• Communist
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    83 hours ago

    If you have a problem with this line of reasoning then your actual problem is first past the post voting.

    Abolish first past the post voting and you can finally actually vote for things you like, rather than against things you hate, but we’re stuck in first past the post voting, so, you must vote strategically.

    • @[email protected]
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      92 hours ago

      Just curious, do you really expect Republicans or democrats to support legislation to end their stranglehold on American politics?

      • Communist
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        2 hours ago

        “In 2023, 74 bills were introduced supporting ranked-choice voting and 57 of these bills had only Democrat sponsors. In fact, just eight percent of the total bills received bipartisan support.”

        No, but there’s one party that has shown support for it and one party that has attempted to outright ban it.

        It’s an easy choice.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 hours ago

        Dictatorships are a terrible place to live because the wealth of the nation doesn’t depend on the citizens. Illiterate slaves can dig-up a mine.

        Democracies on the other hand are better places to live not because the people are better, but because the wealth of the nation is dependend on the productivity of the citizens. That’s the only reason you have a highway to the hospital.

        Vote in the party you think will enact change, and protest / halt the economy until changes start happening. Right now politicians and corporations don’t care nobody is happy, it’s not affecting their bottom line. Id argue in recent years they accelerated their abuse because there are no consequences.

        The parties in place won’t do it themselves, the people need to do it

  • @[email protected]
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    74 hours ago

    I sure wish more of these people that are all hung up on an issue would vote in the primaries. You know, where you have at least a slim chance of changing things.

      • @[email protected]
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        13 minutes ago

        I look at the 2016 primaries, and the 2020 primaries, and I have little reason to expect people to suddenly show up for the primaries. They just show up to bitch about their lack of choice leading up to the election.

      • @[email protected]
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        33 hours ago

        It was Biden/Harris. He stepped down, but that doesn’t suddenly mean that she has to. And with the way the rules around succession and such are worded, especially campaign finance, she was the only choice. Because she was already the VP nominee.

        But most importantly, Biden stepped down for the good of the country, and Harris has stepped up.

  • @[email protected]
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    65 hours ago

    Every four fucking years of my entire voting lifetime is an influx of liberals that are so horny for voting between the lesser of two evil establishment shits that I want to jump off a cliff in Skyrim every time I have to read this type of divisive rhetoric that literally alienates real people with real concerns who would never support Trump. I wish Harris was as leftist as Trump makes her out to be but noooo “sMaLL bUsinEsEs” and “most LETHAL military” and “the bOrdER bill” and “Isntreal has a right to” suck my fucking glock.

    I want to go live with the fucking socialist Linux penguins in Antarctica.

    • @[email protected]
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      4 hours ago

      And every four fucking years of my entire voting lifetime is an influx of ignorant pseudo-intellectual blowhard nonsense about third parties that- similar to their devoted followers…. don’t do jack shit between elections.

      I want to go live with the fucking socialist Linux penguins in Antarctica.

      Please do.

        • @[email protected]
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          2 hours ago

          2000 Presidential Election, Florida

          GEORGE W. BUSH: 2,912,790 votes

          AL GORE: 2,912,253 votes

          RALPH GREEN PARTY NADER: 97,488 votes

          That’s where the Green Party gave us Bush, Cheney and the Neo-cons. Thanks for playing.

        • @[email protected]
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          3 hours ago

          Neat!

          Did you ask the person I responded to to show on your little doll where the liberals hurt them?

          Because in a perfect little make-believe socialist society, we’re ALL equal, right?

          So show that equality! Come on now. Don’t be shy. Be the change you want to see!!!

  • @[email protected]
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    8 hours ago

    This is exactly why we need ranked choice voting.

    Winner takes all essentially demoralizes and alienates voters and drives people who agree with each other to fight because they’re trapped in a broken system.

    So instead of fighting the system, it’s easier to just blame other people and alienate more of them against your cause, shooting yourself in the foot with ignorance. It’s kind of disgusting.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 hours ago

      How would we get ranked choice passed using the current two party system though? I can’t imagine politicians voting to give up power in that way.

    • @[email protected]
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      28 hours ago

      I’d settle for getting rid of the electoral college at this point. We could’ve had at least 4 years of Al Gore setting us on the right path to avoiding the worst of climate change yet here we are having to put up with a potentially third popular vote upset in recent history.

