Re: FW: by Gail re: Why Young Voters Still Love Bernie

[robert <http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert>]

 > From: "Gail" <http://www.cox.net/~g3>
 > Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2020 20:38:19 -0700
 >
 > Hi All,
 > 
 > I think this email is very interesting with some humor to it. I
 > just read it now as missed it earlier when I was busy.

It's definitely insightful.  Maybe the current crises (global climate
catastrophe, plagues, economic disparities) will activate the young
people?

 > Gail
 > 
 > From: Robert Reich [http://www.inequalitymedia.org/~robert] 
 > Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2020 9:02 AM
 > To: Gail <http://www.cox.net/~g3>
 > Subject: Why Young Voters Still Love Bernie
 > 
 >   <https://gallery.mailchimp.com/d8dff8da914c62f2bf56ec165/images/757224e8-bf97-4d12-9fbd-66e6a431038d.png> 
 > 
 >  <https://mailchi.mp/inequalitymedia/everyone-knew-1987265?e=f5edfaf9da> View this email in your browser 
 > 
 > Dear Gail,
 > 
 > When middle-aged and older people feel unsafe, they run to the
 > familiar and reliable, even if it’s deadly dull. Younger
 > people who feel threatened are more likely to take risks in hopes
 > of finding something better.
 > 
 > <https://inequalitymedia.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8dff8da914c62f2bf56ec165&id=acc8033eb2&e=f5edfaf9da>
 > This generational difference explains a great deal about
 > what’s happened during the most tumultuous two weeks in
 > recent American economic and political history.
 > 
 > Since February 24th, with the lethal coronavirus spreading around
 > the world, middle-aged and older Americans – not only
 > most vulnerable to the disease but also accounting for most
 > retirement savings – have been fleeing stocks for the
 > relative safety of US government bonds.
 > 
 > The stampede has gutted the stock market while reducing bond
 > yields, which move in the opposite direction of bond prices, to
 > unprecedented lows. The interest rates on the 10-year Treasury note
 > fell Friday to a record-breaking 0.71%.
 > 
 > Despite the Fed’s half-per cent cut in interest rates
 > last Tuesday and the labor department’s upbeat jobs
 > report on Friday, the flight to safety continues. Bonds are deadly
 > dull, but when the economy is wracked by uncertainty
 > they’re the safest havens available.
 > 
 > The rush to safety didn’t end there. In last
 > week’s Super Tuesday primaries in the 2020 election,
 > older Democratic voters stampeded toward Joe Biden.
 > 
 > As recently as February 22nd – the Friday before the
 > giant selloff on Wall Street – only 17.2% of Democratic
 > voters supported Biden, according to the RealClearPolitics
 > aggregate polls. Less than two weeks later, Biden’s
 > support had surged to 34.3%.
 > 
 > Biden was helped by his strong showing in the South Carolina
 > primary and by the last-minute endorsements of the former South
 > Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and the Minnesota Senator Amy
 > Klobuchar. And by fear-mongering over Bernie Sanders by Democratic
 > insiders, big funders and pundits.
 > 
 > But the rapidity of Biden’s ascendance was fueled by a sudden flight to safety among older voters.
 > 
 > Biden is the political equivalent of US government bonds. He may be boring but at least he’s familiar and safe.
 > 
 > Younger voters are still counting on Bernie
 > Sanders. They’re looking beyond the immediate
 > coronavirus and financial crises to the larger existential crises
 > of this century – climate change, health care,
 > inequality and corruption. Their time horizons extend beyond those
 > of their parents and grandparents because they’ll be
 > here longer.
 > 
 > The generation gap revealed itself on Super Tuesday. Voters between
 > 45 and 64 preferred Biden by 22 points over Sanders (42% to 20%).
 > 
 > But Sanders triumphed with younger voters. In Texas, Biden won the
 > support of just 17% of voters under the age of 45, while Sanders
 > won only 19% of voters over 45. In Colorado, Biden won a mere 8% of
 > the under-45s, while Sanders pulled down just 20% support among
 > their elders. In Ca, Biden’s support among
 > sub-45 voters came to a bare 9%; Sanders won only 22% of those over
 > 45.
 > 
 > Meanwhile, as the coronavirus and its financial fallout continue to
 > spread, Donald Trump appears even more dangerous than he did just
 > weeks ago. The deceptive, narcissistic, vindictive president is
 > helping transform a public health problem and financial slide into
 > a double-barreled national emergency.
 > 
 > On Friday, while wearing his own re-election campaign merchandise,
 > Trump gave a disjointed news conference during which he called Jay
 > Inslee, the Washington state governor who has criticized
 > Trump’s leadership on the coronavirus, a
 > “snake.”
 > 
 > He also claimed the coronavirus test was available to all who
 > needed it, but anyone who has tried to be tested knows
 > that’s untrue. As of now, no more than several thousand
 > people can be tested per day.
 > 
 > Trump is facing crises that elude his capacities to con. He
 > can’t bully the coronavirus. He can’t
 > intimidate or threaten it into submission. He can’t
 > convince it to go away or make a deal with it. Nor can he order the
 > stock and bond markets to do better.
 > 
 > The coronavirus is in plain sight. Hospitals and clinics are
 > overwhelmed. As of Saturday afternoon, authorities had reported 400
 > confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, and 19 people
 > have died.
 > 
 > Most of Trump’s supporters are middle-aged and older,
 > with little or no savings to tide them over a recession. If the
 > double-barreled crisis deepens, they too are likely to flee to
 > safety next November.
 > 
 > Politics and economics are complex, but in times of crisis they
 > follow simple rules. Older people want safety. Younger people want
 > change. Everyone wants leaders they can trust.
 > 
 > Thanks for reading, 
 > 
 > Robert Reich
 > Inequality Media
 > 
 > P.S.
 > <https://inequalitymedia.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d8dff8da914c62f2bf56ec165&id=d99895b162&e=f5edfaf9da>
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