Americans of Lemmy, what is your approach to next year's election?
Americans of Lemmy, what is your approach to next year's election?
2020 was... truly unique. It was so hard to stay away from doom scrolling, and I (and many others) were pretty disillusioned by the sad fact that so much of our country legitimately supported the Orange Man. I didn't get a wink of sleep the night of the election because I genuinely considered it to be a make or break decision for America.
My point is that looking back on it, in the end the only real difference I made was at the ballet box. This year I'm going for the Head-in-the-Sand approach. I'm done with the political memes. Done with the Twitter screenshots. It just riles me up and this year I'm gonna do my best to fight that.
Unless he dies, I'm voting Biden. I don't like him, but, best option.
Truly hoping Cheeto chimp gets thrown in jail and disqualified.
I've tried to avoid news well before anyway.
If Trump is the Republican nominee I would vote for Biden even if he was dead.
Truueee
best take. Dems don't follow Biden religiously. He's just better than the godawful alternatives that are on the otherside.
I will stay informed on the issues, but unless the GOP does a 180 on about most of their platform I'm kinda forced to vote Dem (Stop denying climate change, stop trying to de-humanize LGBTQ, stop the culture war shit, come up with a real gun control plan, those would be a start). Hooray 2 party system.
I just turn off the news now, all sources are meant to keep us angry in an "us vs them" situation and never really talk about the real issues, so instead of it just flare up my anxiety and anger I'm just going to keep my headphones on and play games. Someone ping me if suddenly the GOP decides to be pro-humanity again and I need to reconsider my vote.
I hate that I’ve been forced into this same position, I always thought I was open-minded and didn’t follow parties, but when the choice is a literal fascist trying to tear American democracy apart with the worst takes on every position and a generic semi-left-leaning politician trying to maintain the status quo… I guess I’ll just stick with generic status quo, that’s pretty much the only rational choice for a sane individual. Even just sitting out the election isn’t an ethical choice, that’s surrendering to fascism.
If he were to die after the ballots are set but before the election, it effectively becomes a vote for his running mate. Still getting my vote over the dollar-store fuhrer.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/KGmXGkIr7w0?si=xKOceCuPEXa3Mvt2
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
It's not a question of policy. Republicans literally killed people last election trying to overthrow democracy.
Not that I even like democrats, but anyone who votes red after Jan 6th is fundamentally an enemy of democracy.
It can be easy to feel like a drop of water in a large ocean when it comes to national elections. But you should also vote in your county and state elections; you can probably make more of a difference there.
I'm not saying "don't vote in the national election", but just know that there are other elections to vote in, and thry are just as important as the nationals.
Yah I can vote for the red mayor who wants more cops or the blue mayor who wants more cops. Freedom rings!
One of them also wants to ban books.
Vermont, my former residence, has a republican governor that's been repeatedly reelected who the country at large considers a RINO. Non-federal level parties may differ significantly from their national stances.
It's actually the same in BC, Canada where I emigrated... the BC Liberals were partially anti-choice and deeply religious (so closer to the CPC than LPC), as such they recently rebranded to "BC Unity Party"... did they check that their new name didn't acronym to BCUP? No, they did not.
I’m voting for the most progressive candidate possible in the primary, and then whoever’s not the Republican in the general, and I fully intend to do that for the rest of my life.
The Republican Party has some plans they’re putting together, and between that and the rhetoric that most major Republican politicians and candidates spout these days (very specifically including Trump), it’s abundantly clear they’ve more or less completely given up on democracy, and are planning on dismantling a significant proportion of the core institutions of our country and government, which will effectively usher in the American Empire (as in: a possibly theocratic, but definitely authoritarian and likely outright fascist dictatorship). To be clear: that would be a Very Bad Thing. You think Russia is troublesome now? Wait until Trump or someone similar starts treating them like an ally, emulating as much of Putin’s power structure as possible just because they think it’s cool and would make them look powerful, and potentially teaming up to do shitty things to the rest of the world because we have something like 95% of the nuclear weapons ever produced, and while Russian ones are in a questionable state, ours definitely work.
If Republicans win this next election - and especially if they are able to secure the presidency and both houses of Congress - I genuinely don’t think things will recover without significant domestic political violence, which may ultimately result in a civil war. I’m doing my best to prepare for some “GTFO” contingencies that could be executed in the next few years, but it’s not an easy thing to do, and there’s still a huge number of unknowns in a ton of dimensions.
If you think I’m being hyperbolic, you’re not paying attention.