      • @[email protected]
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        47 hours ago

        Ranked choice is more plausible than removing the EC. Ranked choice already exists in some places and the Dems have a proposal (but are lacking the votes) to implement it for Congress.

        Removing the EC would require a constitutional amendment so 3/4 for the House and Senate and ratified by 3/4 of the states. Or maybe it’s 2/3 for some of those, but either way it needs bipartisan support and why would the GOP remove a system that got their guy elected twice this century?

        There is some kind of interstate compact thing to get around it, but making a huge change to elections via sneaky shenanigans won’t go over well at a time when a lot of doubts about election integrity have been widely promoted. Wrongly promoted, but still, doing sneaky things about elections is a real no-go right now.

      • @[email protected]
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        07 hours ago

        Why is it so common to blame the third party vote for democrats losing in 2016? It sounds like if the democrats would take an anti-war stance like the green party does, they would have won most of those votes too?

        Seems more appropriate to expect the party to reflect the population rather than the other way around.

  • @[email protected]
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    24 hours ago

    When you shit inside the skulls of your enemies, but they use that shit to form shitty opinions about life and politics :(

  • @Forester
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    258 hours ago

    I am a libertarian minarchist. Look it up before you form ideas.

    I don’t like Harris but I’d much rather have her over Trump. And that’s how I’ll vote.

    I strongly recommend everyone should research your local elections and vote for candidates that best represent your views and mindsets on a local level. The FPtP system makes third parties mostly unviable in influencing national policy.

    • ...m...
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      24 hours ago

      …i’m a progressive libertarian: the terms used represent something entirely different from the perversion of twenty-first-century political branding…

      …i’ve begrudgingly voted democratic in the past two election cycles only because i draw a hard line at open fascism; i’ll never forgive the republican party for forcing my hand and look forward to a future after they’ve imploded and i can resume voting for causes i support rather than the enemy of my enemy…

    • @[email protected]
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      67 hours ago

      I too will vote Harris, but I think it’s important to understand that voting out of fear is not going to fix our extremely broken two party system. Voting third party is not a vote for Trump, I think it’s often a vote born of a broken two party system.

      Despite knowing that I can’t bring myself to vote third party out of fear that I may not get another chance to vote if Trump takes power.

      • @[email protected]
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        107 hours ago

        That is the system though. Democracy isn’t really about getting what you want. That’s impossible under any system other than a dictatorship where you are the dictator. Parasocial psychology has lead a lot of people thinking that Trump getting what he wants is what they want. But that won’t work out well for anyone.

        Democracy is really about removing the worst people from power and preventing them from getting power in the first place. Over many years in something akin to natural selection you can have progress. But like evolution, it goes slowly.

        Voting third party isn’t a brave choice, it’s just a fantasy. Even in a proportional representation system, it’s still a fantasy, just you’d see maybe a few powerless people sitting in a legislature complaining on C-Span (which nobody will watch) instead of on social media.

        Politics is about power and compromise. Vote for a representative that has a reasonable chance of winning, and write to them to encourage them to compromise closer to your position on things. That’s actually effective, people that go on about a fantasy world where they just tick a box and whatever they want will happen are just being silly.

        • @[email protected]
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          23 hours ago

          Voting is the feedback part of the system. If people aren’t voting honestly, politicians will take the wrong feedback. For example, democrats thinking they should move to the center to reach more republicans, rather than moving the the left to reach more third party voters.

        • @[email protected]
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          15 hours ago

          I’ve written to many of my state and federal legislators over the span of 20+ years. it’s not effective. We need campaign finance before, we need to overturn citizens United, and we need to change our two party system.

          I understand your perspective but I disagree on some points.

      • @[email protected]
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        14 hours ago

        It literally exactly is a vote for trump. We have shown you morons the math a million times by now, you’re just being willfully resistant to acknowledging what you’re doing to endanger the republic.

        • @[email protected]
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          33 hours ago

          Is that based on the assumption third party voters would vote democrat otherwise? If I would either not vote or vote third party, how does my vote help trump?

          Maybe the democrats shouldnt count votes they don’t have?

          • @[email protected]
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            13 hours ago

            Because under FPTP no vote or a third party vote is identical to a vote for the opposing candidate.

            Maybe you should stop trying to justify being a fucking traitor.

        • @[email protected]
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          03 hours ago

          Settle down and re-read what I wrote. I’m not voting for Trump. I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say a third party is crucial for our Republic.

