I teach at a public high school for “profoundly gifted” kids, and work pretty much exclusively with 16+ students. They’re all very smart, and range from libs to somewhat better than normal libs (we had one open ML, but he graduated a few years ago). They all think Trump is a fucking dumbass. As with every election, a big crop of our seniors is going to be eligible to vote for the first time this year.
For the first time in the decade or so that I’ve worked here, pretty much every single one of them has said they don’t intend to vote. They hate Biden almost as much as Trump, either because they condemn the genocide in Israel or just because they (correctly) believe that he has done nothing to actually benefit them. This is a population of kids who are much more politically engaged than your average teenager, and vote turnout in previous years has been high. I was actually very surprised at how many of them expressed contempt for the whole process this year, and indicated that they were totally uninterested in supporting Biden (and of course would not support Trump). I’m guessing this is part of a big trend that we’re going to see this year, and I’m preparing myself for libs blaming young people–for whom Biden has done little but make their future demonstrably worse–for Democrats’ loss.
I’m trying to convince all of them to vote anyway, just for some third party that speaks to them. Yesterday, we talked about PSL, Cornel West, the Greens, and Afroman for a bit. It would be incredibly funny to see young people reject Biden/Trump, and yet turn out in record numbers anyway. The narrative that kids are just too addicted to their phones to vote would fall apart. I’ll keep working on it.
No real point here, just
If weed is on the ballot you have to push them to
reporting you to the FEC for trying to get 16 year olds to vote. it is ILLEGAL
Have them all vote, but only to write in you for local office.
It is the only funny outcome. You could end up ironically on city council
I live in an area where you’re either a white reactionary or a Latine who stays away from American politics, or doesn’t feel any involvement in it. No one wants to vote. The reactionaries I know all think it’s rigged and won’t matter, or they’ve concocted wild conspiracies about voter registration involving mandatory covid vaccination. They’re probably going to vote for Trump anyway, but none of them seem happy about it. The vibe is weird.