292
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
292 points (91.0% liked)
politics
19089 readers
1735 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Can you elaborate on what you mean that "the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election"? Are you unaware of the fact that Biden is the incumbent President?
He was nominated by a wide margin against a dozen other candidates (including over my preferred candidate), and elected with solid EC majority and a record number of individual votes.
To suggest that he was somehow appointed by the party establishment, when he's simply running for reelection like almost every incumbent President in American history has done after their first term seems like a very disingenuous statement. It's interesting that nobody leveled that argument against Trump when he ran for reelection in 2020, not to mention every other time it's happened, considering it's been the norm for decades.
A lot of us live in states that didnt get to vote in the primaries, and a lot of us show up to every election even when neither option really represents our views (albeit one much more than the other). To say we aren't getting our way cause we aren't voting, though undoubtedly true for some, is a bad take
This is not even touching on the DNC putting their finger on the scales in the primaries that did happen
How is it not? There are two options:
There is a large amount of progressives who support progressive ideals but don't show up to vote in primaries or push politicians left. Hence- they just don't show up.
Progressive goals just aren't that popular and there is no large cohort abstaining from voting.
Don't get me wrong- I like some progressive ideals (though not nearly left as some on lemmy notably are.) I support fixing healthcare via single payer or at least some universal scheme with a public option, etc., I agree it's genocide in the Gaza Strip and we shouldn't at all be supporting Israel, etc.
But look at the results. Either progressives are sitting out A LOT or the party actually is just representing what the majority wants (like the OP stated.)
I think the general feeling of disenfranchisement comes from the DNC influence in primaries. Who they throw their weight behind in terms of advertising dollars and publicity makes a big difference in how the primaries go. Also very relevant is which states have their primaries when, as most times the primaries are called before every state has theirs. This is also hearsay and way harder to substantiate, but there are also some that cry foul that there isn't actually much in place to monitor primaries like there are in standard elections and there is significantly higher potential for fudged numbers and misrepresented results.
Of course I would still love to see more left candidates get the nomination despite that, but it is certainly still possible that I am in the minority in that desire.
For 2024, though, it doesn't much matter if Biden is who the left wants. When running against a literal fascist, there isn't really as much room to voice complaints about the alternatives. I voted for Biden in 2020 and will again in 2024 even though he is much further right than my political leaning, and even for those of us on the left who are not happy with how Biden has been doing, there isn't really room to show that with voting because the alternative is so much worse. In this scenario, votes for Biden can easily be misconstrued as support for Biden which is not really the case
Most of your complaints seem to revolve around just presidential primaries. I'm not gonna argue that it's stupid how they do it but it's also just one position.
Why are people not voting in every single primary for local and state positions too to get left leaning candidates as the Dem candidate? Congresspeople have far more weight and more impact than just the president. Witness the overton window shifting far, far right due to crazy Tea Party and Freedom Caucus candidates, etc. etc.
Did every centrist decide to tediously lecture the left 5 times a day? I’ve voted in every election since I turned 18 and I see at least 10 dipshit centrists lecturing someone to vote or there will be fascism. I’m pretty sure leftists already know about fucking fascism, the thing we’ve been consistently resisting since like 1930. Stop being a fucking nag and we’ll vote for Biden.
Also, it’s also good if someone cares about ethnic cleansing and settler-driven apartheid. It’s kind of horrifying more people don’t. Sorry if I come off as smug when objecting to crimes against humanity.
He was also at an abortion rights rally when the protest occurred, which many people are glossing over.
Because they aren't guaranteed to show up?
Witness the complaints- "Oh Biden didn't legalize weed, didn't implement a whole new healthcare system, didn't absolve all student loans, etc. so I'm not going to vote for him" disregarding he has tried to do a bunch on those topics and either got some things done or got stopped by SCOTUS. Or just "he is supporting genocide in Gaza so I'm not voting for him" and disregarding that it would be far, far worse if Trump wins.
The guy has had either a razor thin majority OR a minority in government for his term and has still accomplished quite a bit like the biggest legislative bill ever that targets climate change, etc.. But if people are going to not vote for him because he can't turn around the aircraft carrier that is the US government on a dime by executive fiat then why bother courting those people?
My point isn't that he shouldn't try to get as many votes as he can- my point is progressives need to show up and vote for the least bad option and be grown ups about it. If you ever want to get change you need to show up every damn time and make your voice heard. And if you want things to go more left, get involved. I'm getting involved in a ballot measure that my state is putting forward for independent redistricting. I vote in the primaries even though I don't really like the Democratic party as is. AOC didn't just bitch- she showed up, worked her ass off, etc. and is pushing the conversation left, just like the Squad.
It's the people who throw their hands up, bitch, and then do nothing that I get irritated at. Don't like it? Then get involved like crazy and force the conversation left. If your ideas are actually popular then it should be easy to rally support no? So do it. But you can't blame politicians when people post complaints on a message board and then just...never show up and then wonder why people don't run totally different campaigns targeted towards them.