this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Summary:

Democrats are becoming increasingly concerned about a possible drop in Black voter turnout for the 2024 presidential election, according to party insiders. The worries arise from a 10% decrease in Black voter turnout in the 2022 midterms compared to 2018, a more substantial decline than any other racial or ethnic group, as per a Washington Post analysis. The decline was particularly significant among younger and male Black voters in crucial states like Georgia, where Democrats aim to mobilize Black voter support for President Biden in 2024.

The Democratic party has acknowledged the need to bolster their outreach efforts to this demographic. W. Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, highlighted the need for Democrats to refocus their attention on Black male voters, who have shown lower levels of engagement. In response, Biden's team has pledged to communicate more effectively about the benefits that the Black community has reaped under Biden's administration, according to Cedric L. Richmond, a senior advisor at the Democratic National Committee.

However, Black voter advocates have identified deep-seated issues affecting Black voter turnout. Many Black men reportedly feel detached from the political process and uninspired by both parties' policies. Terrance Woodbury, CEO of HIT Strategies, a polling firm, suggests that the Democratic party's focus on countering Trump and Republican extremism doesn't motivate younger Black men as much as arguments focused on policy benefits. Concerns are growing within the party that if they fail to address these issues, disenchanted Black voters might either abstain or, potentially, be swayed by Republican messaging on certain key issues.

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[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

First of all, I don't even understand the mindset of someone who doesn't vote. So you don't really like any of the candidates, so what? Vote for the least worst option or the actual worst option could win (see: 2016).

Second, to be fair, any party could try running someone who's less than a million years old. American politics are so bizarre this way. Canada's current PM was 43 when he was elected and still more than 30 years younger than America's current president. Parliament is populated largely by middle agers and a few younger members, whereas congress is a sea of bald and gray, pockmarked by a small handful of 40 somethings? Shit is ridiculous.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Privilege.

Not them tho, you. Your privilege is why you can't understand it.

Some people have to wait 8 hours in line while taking a day off work without pay. All for someone whose not going to actually help them. Their choice is "things get obviously worse for me" and "things get worse for me, but slower and no one talks about it".

We could try actually following thru with campaign promises and helping them, but for some reason we dont. Once elected all the Dem presidents in the last 3-4 decades immediately start telling us their campaign promises are obviously impossible so they're just not going to really try.

Even Obamacare was just Mitt Romney's plan by the time it happened.

Personally tho, it takes less than an hour for me to vote and I get a paid half day from work to do so. So I always vote.

That doesn't mean I assume it's as easy for everyone else

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Isn't "things get worse slower" better than "things get worse right away?" What happened to pragmatism? If things get worse slower, there's a chance to stop them in the future.

[–] tidy_frog@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Privilege.

Not them tho, you. Your privilege is why you can't understand it.

Are you determined to not have allies of any kind?

I get that your state is fucked, but as a resident of one of the other 49 states, my options to help are limited as long as we lack one of the the chambers of Congress since the gop is literally the problem here.

We could try actually following thru with campaign promises and helping them, but for some reason we dont.

That would be because we don't have control of the House. It's difficult to get work done when the side in control of the button that stops everything from working sits on the fucking button while shrieking racist epitaphs at the top of their lungs.

[–] Iteria@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In a lot of areas voting isn't easy. It's something you have to work to do. Why stand in the freezing November air worried you're gonna be late for work and lose your job if you're not excited? Why do it in the morning? Because maybe you're me in your 20s and don't have a car and you can actually make it to when the polls open in the morning but not the evening with how the schedules run.

Why go up to the election office and force them to take your mail in ballet after it was rejected twice because your signature "didn't match" if you're not excited?

Why finagle a time in your day when you can stand in the cold for an hour without your baby if you're not excited?

Why stand until you want to literally because the line was way longer than you thought it was and you didn't bring a chair this time if you're not excited?

All this happened to me over the course of me voting in my adult life. This doesn't count how voting locations constantly move on me for reasons unknown. It's not that the voting location moved. For some reason I was just assigned a different location. The times where I've been given the run around about where I should vote. The times where I tried to vote, but whoops all the machines are broken and I decided that I didn't want to wait for a repair which could take hours.

Voting is hard. It can be a breezy affair, but I've never experienced that in presidential elections or midterms, only really in special state elections or pure local elections. The system is definitely rigged against you and you have to ask yourself if it's worth fighting. Is denying my kid's time with me worth this? Is enduring this strain on my body worth this? Is the mental energy when I'm tired from work worth this? I get what you'd say no even if I always say yes

[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

Oh yeah, that's another thing. For something that's supposed to be a sacred right, voting is made absurdly difficult in the US.

In Canada, employers are legally obligated give up to three hours PTO to vote. There are usually two or three advance polls if election day doesn't work for you. Every podunk town in the country has a polling station setup. Basically every form of ID imaginable is accepted. You can register to vote by mail online weeks before an election, receive your ballot and return it in the included prepaid envelope.

Elections Canada bends over backwards to give everyone the opportunity to vote. But it's like America doesn't actually want people to vote at all.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pretty sure that every state (with maybe a handful of exceptions?) provides for required unpaid time off work to vote. There's also lots of places that have early voting, for weeks ahead of an election, with early and late hours. Mail-in voting has expanded dramatically since Covid.

But I get it. There are also lots of places in the country where voting is hard, and there's a very clear reason why. The more people who vote, the more likely that a Democrat will win and a Republican will lose. It is always Republicans who want to make voting harder, and it is always Democrats who want to make voting easier.

You want it to be easy to vote, so you don't have to be as excited about voting? Go vote for the people who want to make it easy to vote, and stop voting for people who want to make it hard to vote. If nothing else, get excited about making it easier to vote.

[–] Zaktor@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

For a lot of people "unpaid time off" isn't a favor. You're asking them to pay to vote.

Plus the rules frequently only come into play if their work shift makes it literally impossible to make it to the polls. If they could wake up from their third shift job to get in line as polls open before making it to their other job at 7:45 sharp, then no time off for you. If you need to get your kids to school during that time slot? Too bad, that's time you could technically be voting, so it's not your employer's responsibility.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

I didn't say it was perfect, certainly not everywhere. I was trying to point out that it's easier to vote in some places than in others, sometimes dramatically. And that it's really simple to know who's responsible for making it easier or harder.

[–] tidy_frog@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For a lot of people "unpaid time off" isn't a favor. You're asking them to pay to vote.

Sorry, but voting is a civic duty.

Not a pastime.

Not a hobby.

Not a privilege.

A duty.

Republicans win when you don't vote, and they get you to not vote by making it difficult, if not dangerous.

Just remember, not voting will only ever make things worse.

I cannot vote for you.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When someone has three kids and lives paycheck-to-paycheck, asking them to sacrifice pay to vote is not justified. You're saying, "vote or feed your kids, pick one."

[–] tidy_frog@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I'm not saying that you should let your kids starve. I'm saying that this situation has been engineered on purpose, and that it perpetuates itself by design.

If I could, I would stand in line for you. I can afford it.

But I can't. Legally, I can't.