Oh hey look, it's the only rational voting strategy in a FPTP elective structure! Anyone who thinks different is just more evidence we need Civics back in our schools.
more evidence we need Civics back in our schools
Maybe we need more math as well - have you heard of the Ultimatum Game? Sometimes the rational strategy is to reject unfair split offers, even if that makes it a guarantee that you both get nothing.
Is there a neutral review of project 2025 that you can point to? That site is ass and either points to a book you can buy or a thousand links to PDFs.
Please define “neutral review” in this context.
The whole thing is unrepentantly and deeply biased, and it’s intentional.
I don’t know if this matches your definition of “neutral”, but it must be said that “neutral” is not synonymous with “unbiased”.
The Constitution needs to be rewritten anyway and we are overdue, preserving the status quo is enabling American fascism.
Voting straight Democrat. The republican party is the biggest threat to the US right now.
While I agree in my dislike for the current Republican Party, the attitude of blindly voting for your team because the other is evil is exactly what my (late) fox-addicted grandfather used to uphold. I loved the man, but I think we ought to do better and do the hard work of researching every candidate and choosing the best, be it democrat, republican, or independent.
Gave you and upvote to get you back off zero and agree with your general sentiment.
But - the elections since Trump took the ROC convention have all been different - we must get rid of all the R's we can no matter what at the local, state and national level as soon as possible now that the have proven to be an existential threat to democracy itself.
Well I won't be voting for the fascist party.....
Ah, a third party supporter I see
Fuck off.
We don’t like that we are only allowed to have two choices.
The problem is that a moderately small number of people and corporations who combined have more money than god have decided it’s a great idea to execute regulatory capture of the entire US government.
I just hope guillotine season starts before the world catches on fire.
I'm going to complain about not having a primary option for president, vote for the left-most person I can in the primary, and then vote down-ballot (D) in November. There's nothing I need to research with respect to these modern conservatives. Most democrats aren't really much better in most ways, but at least I can look my marginalized friends and colleagues in the eye after the election.
Yeah pretty much this. Not much point to me following the political discourse and all that, all it'll do is just make me angry and depressed.
Vote DNC and hate it.
Oh, who told you the 2024 campaign slogan?
I see a lot of people here frustrated with our two party system. I too am frustrated. Donate to FairVote to get ranked choice on the ballot in more states. Ranked choice voting allows voters to express actual preferences between more than two parties and it is a win no matter who you normally vote for. Many states have a ballot measure system that can be used to pass legislation without requiring the agreement of the state legislature. Several US states have implemented ranked choice voting already. http://fairvote.org
Preferential voting is a far superior system.
For those unfamiliar, here's an example:
If you like a minor party, say, the Green party, hate another minor party, say, Libertarian, more than you hate the Republicans and would settle for Democrats if you had to, then your vote would look like:
- Green
- Democrat
- Republican
- Libertarian
And if your (1) Green candidate didn't have enough votes to win outright, and no-one else did either, then your vote would go to the (2) democrat, who has all the (1) democrat and (2) democrat votes added together. If the democrat didn't have enough votes to win, then it would go to the Republican.
This is simplified, but should be enough to give the idea of how your vote always matters, and allows a better variety of ideas to flourish.
ALSO: post-election, say the democrats won, but only did because they got a lot of second round preferential votes from the Greens voters, that would help convince them that if they want to stay in power, they need to adopt more Green policies.
If parties get elected with no help and just because the other option is orange meltdown, it does little to encourage improvement. All they have to be is better than the other side (who lies all the time anyway, making "better" appear more subjective than objective).
How to help fix voting in the USA:
- Preferential voting
- Nonpartisan government body to create voting districts (remove Gerrymandering completely)
- Fix the money: Caps on political donations. Full transparencies on all political donations and spending. Corporations aren't people.
- Standardised ballots
- Disband the electoral college
- Change the size of the house/senate
Even some of the best countries' voting methods are being constantly tweaked and improved. Nothing is perfect, but it's an embarrassment how far behind the USA is.
I like the Green Party’s eco-socialism, but their anti-vaccine lunacy and inability to do anything electorally beyond run a presidential candidate every four years doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies.
I like Cornel West, and I appreciate his long-standing commitment to left-wing and anti-racist values.
That said, I live in the real world, where Donald Trump is running as an open fascist promising to make America a dictatorship if elected, and Joe Biden is the only candidate running with a realistic chance of beating him.
So I’ll be voting for every Democrat I possibly can, while wishing they were better than they are, as always.
I’ve voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past. Frankly, neither one of them deserves too much power.
If Trump is the nominee I’m voting for the other candidate no matter who that is. There is no circumstance in which I would vote for Trump. The devil himself could be running against Trump and I would either vote for the devil or abstain. If he is the nominee then the election is essentially a fight for democracy.
