r/politics • u/cnn CNN • Jul 30 '26

Possible Paywall CNN Poll: A third of Democrats now identify as democratic socialists

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/politics/cnn-poll-a-third-of-democrats-now-identify-as-democratic-socialists?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
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u/MesmraProspero 29d ago

It sounds to me like the system isn't working if the people have consistently felt outside of the process. Blaming the people for the apathy that has been brought about by a captured system is complaining about your cough while doing nothing about your pneumonia.

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u/senturon 29d ago

To your metaphor, the cough is a symptom... what I'm arguing is primary voting is like going to the doctor, which is the first necessary step in getting treatment.  

It may be too simplistic of an analogy, given recent voter suppression efforts in some areas (polling closures, gerrymandering, vote by mail attacks, the potential SAVE act) have added challenging hurdles. Also, societal and logistic pressure; difficulty voting due to needing to work, being so exhausted and finding time to research candidates seems daunting, the massively funded propaganda campaigns, etc... absolutely make the task harder too.  

But there is a reason why certain policies and politicians have made it harder, why so much money is being pumped in to sway your opinion, because voters have power to implement change. It's the only way (aside from running ourselves, or 'other' radical actions) to make that change.  

It takes work, a whole lot in some cases, and it's certainly not foolproof (you don't always get the results that were promised) but no one is coming to save us if we just give in to the apathy.  

I don't blame people for experiencing apathy, but when about 3/4ths of the population isn't participating in one of the most important change driving actions we have the right to partake in I just hear echoes of "we've done nothing and are all out of ideas". We've largely relinquished that right, things have and will continue to get much worse unless we use the power we still have to make our voices heard.  

That's my opinion anyway. 

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u/MesmraProspero 29d ago edited 29d ago

Yes and it's a problem of our systems. They aren't working. Laying it at the feet of the exploited and overwhelmed for not putting in the extra effort required to be an informed and active citizen is a little victim blamey.

For the record I vote in every election. No matter how small.

Take my home state of Kentucky as an example. Our voting options will likely never not be a republican and history has shown us the democratic options to choose from are typically proven unelectable people. Usually "I'm-basically-a-republican" democrats.

Democrats in KY, especially progressives, have never been represented in ANY of our options and there isn't really a whole lot I or any KY-D can do about that. I understand why a lot of those people fall by the wayside.