If someone said to me in my 20s they were going to forgive my college debt I’d probably say I’d vote for them. That’s my thought.

1) free stuff
2) hip and trendy answer
3) the others on the list suck
4) I'm not going to actually vote anyway.

5) some combination of 1-4

Sanders is consistant - and people first orientated. The young still have hope for people.

Because he represents the bubbling rage today's youth feel toward the establishment. The youth are a mix of despondent and angry over the fact that they will likely earn less than their parents, not be able to afford a house, that their planet is environmentally fucked up by greedy pricks. Bernie doesn't tip toe around this - he tells it straight and its appealing to the youth.

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

I think many Bernie supporters simply like Bernie's attitude.

This is very much like Trump supporters.

What is Trumps official position on most issues? Here is what I hear:
"I am going to lie, cheat and steal as much as I can get away with. And you can't stop me."
That shouldn't be a popular political position!

But the attitude.....
"Fuck you all. I will do or say whatever I want."
This seems to resonates strongly with a large portion of the population.

"If you aren’t a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart, but if you aren’t a middle-aged conservative, you have no head." Seems like a fair assessment to me.

However, I think you give the youth too much credit for independent thinking. They learn their voting habits from their parents, so many will be donkeys and the others elephants.

"But voting as a family routine? It turns out that there is evidence in the world of political science and public policy research that lifelong voting habits are formed in childhood and adolescence, and that those issues of routine and habit may be important in determining voter behavior and therefore election results."

https://publicpolicy.stanford.edu/...t-may-be-our-parents

And then there will be me, torn between the Green Party and Libertarian Party.... ;)

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

I mean sure, sorta, but that doesn't really explain Bernie's appeal in particular and among younger voters on top of that. Both my wife and I are lefties and neither of us particularly likes Bernie at all. She prefers Warren, who I can't stand even though I probably agree w/ her on more things than not. I really struggle to get excited over any of the current crop of choices, although it won't really matter anyway since I'm not a registered (D) and our state doesn't do an open primary so my vote will come down to 'Not Trump' after the true D's have already made their pick. Would have preferred Biden if only Scorsese could de-age him another 5-10 years like DeNiro; after that I woulda preferred Harris but she's already toast, or Buttegieg but I have 0.0% hope/confidence that anywhere near enough voters in the key swing states are ready to elect a homo.

So where does that put my kids? Donkeys OK, but again that doesn't explain the OP: Why Bernie?

It's simple. He promises free stuff. That's his appeal to my voting age son.
When I ask how will it get paid for, he shrugs.

tell him when/if sanders get elected... he's on his own and Sanders will take care of him.

Yep, this is it in a nutshell. When you’re young and not paying any taxes, promises of free stuff sound great. It doesn’t seem quite so awesome when you’re in the workforce and you realize that your sky high taxes are going to fund somebody’s art history degree.

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Mexico will pay for it.

Because they are ignorant of economics thanks to crappy schools

this

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I miss YaHey

Well, we could have a better system for health coverage by making it universal and it could potentially be cheaper than the money we're throwing at our fragmented system at the moment (I'm from a health policy background and others far more knowledgable than I would assert this)

We could also stop dumping money into ended foreign conflict and invest in programs here which would do a lot of good.

It's not about "free stuff" it's about reallocating resources more effectively.

Welcome to the party. It's great to have someone that is not afraid to say they are a leftie. Maybe you like Bernie because you like the kind of person he is. I like him too, but I would never vote for him. I admire his courage and convictions. I think he is wrong about most economic issues but I still like the guy. I too cannot stand Warren. She seems intellectually weak. Her punish the billionaires advertisements says nothing about HOW we are going to affect income equality, because we all know having a few less billionaires won't make any difference to those living in poverty throughout America. Add that to her inability to pay for everything she wants without more taxation, she is just wrong for America.

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

I HAVE A simple piece of advice for the 10 Democratic presidential candidates on stage tonight at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.


When they are inevitably asked by a moderator from MSNBC or the Washington Post how they plan to “pay for” one of their signature proposals — whether it is Medicare for All (Elizabeth Warren), a Green New Deal (Bernie Sanders), baby bonds (Cory Booker), middle-class tax cuts (Kamala Harris), or a universal basic income (Andrew Yang) — they should respond with one word: Mexico.


