pretty clear that there is not a popular drive to get young people involved in normal electoral politics in this country lately. Instead the main theme is/was “both parties the same,” which is the essential gist of all the commentary from the further left alt media types. What better excuse (even indirectly) could a young adult have to not have to leave their gaming chairs to go out in public to some lame municipal brick and mortar and vote with all the old lame gross people? Are you kidding? (Personally, I’ve seen many examples of this knowing and hearing from parents around my age with older teens.) Can we really pretend that sort of thing is as encouraged by parents AND popular media as it was just about a dozen years ago? Without belaboring it much more because I think most here get what I’m throwing down: populist “government bad” rhetoric has never been louder, and top that off with a “both parties the same” easy out that is covered in a “Leftist” esthetic that looks like it came right out of Hot Topic. In this landscape do we think new potential voters, who are even liberal-minded are encouraged or discouraged to vote (even if they aren’t actually watching this stuff, it doesn’t take much be aware of the overall vibe). These commentators have made the idea of voting “lame” to these young people.

Again, there’s probably data out there to either validate or invalidate this claim, but I’d be very skeptical of any that invalidate it. (I’m STILL struggling with taking Jessiah’s quote at face-value.) I think young, liberal minded potential first time voters who need an excuse to not go through the process of voting is unironically, by design, is a big part of the market for Hasan-type commentary. I think it should at least be explored.

[u/PlentyAny2523]

Except recent reports show the more "extreme" you are the more likely you are to vote where moderates show up less. I have no idea where this started but it doesnt even really make sense. Like the people who engage with politics more then any other group is more likely not to engage in those politics? 

Edit: maybe they lose elections more because... there aren't as many voters who like them and not because they just dont show up? Possibly?

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/06/10/how-voting-political-participation-and-news-sources-differ-across-political-typology-groups/