Although I generally like Biden’s administration, I am concerned about him and his age. If there was a normal candidate running against him I would consider voting for them, but it’s mostly a bunch of wackadoos on the Republican side.
Chris Christie and Nikki Haley were the only ones in the last Republican debate who had any common sense. Christie’s campaign isn’t going anywhere because he’s anti-Trump. Haley is too conservative for my liking. Ramaswamy and DeSantis are garbage humans. The Republicans need a reboot because they really suck.
In other words, I’m team blue - not because I’m thrilled with them but because I’m afraid of the alternative.
The Republicans need a reboot
That sums it up. I’m conservative, but the GOP is such a train wreck now I just can’t support them.
I’m on the same page. The republicans need some feedback that what they’re doing isn’t going to win elections. Unfortunately I think it will take losing several more elections to sink in.
Spot on friend. Trumpers look at us and think we like Biden as much as they like Trump. Noooope. There were way better candidates. If anything the Dems are the party of the status quo and republicans are the party of "Fuck anyone who isn't rich, white, and male". I'd love an actual progressive party - I don't see anything that the democrats have done in the last 8 years that has actually been progressive.
Right now, the choices are between boring corporatists and 100% concentrated evil. It's not that hard a choice.
Third Reich 100% glitchless speedrun (NO WARPS) vs a plate of room-temperature ketchup.
Vote against Republicans.
In 2016, I was an Independent. Straight down the middle. Would consider reasonable Democrats, Republicans, and 3rd party candidates.
In 2020, I was an Independent leaning Democratic. Would not consider Trump. Biden was locked in. Would hesitantly consider reasonable Republicans or Independents on a split ticket.
In 2024, I'm a Democrat. Will only consider Democrats up and down the ballot. No 3rd parties.
I dont think republicans have been reasonable on the whole at any point in my lifetime. Even Mccain was questionable and he was the best the republicans had.
Imo, there used to be a few reasonable individual Republican candidates here and there. But now they litmus test into these insane issues and they don't adapt when things change in society. They just dig in their heels and start mud-slinging. I'm not even bothering with them anymore.
Blue no matter who. Nothing has changed about that.
Probably vote blue all the way down the line but I'm going to be shitting on the democratic party publicly and loudly for all the fucked and/or cowardly shit they do because not as bad != not bad.
I honestly think the worst kinds are the delusional people who try to make themselves believe they're "above it all" by voting Democrat for the president and then Republican for their representatives...
Ffs learn how government works in today's era... Maybe that was ok 50 years ago, but now it's just "you're on the other team, fuck your clean bill that's just saving puppies and children, I'm voting no so my supporters don't see me voting with Democrats!"
Everyone should vote for whomever represents them best despite whatever letter follows their name, and everyone should know all of their local and state options to be able to do so. Please do the same for your primaries if you at least want a slim possibility of having a decent option. Ranked choice voting would help a lot, but engagement at least helps a little. Hell, third parties got elected this year even.
People blindly straight party ticket voting after skipping the primaries simply because they just hate the other team is how all the shitty entrenched old guard like Pelosi, Manchin, and McConnel (extra especially McConnel, who even republicans hate) stay in power on both sides. And forgetting about the primaries is how we end up with such weak ass candidates as Trump and Biden. It's so good damn infuriating.
Very fair and measured approach. I wish more Americans would adopt this strategy.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place. It sucks.
I’m tired of the 2 party system. I don’t think I really have a party or political ideology that aligns with Democrats or Republicans and third party candidates are all over the place. I want to start voting on issues and not just politicians.
I don’t care what my politician’s feelings are. They represent a constituency and the only things they should be speaking about and for are exactly what they’re being asked for. Instead we have this political machine that takes every issues and gives it a red spin and a blue spin and then it’s force fed to the people.
Congress should not be creating our ideologies they should create the laws that structure the things the citizens want.
The Supreme Courr overturned Roe v Wade, put it on the ballet and let the people decide.
Gun control, put it on the ballet
Universal health care, put it on the ballet
Abandoning fossil fuels, put it on the ballet
Stop forcing your political and personal ideologies on us and start listing to the people. If we vote “Yes” on universal health care, the politicians must then go and figure out how to make it happen.
Let it truly be a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Preach!! That's how a democracy should operate!
Honestly there's not that much one can do, but I will:
- Hope Trump is thrown in prison
- Vote straight ticket Democrat
- Hope another Jan. 6 doesn't occur
- Try not to lose my shit when idiots say stuff like "both parties are equally bad"
I live in a solid blue state, so my national-level votes don't do much (though I'll cast them anyway).
