Y’all need to fucking vote blue in every election to stop this shit. No third party shit, no “both sides,” no “my vote doesn’t matter.” If you actually want to stop this kind of stuff, you have to vote for democrats in every election.
This includes primaries. If the left isn’t radical enough for you, you can change that within the primaries. It’s wild how many complaints about the Dems come from people who only vote in presidential election years.
I think it’s a mix of things. I agree a lot of people don’t participate in the primaries and they really should, but I’d also stress the importance of elevating the quality of the candidates we have. I don’t believe any of the primary candidates right now have any idea what it’s like to live in the USA as an “average” person. For starters, the average age of US citizens is 39, but the average age of the 3 current candidates is 74, with each of them being a minimum of 30 years older than the average American. I am not trying to promote ageism in any way, but I would really prefer if we had leadership that was less removed time-wise. I just don’t personally believe that someone at 70 or 80 has any reasonable idea what it’s like to be an American in the 30-40 age range right now – their experiences with that age come from a time prior to the advent of cellular telephones, social media, personal computing technology, etc.
On top of that, even if you look past the age gap, the choices we have so far really don’t instill great confidence.
RFK Jr is an admitted openly vocal anti-vax believer and also a vocal science denier (he still promotes belief in the link between vaccines and autism which has been systemically dis-proven), neither of which are popular positions to the left and will likely cost him votes. Biden has a low approval rating and a lot of Democrat voters don’t see him as a strong or effectual president, but he’s likely to get the nomination because he previously beat Trump and seems to be the defacto “if you’re voting against Trump instead of voting for someone, vote for him” nominee. Marianne Williamson is at least a fresh, non-dynastic face in the political race with a reasonable track record as an independent, but because she’d been an independent until 2019 and because she’s female there’s a subsection of voters who will adamantly refuse to vote for her regardless of her political stance, making her unlikely to win the nomination over Biden.
I really hope that we start to see greater candidate diversity in the future and I agree that it starts with showing up to vote, I just wish we had candidates that felt more representative of the party ideals and also of our overall population than what we’re getting now.
This goes back to not voting in every election. Groups that invest (money, time, votes) on local races (city council, school board) have a greater variety to pick when one of these people goes on to higher office (state-level, county-level) and then goes on to federal office.
The primaries are already too late - it’s all about the local races.
I tried this because of all the calls to focus on local elections, but I found that in my area there werent any dems running for office. The choice was between “Republican party of Trump” and “Republican party of Reagan,” and in one position there was only one person running unopposed, so I didn’t bother.
I’m UK but we are similar with local elections, my mates seat in district council was conservative (our center right) for ever, so much so the candidate in last 2 election (8years) was uncontested and so just as a protest he decided to run as a labour (center left) in the last election. His local party paid him lip service but really only access to a printer and a few materials and a tiny spot on a blogwebpage. He never thought he would get in. He just wanted to be a protest so people didn’t have to either tick con or not vote
But as he talked to people on doorstop he found more and more unsatisfied with conservatives.byhen come election day he got 60% of the vote, support for the con has collapsed. He now has found himself going ot district council meetings and in a coalition of power as the council swung to lib-lab-green as many other seats had similar results.
I’m sure people like Bloomberg or Rick Caruso are very happy with this ruling. It cements more power into the elite and legacy admissions.
Democrats are a big party - Republicans can get away with voting for whatever R exists while Dems have to constantly fight and filter out billionaire bullshit artists.
Because that’s how republicans are recorded to vote republican every time, so realistically other choices are just splitting the votes and leaving the republican votes strong.
For the forseeable future unless the republican base breaks they win elections where others try to vote on third party. Because they’re voting purely for party and just assuming party is looking out for them.
It happened because the Left chose to vote their individual conscience, including abstaining from voting for imperfect candidates, as if Politics was a negotiation rather than a winner-takes-all race. Biden was not my first choice, but he’s a fuck ton better than what Trump would have done in a second term. The Clintons are unabashed globalists, but still a fuck ton better than what Trump did in his first term.
Not just follow that down the line to Senators, House Reps, State Governors, State Reps, County boards, School boards, Sheriff - you name it. There are zero points for second place and liberals vote as if they will change the Democrats by withholding their support for candidates they don’t agree with. Boo fucking hoo. Hold your nose and vote for the team that’s the closest, because a non-vote is equal to half a vote for the opposite side (insert baseball half-game lead/trailing description here).
Y’all need to fucking vote blue in every election to stop this shit. No third party shit, no “both sides,” no “my vote doesn’t matter.” If you actually want to stop this kind of stuff, you have to vote for democrats in every election.
This includes primaries. If the left isn’t radical enough for you, you can change that within the primaries. It’s wild how many complaints about the Dems come from people who only vote in presidential election years.
some states don’t have primaries; they have caucuses. which means you get to spend an entire day in a room with a bunch of other people arguing.
if you’re conflict avoidant, that’s the equivalent of a root canal without anesthesia.
