American gen Z voters share how they feel about Kamala Harris’s presidential bid, why they like or dislike her as a candidate and whether they think she could beat Donald Trump, as the vice-president races towards winning the Democratic nomination for November’s election.

‘I think she’s just what we need’

“I think [Kamala Harris] is the only one that makes sense. She will get the votes Biden couldn’t. She could get the Black, Asian, Latino, women’s, LGBTQ+ and youth votes. She stands more for progress and equality than an old white dude and if she wins it will be historic. The Democrats need a bold move and I think she’s just what we need.

“I hope the Democrats realize what an opportunity this is for them.” Will, 22, construction worker from Portland, Oregon

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    On the other hand, if more people had turned out in 2016 we wouldn’t be here.

    Politics shouldn’t be a popularity contest.

    • alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      You could also say, if the Democrats had nominated a more likeable candidate in 2016, we wouldn’t be here.

      Clinton got less votes than Obama in 2012 and 2008, even though the population had grown during that time.

      And it wasn’t the Bernie bros who stayed home. Polling revealed that the Bernie bros showed up.

      Blaming the voters is like having your bakery go bankrupt and trying to blame people for not buying your shitty cake.

      First, bake a better cake.

      • ikidd@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “Where are all those advertisers I told to fuck off last year?”

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        What part of “I like soldiers who didn’t get captured” and “grab them by the pussy” confused voters?

        Count Dracula should have beaten Trump.

        I totally blame the voters.

        • alvvayson@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 months ago

          I know, but we were having a conversation about 2016 and the voters didn’t pick Clinton then.

          At least, not enough of them in certain swing states.

    • zephorah@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      It also shouldn’t be a duopoly game but here we are.

      The shorter election cycle is appreciated. This should be a thing. Say, on July 5th of an election year, then it begins.

      • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Keep the primary results a secret until a couple of weeks before the convention. It’d also help the states with late primaries to not feel irrelevant.

      • Wrench@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        We’re celebrating the apparent increase in voters that aren’t even following the duopoly policies enough to recognize literal fascism vs imperfect but generally good faith politicians.

        If they’re not informed enough to see the face eating leopard party for what it is, adding more parties to the mix won’t improve anything.

        I agree that ranked choice voting is desirable. But it won’t help with these kinds of voters.

        • zephorah@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          I don’t get that. I still have relatives trying to tell me trickle down economics works, that it is the way. Really? You think successful trickle down economics is why we all feel squeezed right now? You think that’s why Amazon workers go through hell while Bezos flies around in a penis rocket?

          Reality isn’t tracking as reality. I’m not sure how one gets to that point where a confident person in a suit announces that x is the truth and so you just start repeating x is the truth and actually believing it.

    • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      In a democracy. Politics is absolutely a popularity contest. The population votes. If you want better outcomes, do more for the population. When you don’t give the population what they want, you get totalitarianism which is the course we are on.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        If you want politicians to listen to you, try voting in the primaries.

        People need to educate themselves. Look at how Jerry Falwell and his ‘Moral Majority’ took over the GOP. They had one simple trck; if the local Republican clubhouse got 20 people at the regular meeting Falwell’s folks would show up with fifty. They got the little jobs, like county clerk and sheriff, and then the bigger state positions and finally were in a position to control who got the white House.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          If you want politicians to listen to you, try voting in the primaries.

          Please don’t gloat that the primaries have had a preordained winner for every presidential race since 2012. Particularly not when the most recent preordained winner had to step down, to the acclaim of the vast bulk of the party.

          • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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            3 months ago

            and BotH Sides aRe ThE SAme, right?

            If you’re going to tell people not to vote, try coming up with an actual alternative action.

            • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              I did not say that people should not vote, or that both sides are the same. You lost the argument and you’re strawmanning. The shitty preordained candidate you wanted stepped down. We have a better candidate now.

              • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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                3 months ago

                You said that the primaries were fixed.

                If I misunderstood you, it’s because you weren’t clear.

                  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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                    3 months ago

                    How is it not your fault?

                    It’s your job to write clearly. If someone makes an honest mistake, it’s the fault of the speaker.

                    Also, you claimed the primaries were rigged without giving any actual proof; by your own logic you’re the one making false accusations.