In past years I've thrown a few hundred dollars at close senate and house races. In 2020 I volunteered for a phone/text bank sort of deal to make sure people were registered to vote.
Do people say both parties are equally bad? I’d agree that both parties are bad, but ‘equally’? Maybe a decade ago, but not anymore.
You'll find republicans say that. Equally was more than a decade ago. They actually had a chance too. When the Tea Party started, it was actually grassroots. But then they got hijacked by people like the Coch brothers which twisted it to their desires.
I'll vote for a non-Zionist candidate in the primaries with no real expectation of them winning. But I will vote blue no matter who for national and state politics, and Working Families Party for local if any run.
Is "Genocide Joe" an accurate nickname? Yeah. But fuck that, it's not like Trump will be any less zionist and third parties/independents don't work in FPTP. I'm mixed race, I'm bisexual, I'm worried about worst case scenarios with a second Trump presidency (which is basically "what Trump is saying out loud" at this point,) and I am willing to vote in enlightened self-interest.
Joe Biden is no more pro-Israel than any president before him. In fact, he's publicly asked Netanyahu for humanitarian pauses so they can actually get Palestinian people out of the line of fire. Small gesture yes, but no one else has even mentioned Palestinian survival before.
"asked"
Yep, found your problem right there. It's your argument, full of holes, it is.
You don't ask a genocidal power that you're supplying to stop commiting genocide. You tell them they'll stop or best case scenario (for them) they're on their own. Worst case scenario (for them), you stop them yourself.
I emigrated. I'll vote by mail and hope for the best, but the two party system America has will inevitably produce horrible results.
Well, I've had to remove multiple people that used to just be right leaning for outright fascist statements and ideas in the last few months as they've deteriorated into hate speech and ethnic cleansing....so while I grew up conservative...yeah, I can't support that shit.
Democrats are a mild improvement at best but at least they aren't constantly being approved of by the KKK and being touted by mass shooters.
I'd like a proper left-leaning candidate, but with America's history. They'll end up assassinated.
but at least they aren’t constantly being approved of by the KKK and being touted by mass shooters.
Just the IDF and Likud, which shares nothing in ideology or methodology with them.
Yeah.... heavy sarcasm I'm loving the two terrorist groups slugging at each other right now. So good.
Voting by mail as usual.
Trying to avoid customers that can't shut up about how wonderful trump is.
"I think he's the antichrist but he's doing a good job"
You know, bat shit insane things republicans say.
Well my choices are backslide slowly by voting dem, maybe buying enough time to get out of the country safely in the next few years, or risk being federally persecuted for being trans. So I'm going to dissociate through the whole thing and hopefully won't be able to remember voting for fucking Biden. Outside the election I do what I can to support actual leftist movements but until any of them have a chance to win against the fascists on ballots I'm team 'slightly better of two shitty choices'. I just want to be left alone to garden I hate all of this
Same as usual. Vote for the least harmful candidates while advocating for actual grassroots improvements, because voting harder won't move America to the left, ever.
I remember 2016 going to bed with Hillary in a strong lead and waking up to a conman in office.
Well she did win the popular by several million but it's not like anyone actually cared what the people wanted.
The miles and miles of empty dirt's vote was way more important for some reason.
I was in a brewpub in Greensboro that night. They sold a lot of beer that night.
I'll research the voting habits of the candidates and vote for whoever has proven they can vote for what they believe in and not just party lines. So, probably no one.
For president, there's no way I'm voting for the orange convict if he's the candidate, which he probably will be because people that vote republican are morons. Unfortunately, based on where I live, my vote won't matter. I'll vote anyway.
I don’t want someone that ‘votes their convictions 100%’ any more than I want a party hardliner. That’s just a different kid of zealot. I want people that lead with their convictions and then vote contextually with a willingness to change, grow, and adapt.
It does not matter who I vote for for federal office. My state is never close to competitive and my house district is gerrymandered.
If fascists win my districts for state office, it will not affect the balance of power in the state assemblies.
So I told all of the Democrats running for state and local office that if there is not a primary for the presidential election, then I will not vote for any Democrats in the general elections in 2024, for any office. Maybe they can put pressure on the DNC.
This is the only way I can potentially have any input.
The only way this works is if Democrats would shift left if they started losing elections because people refused to vote for old white male conservative Democrats.
But I fear they would actually shift right. The Democratic Party is not a big tent that holds both the neoliberal corporate shills and the progressives. It is a hostage situation where the neoliberal corporate shills demand our support, otherwise the fascists will kill us.