          • @[email protected]
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            -13 hours ago

            The math has been explained to you endlessly. You can’t escape voting for either Harris or Trump because you want to pretend you’re above it all and superior to us who have to live with the consequences of supposed good people like you standing there and doing nothing.

            • @[email protected]
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              12 hours ago

              I again think you need to settle down. I am not voting third party because I like you apparently will just view out of fear.

              That said, The math had not been explained to me so show it to me. post it for anyone who agrees with me. Show me the math.

              Next you’ve decided that I have some feeling of superiority. I don’t. I simply think the two party system has failed us and needs to change. People in power have a stake in keeping a two party system for their own benefit, and it infuriates me.

      • @Forester
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        37 hours ago

        The only way things change is if more people are informed and active. Do what you can to help implement ranked choice voting.

            • @[email protected]
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              12 hours ago

              Makes sense. There two party system is vehicular to the existing two parties. Why give a third option.

          • @Forester
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            24 hours ago

            Which is the exactly why you should be working to overturn such an undemocratic law.

            • @[email protected]
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              13 hours ago

              Agreed. I’ve voted in every election I’ve been able to for 20 years, and I try to have reasonable conversations about things like this with people on the other side of the aisle. It becomes a bit demoralizing and I’m a bit disillusioned.

  • @[email protected]
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    15 hours ago

    Can’t wait for Blue MAGA to win so they can go to brunch and not do any form of direct action or mutual aid for 4 years while the genocides continue, then shit on leftists for not voting hard enough at the next election.

      • @[email protected]
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        259 minutes ago

        Not every opinion you disagree with can just be dismissed as bots. The idea of blue MAGA is a perfectly legit criticism of the same dumbasses who months ago were screaming “VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO! BIDEN IS PERFECTLY MENTALLY COMPETENT AND THE GREATEST CANDIDATE TO EVER RUN, AND IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE, YOU’RE A CRYPTO-REPUBLICAN WHO REALLY WANTS TRUMP TO WIN!” whenever anyone expressed even the mildest criticism of the Democratic platform or reservations about Biden’s ability to win the election.

        Lemmy, particularly lemmy.world, is full of blue MAGA nonces who read a post saying, “I’ll hold my nose and vote for Harris, but I really wish she would change her stance on X” and reply, “Now isn’t the time for this divisive rhetoric, I can tell you’re a Russian shill who wants Trump to win.”

    • @[email protected]
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      “We woulda won if it wasnt for you stinky rotten leftists voting third party!”

      -Hilary Clinton (probably)

    • @[email protected]
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      14 hours ago

      Not sure what you expect them to do about the Chinese genocide against the Uyghers, or the ongoing Darfur genocide. That said, it would be nice if they did would at least try something.

      • @[email protected]
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        China is a bit confusing to me with religion. They officially are atheist, but permit nearly any religion as long as you don’t attempt to convert people, or replace Chinese architecture and symbolism with religious symbolism. Except for local mythology of course, although it was banned in past years and only recently promoted by the government. Most interesting thing I read recently is that minors aren’t allowed in religious buildings, presumably because they can’t decide for themselves yet, but I might not understand the nuance of that law.

        Thats all to say, I have no idea what’s the right move for religion moving forward, just in general. I generally think its a bad thing but that could be an American perspective.

        I also have no idea what should be done for the Uyghurs, and I’m not sure if I’m entirely convinced that limiting a cultures religion at all is by default cultural genocide.

        I know nothing about darfur though, though it sounds familiar.

    • @[email protected]
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      Right. Because we have all been so lucky to be in the receiving end of all the generous policies and the overwhelming selfless charity from those third party candidates!

      I for one am overflowing with love and blissful ass-kissery for all the work those candidates have done for everyone- every year in between the elections!!!

      Let me list all the things they’ve done for us all:

      1. ……

      Yaaaaaaaay!

  • @[email protected]
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    47 hours ago

    To convince Greens or Carlins (people who don’t vote because the Democrats are still too evil from their point-of-view) to vote for Democrats, you need to understand yourself and them. Once you do that, you’ll be able to offer more convincing arguments to support your position.

