I honestly don't care if Bernie Sanders didn't vote until his '30s (if that is the case). I reject the implication that if someone doesn't vote early in life, this somehow disqualifies them from civic or political engagement later in life. What kind of message does that send?
We want MORE people voting and MORE people getting engaged in local politics and MORE people giving a damn about governing overall, and it doesn't help us to make that happen when we shame folks because they didn't register to vote the day they turned 18.
I also don't think it's appropriate or helpful to shame people who may have been conservative earlier in life. Like... what are we doing with that? So, someone has evolved and put their heart and soul into progressive advocacy, and you're saying they can't sit with us? Go away.
Seriously, if your idea of a movement is that folks are only allowed into it if their consciousness and voter registration have been "pure" from the get-go, I got news for you: take that shitty gatekeeping elsewhere. We don't want you here.