I just want to say that your vote for the federal office does matter even if you live in a non-competitive state. Some states allocate a percentage of their electoral votes rather than all or nothing but even if yours does not, voting still adds a data point that says I support this person instead of that person. There have been several times where a candidate has won the presidency without winning the most votes but it was always very close to 50%. If everybody that had a preference voted and the outcome was 55% this guy / 45% the other guy and the other guy won... that could be a real driver for change to the electoral college system.
My state is winner take all.
If my vote does not affect outcome put only expresses support, I am voting for somebody actually good (often from the Green Party).
Even if it was 55/45, nothing would change. The Senate would be very close, if not in favor of the candidate who got 45%. The House would probably also be close, because the legislatures of the states that voted for the 45% candidate would still gerrymander. The only change could come from the states that voted for the 55%. If they gave all of their votes to whoever won the national popular vote, nothing would change. If they did proportional allocation, then it would get even worse.
My vote does not matter.
People who aren't insane on social issues have been fleeing the GOP. This is, and will continue to pull Democrats right until some viable alternative emerges, if it ever does.
hard liquor probably
I think avoiding political memes & etc is probably a good idea.
I have become a little active in my county party. Trying to learn the Democratic way of doing things (first impressions: no one is in charge). Hoping to be able to use my database and reporting skills to help improve the ground game for 2024.
Further develop contingincy plan to GTFO of dodge if the country is insane enough to elect the cheeto man again.
I can get Canadian citizenship and my wife can get Irish citizenship. Hope it doesn't come to that, but the crazy people here scare me, and they're going to pull some wild shit no matter the outcome...
Literally where can one go?
Countries don't just let you live there unless you're an awesome doctor or engineer etc. Anyone worth accepting already knows that.
All the other Americans who think they will just move to Canada are in for one hell of a surprise eventually. They'd probably try to do more to fix things here in the US if they understood that.
Definitely voting for someone who doesn't support genocide for president. Down ballot I'll likely vote 3rd party as well, but I haven't decided for sure.
Congrats on helping to ensure you'll never again have the right to vote during traitor trump's fascist dictatorship that you'll be enabling.
Hey I'm voting third party in a deep blue state also, you wanna be wicked condescending to me too? Take that energy to the phone banks, I bet the democrats never tried making a total ass of themselves before.
If Trump is one vote from winning NY then he swept the board. There's no way NY goes red in any election that has NY as the tipping point state.
I'm not party affiliated, but I will vote for the Democratic Party candidate. It wouldn't make any difference in my state, but I do it anyway. My state doesn't swing, so I will probably send some money to Democratic candidates in closest out-of-state Senate races (I don't waste money on sure winners or losers).
It's a hold-my-nose thing, since I'm really only about 50% in agreement with them. I tend to swing farther left on certain issues and near-libertarian-right on others. My primary concern at this point is averting a slide further into fascism. I've spent quite a bit of time in formerly-fascist countries and it's a messy thing to untangle. The scars last for generations.
If it's Trump on the ballet. Whoever else is better. Keep Hitler Jr out of office.
Not Trump
Ignore all media, vote for whoever the democratic candidate is.
I realized that all the election media just makes me angry, and I already know who I’m NOT voting for, so there’s really only one choice anyways.
Thinking Green party this year or whoever isn't trying to fuck us over
A vote for green is a vote for the popular party in your district.
Or, and hear me out on this, it's a vote for the green party.
A reelection of Trump will prompt seriously considering an exit strategy away from the US.
Passport processing times aren’t too bad right now, but will likely get worse as the election is closer.
If Trump gets elected again somehow then... I don't know what we can do to fix the country. I can't put into words my feelings about that situation, but I worry it will cause me to no longer believe our country can be saved.
To vote in it.
I'm gonna make sure my loved ones are armed and have ammo.
I've been dreading it since 2020. I might turn my phone off the entire year.
I wish I could let everyone who's going to text me know that I've already made a decision and they don't need to waste their time or mine.
I think it was Lewis Black who said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but the two party system in this country is a bowl of shit looking at itself in the mirror."
I vote for who earns my vote. I refuse the forced choice of two terrible options.
The 2020 election got me off of facebook and most other social media. Not quite sure how I’ll approach Lemmy going into 2024, seems ok for now and not the dumpster fire that facebook was during 2016 and 2020. If it gets too bad I might block national news & political communities and see if that helps. I already know that Trump/GOP represents fascism in America, so I don’t really need more news to confirm that point or help me make up my mind going into the election.
Arizona here. Very likely voting straight Democrat. We’re a swing state that feels like it’s swinging further Democrat at time goes on. At least at ground level, it feels like things are changing for the better. Phoenix doesn’t look and feel like the land of the Karens and boomers as much as even 4 years ago.
they all moved to Scottsdale
Apparently Americans forgot about the years 2016-2020. Trump is polling favorably and if an election was held today, he'd probably win.