    If you’re voting for Democrats, you possibly agree with the following scale of evilness:

    • 10 Hitler
    • 9 Stalin
    • 8.5 Trump
    • 8 Republicans and people who vote for them
    • 7
    • 6
    • ~5-3 elected Democratic party members
    • 2
    • 1 you
    • 0 Jesus

    The thing is that Greens and Carlins see the world very differently:

    • 10 people making the biosphere unlivable thru overpopulation
    • 9 factory farmers and commercial fishing companies
    • 8
    • 7 Hitler, Stalin
    • 6
    • 5 George W. Bush, Putin
    • 4 Trump, Republicans, and people who vote for them
    • 3 Gore, Obama, Democrats, and people who vote for them
    • 2
    • 1 Sanders
    • 0
    • -1
    • -2
    • -3
    • -4
    • -5
    • -6
    • -7 them
    • -8
    • -9
    • -10

    The Greens’ and Carlins’ priorities are very different. They may think that choosing to make the biosphere unlivable is the worst thing you can do, because without a biosphere that supports life, nothing else matters.

    They may think that torturing trillions of fish to death every year, and enslaving hundreds of billions of animals in torturous conditions every year, is worse than all genocides and wars in all of history combined. They think that supporting even a single genocide is bad.

    They may think that given the choice between popular Hitler, popular Stalin, and unpopular Gandhi; they’d rather vote for Gandhi than the popular lesser evil, because that specific evil is omnicidally evil. It’s better to vote for good and fail, than it is to vote for evil and succeed.

    • @[email protected]
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      37 hours ago

      For me its even simpler though. All of these logical shenanigans are the circular energy that fuels the myth around the unchangeable two party system. If people simply voted for the candidate based on their values and policy, literally everyone to a T, it would shatter the two party system into fragments, and we would have to do something to accommodate them.

      Thats at least my theory, although I still voted Harris because in my case my vote is in a place that matters. I would say I’m about half and half happy and upset about it but thats the best I could manage with the circumstances.

      I do think momentum is building though if we can continue it through the coming years.

          • @[email protected]
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            56 hours ago

            Yeah. Every election in the US. Everybody can vote for whoever they want. And when people vote for someone that isn’t one of the majority parties we get George W Bush instead of Al Gore.

            If just 1% of Nader’s voters had voted for Gore instead imagine how much better our would would be.

      • @[email protected]
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        25 hours ago

        No it wouldn’t, the two largest parties from that first vote would eventually consume everything else and then we’d be right back where we started.

        Unless you intend to abolish FPTP, arguing your intention to vote third party is mathematically the same as arguing your intention to vote for the 2 party candidate who is least like you.

        • @[email protected]
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          03 hours ago

          You do know a vote is worth more than just the tally it adds to your candidate right? A vote not changing the result of an election is not the same as not having an effect on politics.

          • @[email protected]
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            13 hours ago

            No, it literally is the tally. Under FPTP it is entirely just the tally.

            This math has been explained endlessly, trying to escape the proven math doesn’t make you some believer in higher ideals and callings, it makes you complicit in the destruction of the republic.

            • @[email protected]
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              03 hours ago

              Well claiming proven math just isnt the slam dunk you think it is unfortunately. But you are allowed your perspective, I just disagree with it.

              • @[email protected]
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                13 hours ago

                The math doesn’t care about your traitor perspective.

                Defend the republic or be counted with the fascists who destroyed it.

                • @[email protected]
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                  12 hours ago

                  How many people do you think who you’ve called a traitor are actually going to agree with your position for it? Its eerie how similar that rhetoric is to the republicans right now.

  • @[email protected]
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    4913 hours ago

    This is the most horrible way to convince people to vote with you. I, personally, would tell you to go fuck yourself if I weren’t already voting for Harris. Please stop that. You need to convince people why they should vote for your candidate by showing them the difference, not this “or else” bullshit. and if they are not convinced, you let it go. People are free with their damn votes.

    • @[email protected]
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      8 hours ago

      Trump’s track record and intentions for his next term are crystal clear. They are clearly and demonstrably worse than harris’plans or Biden/harris’ previous term.

      That info is widely available. To ignore it now, and claim to need “convincing” is madness at best, or bad faith at worst.

    • @[email protected]
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      -312 hours ago

      “Or else” isn’t bullshit when it comes from the perspective of anyone who actually has something to lose if Trump wins.

      Everyone who is on the fence or doesn’t feel like they need to vote are just speaking from positions of privilege because they don’t personally have as much on the line. I just find it hard to sympathize with that perspective.