Mexico, they should say, with the straightest of straight faces, will pay for it.


Yes, that line would get a big laugh from the crowd in the hall. It would go viral online. It would endear the candidate who dares say it to Democratic voters watching at home (many of whom are fed up with debate moderators who constantly frame their questions around GOP talking points). It would help that candidate dominate the post-debate headlines on cable news.


But it would do much more than that: It would serve a major strategic purpose. Democrats who dare to remind pundits and the public of Donald Trump’s ridiculous yet oft-repeated campaign pledge that “Mexico will pay for the wall” would finally be drawing a crucial line in the sand and saying to Republicans, to the media, and even to each other, that they will no longer be playing the tiresome and very right-wing “pay for” game.


....



It is a trap that the Democrats’ own leader in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has set for the next Democratic president, by insisting on pay-as-you-go rules that prevent future deficit spending. “We cannot just increase the debt,” she told Bloomberg News earlier this month.

Are you kidding me? Reckless Republicans blow trillions on unfunded tax cuts, and sober Democrats are supposed to clean up the mess? And, that too, at a time of record-low interest rates?

Democrats need to stop playing by the old rules. I understand the logic of the “I have a plan for that” mantra; I get the appeal of wanting to be the adults in the room. But the man-child that the Democrats seek to defeat next year was elected to the highest office in the land in 2016 without a plan for anything.

Never forget: He said Mexico would pay for his signature issue. And he won. Now, defiant Democrats should say the same.





https://theintercept.com/...bate-budget-deficit/

It’s because Bernie is the only liberal presidential candidate.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I agree with the post that you quoted. I’m young, and I may not be a diehard Bernie fan, but many of my peers that I have known for years are fans of his, for the reasons above.

What I do take issue with, is thinking that the youth aren’t able to think independently, or rather, “giving the youth too much credit for independent thinking.”

I know, I know- you were young once, and you know how it feels to be young and feel misunderstood by the older generations. But many young people are in fact capable of looking at the facts, not be blinded by emotion, and think separately from their parents.

My dad is a libertarian, and my mom is a liberal. It’s not a secret. And I don’t follow in either of their footsteps.

If I had to classify myself, which I don’t typically do, I would say I am a moderate. At this point in my life, I have my own set of morals and ideals, shaped by my childhood events, experiences of friends and companions that I’ve known, and research and reading of historical events throughout the world.

I would say that maybe ten percent of my morals are founded directly from my parents- and that is not a bad thing. I had a good childhood all things considered, and was raised to respectful, kind, and trustworthy. Those are not political leanings. My thoughts on immigration, gun control, the ideal amount of legislative restriction, and any other political topic I’ve come to hold an opinion on are formed by me.

I guess my ranting all boils down to this: young adults are able to think for theirselves, and shouldn’t solely be dismissed because of their age.

I like this approach

Free shit. It’s really that simple.

I have a “woke” cousin who (supposedly) studied finance. He works for a mortgage broker. When I’ve had fiscal policy discussions with him his general rebuttal is “you need to open your mind” or that I need to abandon my “antiquated views”. Never a factual rebuttal. He sounds a lot like that dickhead from WeWork.

windywave wrote:

Because they are ignorant of economics thanks to crappy schools

Yep...



:-D

Nice balanced views from an independent source there...

The Leadership Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia that teaches "political technology."[1]
The Institute was founded in 1979 by conservative activist Morton Blackwell. Its mission is to "increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists" and to "identify, train, recruit and place conservatives in politics, government, and media."[2]

Congrats on propagating bullshit. Whenever you want to have a real discussion feel free to join and bring your own thoughts.

I think it is slightly more subtle than that. He promises a better world. He’s an idealist. So are a lot of young people; he keys into that.

Get older and (depending on your pov) you become either more of a realist or more jaundiced. You conclude that idealism is a pipe dream.

But when you’re younger you’re prepared to believe anything is possible, without delving too hard into the detail of how.