Young voters overwhelmingly say they would support President Biden over former President Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up if the 2024 presidential election were held today, according to a poll released Wednesday.

In the Economist/YouGov poll — conducted via web-based interviews Dec. 16-18 — more than half (53 percent) of registered voters under 30 said they would support Biden, and less than a quarter (24 percent) said they would support Trump.

Another 10 percent said they would support another candidate, 4 percent said they were not sure, and 9 percent said they wouldn’t vote.

  • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    It’s simple; they liked Biden more than Bernie.

    Alright. Why did they like Biden more than Bernie?

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      There’s any number of reasons for that. I didn’t like Biden at all but off of the top of my head:

      1. Bernie was painted in the media as a socialist / communist / big mean pinko that was going to start a revolution to cut all of the CEOs heads off
      2. Bernie was perceived as being as big of an extremist as Trump, just in a different direction
      3. Biden had previous government experience in the executive wing of government, and was something of a known quantity…this was comforting to some as people were exhausted by Trump and wanted to get back to some semblance of “normal”

      I could go on further, but you should understand the themes here.

      As an aside, despite not being overwhelmingly delighted with Biden’s presidency, I am happy to not have the daily pants shitting, diaper-baby in the whitehouse headlines that we had during Trump’s four years…and the competency with which Biden largely handled one of the only federal programs I cared about in 2020 (i.e. the distribution of COVID vaccinations) was refreshing after 4 years of complete and utter idiocy in the executive branch.

      • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        I could go on further, but you should understand the themes here.

        Yes. The theme is “I don’t like progressive or leftist candidates.” They voted for Biden to fuck over our efforts. They are not our allies. They are fighting us out in the open.

        • aesthelete@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          11 months ago

          To just see every voter in the 2020 primary as being in the “anti-progressive” camp is to eliminate their possibility for them to change their mind.

          We shouldn’t throw them under the bus, but rather seek to persuade them to our side.

          If you look at the first two (or somewhat all three) points I raised about why someone might vote Biden over Bernie they are basically based upon perception. Perceptions are moveable. People who voted for Biden in the 2020 primary aren’t a lost cause. In many cases, they were persuaded by propaganda that they thought wasn’t propaganda because it was coming from purportedly liberal sources (I think of MSNBC in particular).

          • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            To just see every voter in the 2020 primary as being in the “anti-progressive” camp is to eliminate their possibility for them to change their mind.

            I never said that. I said people voted for Biden specifically to fuck over progressives and leftists. Your own reasons why someone would choose Biden over every other candidate demonstrated this perfectly. You’re right, not every voter in the 2020 primaries was a selfish piece of shit. But every person who voted for Biden in the 2020 primaries was absolutely a selfish piece of shit.

            Perceptions are moveable.

            They have no incentive to move when their candidate wins the primary and the general elections.

            • aesthelete@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              They have no incentive to move when their candidate wins the primary and the general elections.

              I don’t think that’s 100% correct. Maybe some of the political insiders directly around Biden see Biden as “their guy”…many voters (myself included) do not see politicians as much of anything except a vehicle for the policies they want in government.

              In my opinion, the incentive to move their views winds up being…reality unfolding before their eyes. You see the people in office now and what they’re capable of, and you see what policy positions are and aren’t working…and your perceptions about what is and isn’t possible with certain policies, or certain politicians or even certain political parties…changes.

              Hell, dude, the great progressive hope FDR wasn’t exactly a leftist until he realized what a shitty shit burger of a situation the country was in when he took office. People and even politicians change.

              • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                11 months ago

                I don’t think that’s 100% correct.

                Clinton’s presidency was 30 years ago. Biden is to the right of Clinton. We’ve moved precisely nowhere.

                In my opinion, the incentive to move their views winds up being…reality unfolding before their eyes. You see the people in office now and what they’re capable of, and you see what policy positions are and aren’t working…and your perceptions about what is and isn’t possible with certain policies, or certain politicians or even certain political parties…changes.

                Yes. In the form of losing general elections.

                • aesthelete@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  11 months ago

                  Clinton’s presidency was 30 years ago. Biden is to the right of Clinton. We’ve moved precisely nowhere.

                  Biden isn’t to the right of Clinton no matter how much you want to keep insisting that’s true.

                  But regardless of the Democrats the other party exists. Reagan was popular amongst basically everyone that voted, Democrats lost three general elections in a row which led to the advent of third way Democrats like Clinton in the first place. Biden losing will not lead to a more progressive candidate winning next election cycle. But it’s very possible that it may lead us further toward fascism.

                  • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    2
                    ·
                    11 months ago

                    Biden isn’t to the right of Clinton no matter how much you want to keep insisting that’s true.

                    Lol prove it.