I think it’s a mix of things. I agree a lot of people don’t participate in the primaries and they really should, but I’d also stress the importance of elevating the quality of the candidates we have. I don’t believe any of the primary candidates right now have any idea what it’s like to live in the USA as an “average” person. For starters, the average age of US citizens is 39, but the average age of the 3 current candidates is 74, with each of them being a minimum of 30 years older than the average American. I am not trying to promote ageism in any way, but I would really prefer if we had leadership that was less removed time-wise. I just don’t personally believe that someone at 70 or 80 has any reasonable idea what it’s like to be an American in the 30-40 age range right now – their experiences with that age come from a time prior to the advent of cellular telephones, social media, personal computing technology, etc.
On top of that, even if you look past the age gap, the choices we have so far really don’t instill great confidence.
RFK Jr is an admitted openly vocal anti-vax believer and also a vocal science denier (he still promotes belief in the link between vaccines and autism which has been systemically dis-proven), neither of which are popular positions to the left and will likely cost him votes. Biden has a low approval rating and a lot of Democrat voters don’t see him as a strong or effectual president, but he’s likely to get the nomination because he previously beat Trump and seems to be the defacto “if you’re voting against Trump instead of voting for someone, vote for him” nominee. Marianne Williamson is at least a fresh, non-dynastic face in the political race with a reasonable track record as an independent, but because she’d been an independent until 2019 and because she’s female there’s a subsection of voters who will adamantly refuse to vote for her regardless of her political stance, making her unlikely to win the nomination over Biden.
I really hope that we start to see greater candidate diversity in the future and I agree that it starts with showing up to vote, I just wish we had candidates that felt more representative of the party ideals and also of our overall population than what we’re getting now.
The difference is: what can you hope for vs. what can you actively do.
This goes back to not voting in every election. Groups that invest (money, time, votes) on local races (city council, school board) have a greater variety to pick when one of these people goes on to higher office (state-level, county-level) and then goes on to federal office.
The primaries are already too late - it’s all about the local races.
This is a very valid point – elections don’t stop at the primaries either!
and local elections. take a cue from the wingnut playbook where they’ve taken over school boards, for example, and push 'em further left.
I tried this because of all the calls to focus on local elections, but I found that in my area there werent any dems running for office. The choice was between “Republican party of Trump” and “Republican party of Reagan,” and in one position there was only one person running unopposed, so I didn’t bother.
I’m UK but we are similar with local elections, my mates seat in district council was conservative (our center right) for ever, so much so the candidate in last 2 election (8years) was uncontested and so just as a protest he decided to run as a labour (center left) in the last election. His local party paid him lip service but really only access to a printer and a few materials and a tiny spot on a blogwebpage. He never thought he would get in. He just wanted to be a protest so people didn’t have to either tick con or not vote
But as he talked to people on doorstop he found more and more unsatisfied with conservatives.byhen come election day he got 60% of the vote, support for the con has collapsed. He now has found himself going ot district council meetings and in a coalition of power as the council swung to lib-lab-green as many other seats had similar results.
I’m sure people like Bloomberg or Rick Caruso are very happy with this ruling. It cements more power into the elite and legacy admissions.
Democrats are a big party - Republicans can get away with voting for whatever R exists while Dems have to constantly fight and filter out billionaire bullshit artists.
voting blue because that’s the only option — what? why? how did this happen?
Because that’s how republicans are recorded to vote republican every time, so realistically other choices are just splitting the votes and leaving the republican votes strong.
For the forseeable future unless the republican base breaks they win elections where others try to vote on third party. Because they’re voting purely for party and just assuming party is looking out for them.
The damage caused by the christion nationalist takeover of the supreme court will take literally generations to undo, if it ever can be undone.
It wasn’t just the Supreme Court. To your point.
If you want to keep civil rights, women’s rights, worker’s rights, climate change actions, etc. then, yes. Maybe you’re just a fascist though.
i’m right there with you. my concern is that democracy is dying or is long dead.
It happened because the Left chose to vote their individual conscience, including abstaining from voting for imperfect candidates, as if Politics was a negotiation rather than a winner-takes-all race. Biden was not my first choice, but he’s a fuck ton better than what Trump would have done in a second term. The Clintons are unabashed globalists, but still a fuck ton better than what Trump did in his first term.
Not just follow that down the line to Senators, House Reps, State Governors, State Reps, County boards, School boards, Sheriff - you name it. There are zero points for second place and liberals vote as if they will change the Democrats by withholding their support for candidates they don’t agree with. Boo fucking hoo. Hold your nose and vote for the team that’s the closest, because a non-vote is equal to half a vote for the opposite side (insert baseball half-game lead/trailing description here).
Sheriffs and school boards.