      • @[email protected]
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        33 hours ago

        It’s actually sad that you would talk about privilege. That may apply to some people. What if for example your cousin is living in Palestine? What then? What privilege do you have? If you vote for Harris, you’re guaranteed more of the same.

        The privilege that you have is that you don’t have family members dying from policies that Harris endorses. And I think Trump would be even worse, so there’s a practical argument that people should vote for Harris anyway, but that’s a tough sell if it’s your immediate family or your best friends who are in the literal crosshairs.

      • @[email protected]
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        1112 hours ago

        But the same thing can be said for the people ignoring the faults of Kamala…

        Especially when they’re just begging for an end of genocide, or fracking destroying their communities, or any other of multitude issues where Kamala and Trump have the same policies even though the majority of the Dem voting base disagrees with them.

        It seems odd to act like the “high road” is the one where genocide is ok, when we could just have someone who was anti-genocide…

        There’s fall less people willing to hold their noses to vote for genocide and fracking than the other way around. And very few people who are only voting for Kamala because her border, genocide, and fracking policies are the same as Trump’s.

        The people that want that are still voting trump, if they told you that it would change your mind…

        I hate to break it to you, but they lie about this shit all the time so even if they lose they win.

          • @[email protected]
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            He doesn’t, neither does Kamala…

            So why get mad at someone who’s line isnt the same place as yours?

            You can tell at them to throw their morals out the window, or unite with them and demand just a little more than the bare minimum you would accept

            Why is no one allowed to ask for anything more than your bare minimum? And why would you risk trump to not help get more?

            I don’t logically understand your position, I understand what it is, just not why it’s your position.

            Can you elaborate on how this:

            just speaking from positions of privilege because they don’t personally have as much on the line. I just find it hard to sympathize with that perspective.

            Isn’t applicable to you wanting people to ignore genocide? In some cases where it’s literally their close family over there as the victims?

            • @[email protected]
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              112 hours ago

              He doesn’t, neither does Kamala…

              Then why even have this argument?

              How about we swing this double edged sword the other way? Why try to alienate women who lost their rights with the overturning of Roe v. Wade because of Trump’s supreme court appointments? Or what about every LGBTQ+ person in the US who is trapped at the edge of their seats because members of the supreme court have stated they’d like to revisit Obergefell v. Hodges, too?

              How about all of the kids who are shot to death at school because of unchecked gun proliferation that Trump’s party has blocked attempts to regulate? Or people who are drowning to death in medical and student debt that Trump blocked attempts to solve, while he just has a “concept of a plan” that no one is able to describe?

              Or maybe we can look at his previous presidency, when his hateful rhetoric caused sharp rises in hate speech and crimes committed against people of color and the socially vulnerable? The rise in white supremacist/domestic terrorist groups? The election denialism that resulted in January 6? The complete and utter failure to properly manage the Covid-19 pandemic that led to the preventable deaths of millions?

              The threat of fascism literally looming over our heads and being told none of that matters because Kamala is no different from Trump in my specific hand-picked list of issues, that’s what I take issue with.

              If someone is not willing to do the bare minimum to keep him out of power because they don’t see a reason to vote for Kamala, I have a long list of less-kind words I’d love to say if I didn’t believe in trying to maintain civility online.

              • @[email protected]
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                812 hours ago

                Then why even have this argument?

                Because if instead of spending time and effort trying to convince voters to lower their morals…

                We’d be better off uniting to hold Kamala to a higher standard, because then we’d stop trump, and get more of what we want.

                I’m not sure what’s confusing about this.

                • @[email protected]
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                  -212 hours ago

                  Goodness you are a speed reader, replying within 2 minutes and acknowledging the very first sentence I wrote.

                  I am literally holding Kamala to a higher standard. Everything I wrote is the standard that anyone with half a braincell and respect for their fellow man should understand. Anyone who does not is not worth being pandered to.

  • @[email protected]
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    79 hours ago

    Posters like this always assume that their candidate is the other option if the person doesn’t abstain or vote 3rd party.

  • @[email protected]
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    If you vote for Republicans or Democrats, you’re supporting the same duopoly that got us to this point. If you’re terrified of Project 2025, keep in mind the Republicans will eventually win again, even if not this election.

