Some of us are actually not Democrats or Republicans because we really think both sides are bad in different ways. I still voted though.
this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2024
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It's still worth it to register for one of the major parties to vote in their primary and push them towards your actual politics. For example, I wouldn't consider myself "a Democrat", but I am registered to the party and I vote as progressive as I can in primaries.
But then you don't get to brag about your enlightened centrism.
And some of us who are that way understand that in FPTP there can only be a winner from one of the major parties and we are choosing who we want to fight to push for changes.
I always vote for who I perceive as the lesser evil of the two. This year is no different. I'm not excited about what either candidate wants to fight for. I will oppose whoever is elected on multiple fronts.
The November elections are damage control. Unfortunately they always have been.
Looking to shut up those people complaining about both sides from the sidelines? Put them in the game by passing electoral reform in your state.
Since they seem to know it all, let them show us how it's done by replacing First-past-the-post voting, passing equal access and airtime laws, and switching away from a perpetual election cycle to something shorter and more reasonable.
Get them to prove to us they know how to do things by making third parties viable and doing away with the infamous spoiler effect that is inherent with FPTP voting.
More people involved in the poltical process, more people voting, more people voting = more democratic votes, more chances to defeat the republicans, more people to call out bullshit on the debate stage, no more canceled debates because of giant man babies.
Electoral reform is just win after win for the American people. I know the election season has people exhausted, but things don't have to be this way. We can be free.
I voted, that should be enough, same as anyone.
Also, both sides are bad, in different ways.
highest voter turnout in history
nailbiter race between fascists and liberals
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I think both Dems and Republicans suck in very different and not proportionate ways, but I am also a very big proponent of voting. Go vote! It's your duty.
I find OP's post functionally defeatest. It hinges on this theory that there really is only one choice every election season. You must vote Democrat - whether it's Sherrod Brown or Eric Adams - and you can never question how these officials behave during an election season.
The Dems don't have any real duty towards their voters, or even an obligation to do a particularly good job of governing. They can just point at Republicans, say "Worse! Vote for us or that's who you get", then blast people with anxiety-inducing advertisement until folks panic.
The end result of this system is one in which Dems win by maximizing anxiety, rather than improving quality of life for anyone.
There are vastly larger numbers of choices in local and legislative races. And I encourage people to work hard to more variety in local and legislative races to push your values instead of only checking in every 4 years. The primary is the key time to push for who you want as the candidate.
During the actual election though, with FPTP, it unfortunately is that reductive. You are stuck choosing who is the lesser evil or who you want to push for change. The November presidential election is like public transportation. You may not like the conditions of the train or the exact destination the bus ends up at, but you take the bus that gets you closer to your destination.
I don't disagree with you.
I find that the thing people need to remember is that the general election is purely damage control time. For actual change, and getting candidates that don't suck, the work needs to already be done by the time the election rolls around.
Politics is marketing. Governing is the slow boring of hard boards. You only get there with dilligence, conviction, and commitment to the idea that you are planting the trees that will shade your grandchildren.
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If third parties wanted to actually do some good in the country, you'd see them running locally and encouraging either ranked-choice voting or STAR voting (Score, then automatic runoff).
Third parties run at all levels of government and they would actually benefit from eliminating first past the post polling far more than the major parties.
The bitter fact is that a winning candidate has no incentive to reform the voting system that put them in power.
Why would a dominant party want to give any competitor an advantage?
Because they care about maintaining their voters far more than enticing non-voters. If you listen to legislators and their staff for example, the way they perceive it is that non-voters may as well not exist in their minds, but eroding voters get attention.
The fact that you only ever hear of third parties every four years really illustrates what their true objectives are.
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Yup, they know they’re outnumbered so they try every trick in the book to stop the Democrat bloc surplus from voting.
The destruction of the republican party via increased voter and representation rights represents the single greatest possible "progressive" leftward shift of the US political window. Emphasis on "possible". Conservatives are a minority party and their extreme views do not represent modern America.
The road to a more progressive, equitable future is through the democrats. It doesn't end there.
Republicans winning offices means more long lasting legislation to clear, more conservative judicial appointments, etc.
Teaching THIS (2024) democratic party a lesson is worthless if it comes with 30+ years of conservative judicial backsliding.
With election reform we don't need for the Republican party to stop existing to get more viable options in the voting booth.
Very true, my point is the current republican party is trumped up by systemic inertia. They are a minority position.
Teaching THIS (2024) democratic party a lesson is worthless if it comes with 30+ years of conservative judicial backsliding.
And on top of that, when has "teaching the party a lesson" actually worked out in the peoples' favor?
It hasn't ever. Always vote for the lesser evil, it's less evil.
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Find your polling location. Go vote!
Your ballot will be deciding much more than just the president. Even if you did theoretically think both presidential canidates were equal in all regards (they aren't), then vote for the down ballot races!
Keep your local school boards from having insane people on it that will ban books and harm your kids or your neighbors's.
Vote for the constitutional ammendment questions and ballot initiatives. For instance, many states have either pro and anti abortion questions on their ballot.
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