I'm not saying this to encourage complacency -- too much is at risk. Everyone needs to go out and vote.
But on the other hand: look at how those polls are conducted. The vast majority are cold calls, and what are the demographics of "people who answer calls from unknown numbers in an era of rampant phone scams" these days?
I stopped responding to polls this year because I don't trust conservatives not to conduct fake polls to find all the libruls.
I literally don't feel 100% safe to respond to polls texted to my phone. Historical fucking times these are.
What a shitty place this country is becoming where a POS criminal like trump polls well.
"becoming"
The only reason he lost is because people were loud, reading, reposting and following. People who probably wouldn't vote did because of the doom scrolling post being shared and talked about. Personally, I will continue to do it because this guy is running on revenge.
- I’m not gonna look a memes or opinion pieces, just review genuine news articles to keep on top of things. For local elections, I may have to dig a bit, but I’ll try not to get down into the sewers.
- I’m gonna vote for whoever is the least-bad option at every level.
- If I actually find a candidate that I can support on their own merits, I will talk them up to neighbors, and support them monetarily.
- I will remind myself that human nature has been the same for millennia, and nothing I can do will change it. All I can do is try to mitigate the fall-out. “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” “You do the job that’s in front of you.” (Terry Pratchett, “Night Watch”)
It's gonna be a shit show. Two shit choices again blowing hot air every which way with billion dollar advertising campaigns.
The area I live in is wildly deeply democrat so my vote is irrelevant anyway, so I'm just voting third party. And until then I'm gonna try to avoid the whole mess.
Fighting like hell right now to get viable candidates for local offices in my area, because the deadline to announce your candidacy is less than 30 days away for us, and many offices go uncontested. I might not pay too much attention to news on the national level, but I'll definitely be spending the next year working to campaign and canvass for local candidates, register people to vote, and helping people get to the polls.
I am voting for cornel west. I don't give a fuck about stealing votes from biden. cornel west is who I like so I am voting for him.
I hear you. West is inspirational, and Biden is far too old and not exciting in the least. I don’t like Biden one bit. But unfortunately even if a vote for West is not necessarily a vote for Trump, it’s still a vote against Biden, which makes it more likely that Trump will win. Almost none of us get to vote for a person we actually like, so I’m genuinely begging you to reconsider and vote for someone who has a chance of winning. Unfortunately unless something radical happens in the next few months, that’s only Biden and Trump. If you’re trying to send a message with your vote for West, I don’t think the people that matter will hear it. I wish things were different, but unfortunately this election is between a boring old institutional politician and a racist, fascist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, insurrectionist rapist.
I miss the days of the boring old institutional republicans. Third party wasn’t such a big deal when it was Obama and McCain.
Whichever is the lesser of the evils. It seems that's been the majority of our choices lately.
To be clear I'm all for the people: whoever will create the least amount of suffering, and retain the greatest amount of human rights. It feels like we've stopped making progress and the best we can do for now is cling desperately to what we still have
So... not republican. Obviously.
The same way I always do. Ignore as much of it as I can until I get my ballot.
Research people/issues as I fill out the ballot.
Check the results the next day to see how the results shake out. Repeat for the next election.
Prepare as many molotovs as possible and vote for Biden. My heart wants everyone to write Bernie in but that ship sailed. Instead, I will vote for the person thats not a faux mob boss and prepare for my country to turn into an autocracy because the faux mob boss is somehow pulling a shit ton of votes.
Edit: way too many comments here saying it doesn't matter and they aren't gonna vote. Just hand the direction of your life over to someone else then lmao
Whether it's Bernie or not, I hope we can get someone to move the Overton window leftward in the next primaries.
You know they sell drones that have a latch to drop things now?
I like my rising from oppression to be organic.
My approach is the same as it's been since 1996: FUCK THE REPUBLICANS.
I don't need to follow the news. I don't need to pay attention to dumbfuck liberals or self-styled progressives online. I know the score, and I know what to do. "Vote blue no matter who?" Fuck you, you self-righteous, terminally online shitfountain; I've been doing that since I turned 18.
Why? Because GOP = KKK, and has been since the fucking Nixon administration. The Republicans are terminally infested with fundies, fascists, and white supremacists, and has been since Lee Atwater came up with the Southern Strategy.
Unfortunately, this means voting Democrat or for myself as a write-in (when the only candidate for a given office is a Republican). Why do I call this unfortunate? The Democrats are a neoliberal party. They might allow progressives to run in primaries, but its corporate-friendly neoliberals who make it to the general election. That means having to vote for capital-friendly stooges like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Unfortunately, voting third-party or not voting at all helps Republicans more than it harms Democrats, so I've got to hold my nose and vote for neoliberals to keep neo-Nazis from winning elections.