    If you’re not in a battleground state, the easiest longterm solution is to vote 3rd party. This is the tactical decision to gather support and break the duopoly, without increasing Republican win chance since your vote won’t affect the election

        • @[email protected]
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          23 hours ago

          Basically, the guy is saying that if you throw away your vote hard enough, something will change. Somehow.

          Kind of light on the details there.

          Also light on understanding of basic reality. Durverger’s law and such.

          • @[email protected]
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            12 hours ago

            The out come of this election will either be republican or Democrat, but that doesnt mean a massive third party vote wouldnt force Democrats left, or break the party apart. Hell kamala could win and still have every democrat in a republican state vote third party.

            We want trump to lose and for the democrats to wake the fuck up. Shutting down conversations like these is what keeps the democrats in the center.

          • @[email protected]
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            23 hours ago

            Pft! Says the guy who plays the game where there are at least THREE deities of worship. Sounds a lot like third party voting to me! Vote for Guthix! Make OSRS great again!

  • BarqsHasBite
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    Abstaining or voting 3rd party to “make Dems listen” doesn’t work. If anyone thinks they can play Mexican Standoff, you can’t because the Dems have an out: the center voter. Every time they lose, they go to the center to find voters.

    And remember they need all 3 of presidency, house of representatives, and senate to pass pretty much anything. If they don’t have all 3 they will go to the center to find voters. Some people call this rachet effect, but really they’re looking for voters. Want them to stop ‘racheting’? Then give them consistent and overwhelming victories.

    • @[email protected]
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      37 hours ago

      I live in a red state, and the Democratic Party cannot even get enough warm bodies to ruin for every office here. The Libertarians do better with their candidates than the Democrats.

    • Karyoplasma
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      914 hours ago

      I’ve thought about that recently.

      In Germany, the 2 historically biggest parties were SPD (used to be liberal-democrat) and CDU (conservative) and they often were the ones tugging it out while the smaller parties were filling in as coalition partners for one or the other.

      Over time, the SPD splintered into several semi-big offshoot parties (Linke, for example) while the CDU stayed as a whole. As a result, CDU is now commonly a favorite for getting most votes in an election.

      Is that consistent with politics across the globe? And if, why do liberal or center parties tend to split up more than conservatives?

      • @[email protected]
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        7 hours ago

        Counterexample: The European Parliament. IMHO, it looks like 4 right-wing groups, 2 left-wing ones and 2 centrist ones. While the exact positioning could be argued over, the right wing is quite certainly more fragmented than the left is.

      • @[email protected]
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        2814 hours ago

        Because conservatives gravitate towards authority, and progressives are looking to break the status quo.

        So conservatives value order, authority, and it causes them to fall in line.

        Progressives are looking to break that order, believing that things can be better than they are right now. That causes them to infight more often.

      • BarqsHasBite
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        11 hours ago

        I commonly hear the left is a loose coalition of factions (which can split apart), while the right fall in line. I think there are fewer factions on the right, or the factions are not as far apart, so coming together is easier. They also unite in absolute hatred of the left, so will fall in line to slay that beast.

      • @[email protected]
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        1012 hours ago

        This is an incorrect framing of the situation. You aren’t being asked for a Yes/No vote on Democrats. You are being asked if you prefer Democrats or Republicans. Or for this election, if you prefer Democracy or Fascism. If you vote “no preference”, that does not communicate “I prefer the Democrats, but want them to move further left”, either logically or politically.

        There are lots of ways to communicate desired policy changes: letter-writing, primaries (including campaigning/funding for candidates), protests, marches, press, social-media, etc. Voting against your interest is not one of them.

      • BarqsHasBite
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        12 hours ago

        Dems need all 3 (presidency, house of reps, Senate) to do pretty much anything. They’ve had that for [drumroll please] 4 out of the last 24 years. Or 6 of the last 32 years. Or 6 of the last 44 fucking years.

        • @[email protected]
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          1311 hours ago

          They’ve had that for [drumroll please] 4 out of the last 24 years

          It was significantly shorter than that when you consider Senate control to be 60, which is what’s needed to bypass the fillibuster.

          • BarqsHasBite
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            10 hours ago

            Supermajority was 4 months, out of the last 44 years. But whenever I mention that people think I’m fixated on that for some reason.

            *Oh downvoted already. Some people really don’t like hearing this.

              • BarqsHasBite
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                3 hours ago

                I’m not crying, I’m laughing how certain people downvote because they don’t like hearing facts.

