"Lenin said that people vote with their feet. Well, that's what's happening. They either go, or they don't go. It's all politics. It's all demographics"

Warren Beatty’s reference to Lenin’s observation that “people vote with their feet” highlights the notion that actual choices and actions speak louder than rhetoric or stated opinions. When Beatty says, “They either go, or they don’t go,” he points to the idea that political will, societal trends, or even the success of a particular movement or institution can be measured not just by surveys or votes, but by whether people physically participate or withdraw. This could refer to numerous contexts, political rallies, migration, protests, or simply the decision to remain actively engaged within a society or disengage from it.

By saying, “It’s all politics. It’s all demographics,” Beatty emphasizes that underlying every act of participation or disengagement are two powerful forces: political realities and demographic shifts. Politics shapes the environment in which people decide, consciously or unconsciously, to support or reject certain structures. Demographics, age, ethnicity, economic status, education, location, both influence and are shaped by these political realities. Decisions about where to live, work, vote, or even which products to buy simultaneously reflect and shape the political landscape.

Beatty’s observation suggests that trends in attendance, participation, or migration are not isolated events but are deeply entwined with the larger political and demographic currents in society. “Voting with their feet” becomes a metaphor for the real, measurable consequences of policies and societal changes. When people move away from a region, decline to participate in elections, or simply disengage from communal activities, it reveals more about the health or dysfunction of a social order than opinion polls ever could.

Ultimately, Beatty collapses the boundary between the personal and the political, highlighting that individual choices are the sum of larger collective forces. The flow of people, whether physical movement or shifts in engagement, offers a concrete index of society’s true direction and underlying tensions.