I saw an anecdote here the other day on why it is important to vote for Harris even if you disagree with Harris politically.

I'm pretty sure the anecdote is fake but the general story goes:

In 2000, someone attended a rally for Al Gore in Florida. They ended up deciding that the democrats didn't represent their voice. They felt (correctly) that the environment was an important issue and that Gore wasn't going to do enough to save the environment, so they voted green party instead as a way to punish the Dems and make them see the light.

We all know what happened after, but think of what might have been if just a few thousand Floridians voted for Gore instead of... well, anyone else.

You can "what if" and project this election forever, but I think its important to remember that if shockingly few people voted for Al Gore instead of a third-party candidate, or protest voting, the global war on terror probably would never have happened. Maybe the 2008 housing crisis too. We would likely be reaping the benefits of decades of green energy research, instead of just getting started.

Individual politicians and political parties routinely use count a vote as approval. In that way, if no other, voting does serve to support the existing system.

I don't think that tracks.

The highest turnout in any US election since 1908 was 62% in 2020, and at no point has a party won an election and been like 'look at all the people who didn't vote, I guess we don't have a mandate to govern'

Parties win elections and govern in power with less than 50% of voters backing them all the time, it's literally the standard. A low turnout will not change the way any party acts once in power.

Alternatively: don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Nirvana fallacy, also know as "perfect solution fallacy" is suggesting that no solution is better than an imperfect solution. If I can't have nirvana, I don't want anything.

I see it all the time in online arguments. "Oh, you advocate for housing the homeless? Well then why do you have empty rooms in your house? Just fill it with homeless people." this is an example of the fallacy. It suggests that my solution, "house the homeless" should be discarded because it is not a perfect solution, which would be filling my house up with strangers. The goal is to make me say, "oh, I'm not willing to do that, so we should do nothing instead."

If only Citizens United v. FEC could be overturned, because it's so very obviously terrible😅

Don't worry, once Democrats win 2024 MAGA will just give up forever and stop trying to implement American fascism.

We won't be trapped in a cycle that can only end with the death of the boomers and Gen X or a civil war for the next two decades.

I had him in my mind writing my original comment. I don't know much about him before the war, but he seems to be doing admirable if anyone had concerns at his election.

It's fun to turn back the clock and read old news:

BBC: Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky has scored a landslide victory in the country's presidential election. 22 APR 2019

"I will never let you down," Mr Zelensky told celebrating supporters.

Russia says it wants him to show "sound judgement", "honesty" and "pragmatism" so that relations can improve. Russia backs separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Mr Poroshenko, who admitted defeat after the first exit polls were published, has said he will not be leaving politics.

He told voters that Mr Zelensky, 41, was too inexperienced to stand up to Russia effectively.

Mr Zelensky starred in the long-running satirical drama Servant of the People in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine's president.

He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media.

He ran under a political party with the same name as his show.

With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky's campaign focused on his difference to the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas.

NPR: Comedian Wins Ukrainian Presidency In Landslide 22 APR 2019

"What's amazing is that despite Zelenskiy being a household name, people don't really know what he stands for," NPR's Moscow correspondent Lucian Kim told Morning Edition. "During the election campaign, he was very vague about his positions, and in that way he really became a blank slate for people to project whatever they wanted on him." The fact that voters chose Zelenskiy shows how desperate people are, Kim said.

But Ukraine's outgoing president cautioned that the Kremlin is celebrating the election of an inexperienced candidate. Russia believes that "Ukraine could be quickly returned to Russia's orbit of influence," Poroshenko said on Twitter.

According to The New York Times, many voters said they had supported Zelenskiy "not so much because they thought he was a good candidate but because they wanted to punish Mr. Poroshenko for deflating the hopes raised by Ukraine's 2014 revolution and for doing little to combat corruption."

The Washington Post notes that Zelenskiy is just the latest comedian to win public office in elections around the world. In Guatemala, the former comic actor Jimmy Morales won the presidency on an anti-corruption platform with the slogan, "Not corrupt, not a thief." In Iceland, comedian Jón Gnarr ran for mayor as a joke candidate and won, serving one term before he stepped down in 2014. And in the U.S., Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken became a senator from Minnesota.

Maybe laughter and self-reflection is what the world needs right now. The comedians seem to be picking things up when everyone else is dropping the ball.