        • @[email protected]
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          012 hours ago

          Democrats move further right to get votes from the center but when they win it’ll go left trust me bro

          • BarqsHasBite
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            12 hours ago

            They go to the center when they lose. If they don’t lose, they don’t need to go to the center to find voters. You can see my other comment, they’ve only had all 3 houses for 4 out of the last 24 years.

            • @[email protected]
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              -1311 hours ago

              It’s the left’s fault for not feeling motivated to vote for a center-right party, they’ll become even more right if we don’t vote for them. Progressive candidates are dumb and unpopular.

              • @[email protected]
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                8 hours ago

                So stay home/throw away your vote, I’m sure they’ll realize their mistake and go to the left any decade now to chase those reliable voters.

              • BarqsHasBite
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                611 hours ago

                I honestly don’t know what point you’re trying to get at. In any case, if the left wants to be effective, they have to vote for Dems. Because, again, when they lose they go to the center to find voters.

                • @[email protected]
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                  -210 hours ago

                  seems like if the left wants to be effective at this point it has to go far beyond voting

    • @[email protected]
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      14 hours ago

      And remember they need all 3 of presidency, house of representatives, and senate to pass pretty much anything

      The odds of Democrats keeping the Senate seem dismal. So it sounds like we’re giving the party license to do nothing for another two years

      • BarqsHasBite
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        614 hours ago

        I like how you twist that to “party license”. If the people voters vote that way, that is the will of the people voters. Don’t like it? Vote. For Dems. (Though the GOP bear some responsibility being obstructionist pos.)

        • @[email protected]
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          1714 hours ago

          If the people voters vote that way, that is the will of the people voters.

          Sorry 50M Californians, but 40k West Virginians decided to go a different way. Guess this means no civil rights for another two years.

          • @[email protected]
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            39 hours ago

            So give up? Yea, it fucking sucks and is unfair as hell but voting is too easy to claim a lack motivation. It’s not a sustained effort, it’s something happens incredibly rarely and you can definitely handle. You can even mail that shit in in most places.

            If you vote then it will be hard for the democrats to win and start shifting your countries policies to leftward(even if it’s an inch at a time). If you don’t vote then it will be impossible to do it.

          • BarqsHasBite
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            13 hours ago

            This is aimed at those people that think not voting or voting 3rd party is effective to “make Dems listen”. It is not. Voters have a say.

    • @[email protected]
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      -39 hours ago

      And in their trips to the centre they keep seeming to forget that they keep shifting further and further right

      Centrists are a curse here

      • BarqsHasBite
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        6 hours ago

        They. Are. Looking. For. Voters.

        If the people voters want more right, then that’s the will of the people voters. Thus the message: If you, as a leftist, want them to go left then you have to vote for Dems.

        • NoIWontPickAName
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          25 hours ago

          See you have this backwards, they are supposed to change and then they are rewarded with votes.

          If you vote them in before they change, they have no reason to change.

          • BarqsHasBite
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            We can go through the whole history if you want. Every time the Dems go left, they lose. Every single time. So they go to the center to find voters. Then certain people whine “Why are they going center!!! We won’t vote for them!!! Rachet!!” That’s when I say playing Mexican Standoff won’t work. Because they have an out and you don’t. If you want them to stop going center, they have to win first. Because, again, when they lose they go to the center to find voters.

  • @[email protected]
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    4515 hours ago

    Not an American, but yikes does this have “Vote with us… Or else!” vibes.

    That’s not to say I support Trump, but I personally don’t think this is the way to convince fence-sitters at all.

    • @[email protected]
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      67 hours ago

      It’s exactly the kind of thing that feels good to say, but doesn’t convince anyone at all. Which is why Republicans keep winning despite ideas that should be extremely unpopular. They tie themselves to emotions about masculinity and patriotism and paint the other side as a source of disgust and fear. While Democrats look at people who support or don’t seem eager to stop Trump and say angry things at them, which just makes them not want to help Demcorats.

      The “I’m voting, are you?” argument featuring nutty alt-right Maga crazies is far better because it says “hey, you can help stop this nutjob.”

    • @[email protected]
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      2414 hours ago

      And it’s crazy how normal Americans think this two party system is. It’s like no matter how bad you think your guy is, you have to vote for them because the other side is worse. They always talk about the Labour Party and the Tories as if they think they’re carbon copies of the Democrats and the Republicans and project all their issues into them. They don’t seem to realise there’s like five or six other parties that get a considerable number of votes and have representation in Parliament.