However, I'm not holding out much hope for Dems in 2024. All Biden had going for him in 2020 was that he isn't Trump. That's not going to cut it in 2024. Not after four years of everything going up but our wages.
Frankly, I'd rather just kill 'em all and let the carrion-eaters sort 'em out. Fuck democracy; we barely even have a republic. What we have is an empire governed by an oligarchy that has generally managed to swap out figurehead emperors every 4-8 years without a lot of bloodshed.
I just need to go viral on some platform as 'the people's choice' president who will put most major national decisions that aren't classified up to polls on said social media platform. It's the perfect solution to rake in those who don't want to vote for 80 something geriatrics. I have about a year to implant myself into the world of politics.
I also considered legally changing my name to 'No Vote' for a bit.
I'm personally going to vote pekka haavisto and be done with it.
Me too. Although I will not cry if Stubb takes the presidency. Will not vote for him, but it will not be the end of the world either.
Point and laugh
So far it's shit.
I really believe individuals are looking at the issues wrong. Choose a side because of this choose a side because of that. Why aren't we rephrasing it as - stay away from that side, he doesn't know who the current President is. Stay away from that side who believes people are "vermin" Stay away from that side, it's a bunch of old dudes that dodged the draft to do drugs.
People should start choosing elected officials that will help us, not tear another individual down.
We have a generation of geniuses that haven't figured out how to fix private insurance yet we can develop AI that can scan images for any abnormalities with a higher success rate than doctors.
We can design and model infrastructure to be more efficient yet we'll keep those plans in the attic and let them go to waste.
Greed will win, and I don't know how to communicate that I can solve all of these problems without demonstrating I too am greedy, but my currency is human progression, and a few extra bucks to get us there.
Super fucked both ways
Turn on, tune in, drop out.
Not voting. Both parties suckle only at corporate teats. My domicile is in the reddest state so my vote doesn’t matter & it costs like $10–15 to mail in my ballot from abroad making it really not worth my time or money.
They said vaccines for all Americans during COVID then someone had to come in & asterisk that that doesn’t include Americans abroad. You pay taxes but no services like Medicare are offered abroad & you’re one of the last on the list of priorities so feeling disillusioned is the normal.
I am still hoping (sure it won't happen) but the GOP pick someone else so Trump runs as a independent.
Thinking about buying a gun and starting training so I'm not behind when the shit inevitably hits the fan.
/s ... Mostly
Find the best candidates running by doing exhaustive research, then, if they meet a minimum standard, vote for them. If no candidate in a given race meets the minimum, abstain on that race. I'll vote in the Democratic Party primary even though I'm not a Democrat just because that's the de facto election for most offices here in Chicago.
I know in advance that most of the candidates I support in the primary won't be in the general and most of the candidates I vote for in the general won't win, and most of the candidates who I most want to keep out of office (because they're corrupt) are running unopposed (because they're corrupt). I know this but I'm still going to vote anyway, and encourage everyone else to vote as well, because that's the only hope we have for improvement.
Same as every election the last decade. (Before I got married I never voted in the primary out of principle, but my spouse convinced me that was silly.)
The last time I was actually idealistic about an election was 2004. 2004 showed me the harsh realities of contemporary politics all too clearly.
Fucking democrat all the way. Primaries I'll vote for the less corporate candidates. The republican party is fascists and traitors.
Hold my nose and pick the minimum harm candidates.
Jimmy Dore is moderating a presidental debate, I will watch that. Some info here, freeandequal.org
I will vote for Democrats for every position and hope like hell it all works out.
Same as usual. Vote for the individuals that seem like they are the best person for whatever position I am voting on at that point in time.
Historically, I haven’t cared about what party they were affiliated with, however I suspect it’s going to be a good long while before I vote for a Republican again.
If I dont vote Biden, it's a vote for Trump. If I dont vote Trump it's a vote for Biden. cancels out.
Voting 3rd party is like voting for 3 people it seems, I'll take advantage of that
Same. I voted 3rd party last presidential election cycle and it was cool because according to partisans (and their "support my team or you love Satan",) this means I also got to vote for Hillary and Trump at the same time! Separate people assured me of this several times, so it must be true. Isn't democracy great?
In all seriousness, I'd like to see a moderate party run a candidate. "
No Labels" Forward (the party that's totally-not-a-party, founded by Andrew Yang) seems promising.
Spoiled vote
Fuck everyone in the US Government except Rashida Motherfucking Tlaib.
