"Didn't vote" always beats out the votes for either candidate, though. A small downward shift in the numbers is probably the fault of Democrats dividing their own base by endorsing genocide.
Yup. According to polls, the number one reason people abstained or voted third-party was Biden/Harris handling of Gaza. It’s either an ignorant or arrogant choice, depending on their awareness of Trump’s sociopathy and unwavering support of Netanyahu.
It wasn’t a small downward shift though. It was greater than the amount Harris lost by, if you count the increase in third-party votes.
I agree. Whether it was ignorance or arrogance, the Democrats are entirely responsible for driving so many people away from the polls and squandering what could otherwise have been a shoe-in for Harris.
It is not the job of voters to vote correctly, it's the party's job to convince the voting population that they are worth voting for.
The Republicans are really effective at this because they can lie and cheat and overpromise on anything and their base will love them for it. Democrats are remarkably ineffective because they can't promise anything that might raise taxes on their campaign financiers.
If you want the Democrats to stop losing, then they need to fear losing your vote more than they fear offending billionaires. The only way to do that is to threaten to withhold your vote.
And it's working! AOC and Bernie's rally tours have more people excited about the Democrats than there have been since Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC kicked Bernie out of the 2016 primary. AOC is a front-runner for the 2028 election, the campaign for which appears to have already started.
Don't misunderstand, I live in a solid blue state. Whether or not I made good on my threat to abstain from voting is an entirely moot question for the presidential election. As far as the electoral college is concerned, my voting power went to Harris.
Yeah it's working! Everything is burning down. It's great!
And it's been inevitable since the DNC decided to fuck Bernie and push establishment candidates back in late 2015.
It's a waste of rage to blame the voters for their obvious response, as every election since then was cynically forseeable. The party would fuck around in 2020 and win anyway because Trump was awful, continue fucking around during their administration because "bipartisanship", and now we get to find out if we get to have elections again or how long it takes America to descend into it's own unique brand of fascism.
But Im sure people like you think we can just undo all this calamity in a few years huh?
Of course not, but the Democrat Party chose this future. They had every opportunity to avoid this path, but they have always preferred the negative peace that is the absence of tension to the positive peace that is the presence of justice.
There is no undoing this now, the American Empire is over and just hasn't realized it yet. We have reached The Cool Zone™ and the only question that remains is how we'll organize to survive the years ahead. If the Democrats won't lead the resistance then we'll have to do it ourselves.
Reality is this current backwards turn won't be fixed in our lives, let alone progressing forward. Dumbest fucking gamble ever.
I agree, and so do a lot of people who are unhappy with the Democrat party these days. They gambled on another pro-establishment, "everything is fine, nothing will change" campaign when they know they win when they run a "hope and change" campaign. They lost, we get to pay the price, and too much of the party leadership joins you in blaming the voters instead of taking responsibility for their own leadership.
Again, I'm not telling you whether or not I went through with it. You're assuming that I didn't vote and getting very angry at me instead of at the people who had actual power to do something and chose not to rock the boat.
Divisive rhetoric like playing the blame game is not productive and serves only to help the fascists waste our time. Being mad at people isn't going to convince them that they voted wrong, it only cements the opinion that you can't be reasoned with.
What we need now is Truth and Reconciliation, and to get that we have to have power, and to get that we have to have organization. Take all that disparate, individual rage and point it in a useful direction. Go join a union. If there isn't one at your workplace, start it.
Im Not mad at you if you voted. Im pointing out excusing nonvoters never works, as evidenced.
Maybe if nonvoters ever came out we could've given Democrats more than the thinnest of majorities twice in a few decades and had more progress.
Why is that so hard to agree with? Again, if progressivism is so popular then why can't people turn out and overtake the Democrat party?
I am doing something. Im fighting against this idea it's all Democrats fault when they were barely given any power to begin with and no one cared to vote in primaries for Anyone better.
That's a failure of nonvoters, period. Stop with the excuses so that no one ever feels THEY are responsible for all this horseshit we see today. THAT is counterproductive.
Im pointing out excusing nonvoters never works, as evidenced.
I'm not asking you to excuse them, I'm asking you to stop casting blame to try and feel better about this sorry situation we're in. Doing something to help someone who's hurting right now will make you feel much better
Maybe if nonvoters ever came out
"If only" is the trap of grief. Denial, anger, and bargaining all rolled into one. We're all grieving for the future we could have had, and you deserve the chance to grieve in your own way, but lashing out won't lessen your own pain.
Why is that so hard to agree with?
Because it's an impossible demand that tries to blame a hundred million people for failing to overcome all the various impediments to voting. You might as well blame the moon for all the good that will do.
if progressivism is so popular then why can't people turn out and overtake the Democrat party?
Because the Democrat party is more conservative than it is progressive, but the opportunity to change that is right now.
I am doing something. Im fighting against this idea it's all Democrats fault when they were barely given any power to begin with and no one cared to vote in primaries for Anyone better.
What primary? The Democrats didn't hold one this election...
You aren't fighting an idea. Ideas can't be fought, we either hold on to them or we abandon them. If you want people to abandon the idea that it was the Democrats' fault then you're going to need more than just blame, you're going to need evidence so overwhelming it can blot out people's personal feelings on the matter and a culprit with meaningful culpability.
Stop with the excuses so that no one ever feels THEY are responsible for all this horseshit we see today.
You're doing that right now, making excuses for your own powerlessness by casting blame. I had 10 years to come to terms with what you're feeling today (including a six month prepper phase before I reached the last phase of acceptance), so trust me when I say you won't feel any better about it until you get away from your screens, get out of your bubble, and go make a difference in someone else's life. Everyone else who's suffering right now feels alone and helpless, even the smallest gesture of solidarity might be the boost they need to pay your kindness forward tenfold.
You have far more power than you know. Don't let the horrors lull you into despair. Let them radicalize you into being the change you want to see in the world.
There are two parties that can with a US presidential election. The choices were bad or worse for Palestinians. Voting for anyone other than bad, is permitting worse to take office.
Welcome to first past the post. It’s a civic duty, not a representation of who you are. Is it fair? Fuck no. That’s how it works for now, and the West Bank will be a billionaire resort thanks to people’s “higher morals.” Way to go. Hope they sleep better at night. The Palestinians sure won’t.
The choices were bad or worse for Palestinians. Voting for anyone other than bad, is permitting worse to take office.
Trump has been no worse than Democrats on Palestine, and the fact that libs think he has, shows that they'll only be honest about the situation when Republicans are in charge.
Hope they sleep better at night. The Palestinians sure won’t.
It's disgusting of you to act like you care about Palestinians.
Are you completely outside of your mind? Trump is shipping massive bulldozers to level the West Bank and turn it into a billionaire resort, with no intention of returning the Palestinians to their land once it’s done.
Ask yourself this, between Harris and Trump, which one is more likely to withhold munitions and military aid from Israel? Remember, this isn’t “ideal land.” Those are your only two choices.
Democrats were already providing Israel everything it needed to level West Bank. You only say otherwise because you're a genocide denier when it's your team doing it.
Harris and Trump were both equally unlikely to withhold military aid and munitions from Israel. The fact you think otherwise it's because you're a genocide denier when it's your team doing it.
Cool. So you’re in agreement that there was no way to stop the genocide.
Then why not vote against the fascist dictator? Oh, because you have superior morals when it comes to the Palestinians, but not the Hispanics and trans people in the US. Got it.