      • @[email protected]
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        1011 hours ago

        It is normal in FPTP voting systems. If you are going to vote in a national election in a FPTP system. Especially one with our electoral college system. But aren’t looking to explicitly throw your vote away. And you aren’t okay with open fascists winning. When things are this close. Yeah there really is no conscionable choice. Unless you happen to live in a state so safe your vote truly could never matter. Like california. Which even that would be unwise. And is especially at a place for anyone from there to tell people elsewhere how to vote. Since they don’t have the same privilege.

    • Bibliotectress
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      1113 hours ago

      But it’s literally how it works in the USA with voting. It shouldn’t, but it DOES.

    • @[email protected]
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      1013 hours ago

      I mean, yeah? Have you looked around? The or else is getting pretty bad.

      Also I want to keep adding it’s not just Trump, he’s just a pawn. This is Republicans, not Trump. If row did anything hopefully it opened up some eyes to realize they have been on message for a long damn time. Dems should take note.

      • @[email protected]
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        12 hours ago

        The American neoliberal experiment started in 1992 when Bill Clinton was president…

        The prior (edit: Dem, obviously) president was Jimmy Fuckin Carter…

        How do you think the Overton Window has moved since Carter?

        We can’t afford to keep going with a strategy that clearly hasn’t worked for 30+ years…

    • @[email protected]
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      1015 hours ago

      you are 100% correct, and I’m glad to see you speaking up here as well.

      these kind of posts are disgusting pablum and should be discouraged.

      • sunzu2
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        -314 hours ago

        Low afford manipulation. Any adult person within shred of constitution can see through it.

    • @[email protected]
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      The really bad part is when you see how they react when people point out Kamala moving to the left would guarantee trump loses…

      Moderates have been doing this since Bill Clinton 30+ years ago.

      They always claim nothing else matters but beating Republicans, and use any excuse to move the party right. When voters complain the politician doesn’t match the party, we get the above.

      They’d rather trump win then progressives, so they point a gun at everyone’s head and say it’s our fault if they have to pull the trigger.

      Hell, in 08 with Obama they did pull the trigger. PUMA movement had them voting R instead of Obama. It’s just despite controlling the party, they are a statistically insignificant amount of voters.

      A few months ago all these people called us trump supporters for making the (still true) statement that Kamala has a better chance than Biden, and they were all saying Kamala would be a terrible candidate and only Biden can win.

      They’ll say anything in the moment with no regards to what just came out of their mouths.

    • @[email protected]
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      314 hours ago

      Entirely agree. The people responsible for trump getting votes are the people voting for Trump.

      Tactical voting is bullshit of the highest order and the undeniable sign of a fucked up political and voting system, not some sort of political astuteness.

      If your voting system can’t allow people to express their true choice, you should throw it away. Yes, that means the majority of voting systems around the world are bad and need to be changed. Getting people to recognise that this is even an issue in the first place is a huge battle.

      • @[email protected]
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        713 hours ago

        Yes first past the post elections are fucked, but that’s still the system we have and the one you have to operate under. If you refuse to vote against hitler because you don’t like the voting system, you still refuse to vote against hitler.

      • @[email protected]
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        613 hours ago

        Only one party has implemented ranked choice while the other has fought against it. That would be a great first start.

        • @[email protected]
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          212 hours ago

          That’s not quite the case. Ranked choice voting is resisted by whichever party has a comfortable majority in any given state where it is on the ballot. That’s why it failed when it was on the ballot in Massachusetts during the previous presidential election, because it is a reliably blue state and ranked choice voting would only serve to disrupt that status quo.

          I still voted in favor of it, but that’s how it went down.

    • hopesdead
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      414 hours ago

      I’m not speaking from a place of facts, but I think the sentiment is if you don’t purposefully vote for someone within the two-party system that isn’t Trump, your vote will mathematically be a negative towards votes against Trump.

      Not voting/third-party vote = one less vote against Trump/more possible votes for Trump

    • @[email protected]
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      -114 hours ago

      The “or else” is you will be remembered as the Trump supporter that you are. That’s not a threat.

    • @[email protected]
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      -614 hours ago

      Yes, I understand the sentiment. But the tone is off. Sounding like fascists or Marxist Leninist should be the last thing anyone should be aiming for.