I’m going to write in Rashida Tlaib. It’s all bullshit. What is happening right now proves it. Even fucking Bernie Sanders sounds like a Warhawk right now.
Ps. You’re all a bunch of lesser evil voting shitlibs. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
What did your harm reduction get us when we put Biden in office:
- genocide with our tax money
- cop city
- stoking the Cold War and enthusiastically sending our tax money to interfere in another country’s business BECAUSE IT’S WHITE PEOPLE to enrich the Military Industrial Complex rather than helping US citizens
- overturned Roe vs. Wade
- no marijuana legalization (mark my words: until the primaries or GE next year when it will help Biden in the election)
- Medicare for those who can afford it
- austerity
- austerity
- more austerity
I understand your frustration, but unless the voting system is modified to approval or ranked choice you are probably not acting in your best interest voting for a third party. I hate that fact as much as you and I want to see it changed, but that's the reality of the system we're in.
People sure do get agressive when talking politics. No room for discussion.
Depending on your situation, politics can actually be life and death. Someone who is chronically ill and needs medication may not do well under a Republican federal gov. If you're a woman, voting Republican is a vote against women's healthcare. If you're a muslim, voting Republican is a vote against you personally. If you're a student, voting Republican is a vote for higher student debt. If you're black, voting Republican is a vote for less police accountability. If you're working class, voting Republican is a vote for your boss to get a raise while you get a paycut.
Thinking dems are any different from republicans is dreaming. Its all the same shit. You wanna better life you got to think outside this left/right box and stop fighting eachother and start talking.
What will my approach be to next year's election?
Going to ignore it because it's all bullshit.
Free your mind. The real world is beautiful out here.
You can try to ignore politics, but politics won't ignore you. It just means you won't get a say in the matter.
I do not vote for a party but a person. Regardless of side I vote for the one that best appeals to my morals and beliefs. Most likely I will vote for Mr. Kennedy this year.
As for following social media and the news, I simply don't. I just ignore them and rate the person myself through their communications with people and talking points.
Not voting Democrat this time around.
Not sure yet who I'm voting for, though.
I'd like to see Trump reelected. If not him then Vivek ramaswamy
Honestly, I'm just glad you can feel comfortable enough on Lemmy to post something like that. Fuck you, and let's be friends.
Thanks friend. I just don't care what people think anymore.
OP asked and I answered with my opinion. I'm tired of fighting anybody with a different opinion.
Third party. I sincerely believe the threat of Trump is completely and utterly overblown (compared to any random neocon), and I don't care about blue tribal rage. This election isn't "too important" to vote for someone you'd actually want; that's the argument literally every time, and it's still not true. Until a major party earns my vote, I'll spend it wherever I please.
You need to learn how the electoral system works in the USA.
For your desire to be that in reality, the USA needs to switch to a preferential voting system. Then your vote would never be wasted.
As it is, your vote isn't spent, it's wasted. It's the same as not voting, but with extra steps. Which is a shame, because (some) 3rd parties are really worth voting for.
EDIT: some areas in the USA are slowly changing to preferential systems. So... 🤷
It's not wasted for me. I'll vote for whoever I want. I don't care if they don't win, I understand the politics of this country, but I refuse to vote for someone I don't agree with and who my values don't align with. I'm not here to play a numbers game, that's not for me to play, I just want to vote for the candidates best aligned with my views.
Preach, brother.
Must be nice to be privileged enough that the premise of a christofascist authoritarian with a bone to pick doesn't affect your life in any way, shape, or form .
Unfortunately, that's not the case for a huge chunk of our population.
God, none of it matters. You'll always have one dickhead or another in office. Losing sleep over who is president is nuts to me. We're in dystopian times now. Just don't think about it
I'd argue it does matter. For me as a foreigner it matters, because it's not unlikely Trump will leave NATO. Without NATO, it's not unlikely that Putin decides to try and grab some Baltic states. The order of the world hangs in the balance and if it tips over, it will get much worse than many of us can even imagine. I'm not confident that Biden can fix anything, but I'm fairly sure the outcome for the Western world will be much worse under Trump.
I get the feeling, but I think it's hard to argue that Trump won't accelerate the dystopia. Biden won't make it better, no way no how, but Trump and his neo nazi rhetoric seem far worse.
But, still, can't lose sleep over it. Build up a lil nest egg to flee on instead.
I’ll be voting for a socialist candidate. Vote for a president who tells us it’s okay to stand by a genocide or vote for trump who will tell you the genocide is good. Neither for me thanks. If trump had just served his 8 years we wouldn’t be here again.
Voting trump, assuming he takes the nomination
DT. Orange man. Trump daddy, whatever you wanna call the greatest president of all time is getting reelected baby.