"If you come to a fork in the road -- take it"
Words of wisdom from an American icon, Yogi Berra.
I'm new to DU and have to disclose a few things. I am a flaming liberal progressive. I have a doctorate in physics and part of that process requires the candidate to examine problems objectively and think outside the box. I don't back down from anybody, including a Nobel Laureate once during some crappy ass shindig. Everyone in my immediate, if not my full extended family, has already voted for either Trump or Cruz or intend to soon. You can take it for granted I don't go to reunions, and my mother wonders why. It would appear that I have actually managed to tell the boss of DU to piss off in my first 50 posts. C'est la vie.
So, what does this have to do with forks in the road or the primaries? Nothing and everything. This post may seem to be a shill for Bernie, but it isn't. It has to do with dropping personal prejudices for or against either candidate and focusing objectively on a fork in the road that is approaching real soon now.
And it isn't our fork.
Both political parties are dealing with one or more forks in their respective roads at this time. Once the party of stupid gets its candidate, it receives its marching orders. They will have no other forks to navigate. They realize that they can win if they get behind their candidate and either win the independent vote or suppress it sufficiently enough to exclude the Democratic candidate from getting enough votes to win. They realize that the independents control the election, not the parties. Therein lies the fork in the road that is coming real soon now.
I teach math, physics and astrolomy to undergrads which make up a significant fraction of the independent vote which is 42 percent of the electorate. Their fork is pretty simple. Show me that voting will make a difference or fuck off. They don't buy into the lesser of two evil politics. Their rationale is that things suck now and they would rather stay home than vote for a candidate that will keep things sucking either a little less or a little more.
We either try to control which part of the fork they choose (vote or don't vote) or we risk losing it all. The Obama campaign did that in 2008 but not as well in 2012.
Something for you to think about. In the end it doesn't appear, at least to me, that it's enough to just get Democrats behind Hillary or Bernie. Its about getting somebody who doesn't, in general, give a shit to get behind Hillary or Bernie.
How do you propose to do that?
= new reply since forum marked as read
So you of course know who has the highest percentage of Independents on this side of the tracks...we need to phone bank and visit those indy's...they must have a list don't ya think.
Bernie averages about 65% with independents in virtually every state so far.....
From Salon:
-snip-
II. The exit polls in Massachusetts, which Clinton won narrowly, are fascinating. Here are some highlights:
Sanders got 41 percent of non-white voters (they don’t break down the category further). I want to come back to this.
Sanders beat Clinton among voters making under $50k, and voters making between $50k and $100k. The only income group she won was voters making over $100k.
Among first-time voters, Sanders got a whopping 71 percent of the vote.
Among independents, Sanders got 65 percent of the votes.
Sanders won among very liberal voters and moderate voters.
are millennials? 42% is huuuge and my understanding is the Democrats make up 29% and the Republicans 26%. I read that the party affiliation numbers have been dropping for the last several years and the dems are at the lowest numbers in ages. Given that democratic voter turnout already sucks (I see you are in NM and in the June primary here last year only 20% showed up and that's why we got stuck with the pathetic Gary King who was stomped by the EVIL Suzanna Martinez.) As to the indy's and the millennials it's all about their futures and if it is MADE CLEAR to them they will have to show up if they WANT to have a future, a planet, good jobs, health care and all the the planks in Bernie's platform they will. Get the word out, get them registered and get them to show up and bring their friends. Ground game.
