706
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] pjwestin@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

If you live in a state that has even a slight chance to go red, yes, you should vote for Kamala. But if you live in a comfortably Blue or Red state, you should vote for the party that best reflects your ideology. I always vote for the farthest left candidate because I think that if my representatives see a strong third-party showing for a left-wing ideology, it will make them think twice before they pivot to the center.

[-] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 12 points 1 month ago

If you live in a state that has even a slight chance to go red

You can only know that with accurate polling, and accurate polling doesn't exist. As long as we have a two party system, the electoral college, and no ranked-choice voting, voting for the "lesser evil" is the only sane choice. It sucks, but the choice really is binary. A third party vote is a discarded vote, but if you insist on discarding that vote, at least take the time to vote pragmatically down the rest of the ticket...

I think that if my representatives see a strong third-party showing for a left-wing ideology, it will make them think twice before they pivot to the center.

lol, and I cannot stress this enough, lmao.

[-] pjwestin@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

You can only know that with accurate polling, and accurate polling doesn't exist.

C'mon dude. You really think California is gonna go red this year? Grow up.

lol, and I cannot stress this enough, lmao.

I mean, I'm represented by Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Ayanna Pressley, so...it's not not working. It's certainly better than voting for Democrats unconditionally while I whine about the electoral college and first-past-the-post polling.

[-] Floon@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 weeks ago

Not voting for the Democrat gives the Democrats all the reason they need to ignore absolutely everything you say.

Voting for Democrats and donating to them gives you persuasive power within the party to help steer it.

[-] pjwestin@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

LOL, what? Are you high? No, they're not going to listen to you if they have your vote already; why would they work for it if they already have it? And if they only tried to appeal to people who already voted for them, then they wouldn't spend all this time and energy trying to appeal to moderate conservatives, would they? Why aren't they ignoring them, and instead only ignoring the left?

And you think they're going to listen to me if I give them money? How much money do you think I'm giving them? Do you think I have a super pac? What do you think the conversations are in DCCC headquarters are like? "Hey guys, I know that the financial-services sector gave us $462 million in 2020, but @pjwestin just donated $50, and he'd like us to reinstate Glass-Steagall, maybe we should listen to him?" Like, Christ, maybe in deluded for thinking enough third-party votes will scare them, but at least I'm not naive enough to think I can negotiate with someone by giving them everything they want upfront.

[-] Floon@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 weeks ago

You sound like you've never called or written to your representative or their office, or dealt with a local campaign office. Because what I describe is true, and what you describe is you declaring to the world, "I'm choosing to make myself irrelevant to everyone."

[-] pjwestin@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

I call my Senators and my rep all the time. I tell them I'm a voter in my district and I care about X. They've never once asked me if I voted for them or how much money I gave them.

[-] Floon@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 weeks ago

I wonder who represents you. I don't get blown off my my reps. And I don't donate a ton of money, but I do volunteer.

[-] pjwestin@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Ayanna Pressley. What representatives do you have at your beck and call with your amazing volunteering skills?

[-] Floon@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 weeks ago

That's an assholish characterization. And when I lived in Walpole, I had Ed Markey, too. I called his office a couple of times, said, "I vote for Ed Markey, and I want <...>" and they took down what I said, and my info, and I'd a letter reply a little while later.

My current rep is Adam Smith. He has actually been less responsive than other reps I've called, but I've gotten letters from his office after calling with my requests. And in talking to office staff, you can often find out how pressured they are over issues that constituents call about. They definitely care.

Tell them you're withdrawing your support, and they'll apologize, but you're done getting listened to. They know it's a waste of time.

[-] pjwestin@lemmy.world 1 points 4 weeks ago

Uh-huh. I'll be honest, it doesn't sound like you have any more influence or sway over your representatives than I do. I also get replies for telling them that they will lose my support over an issue, and Ed Markey's office was never more responsive than when he was being primaried by Joe Kennedy. So if it's all the same to you, I'm gonna keep voting third-party and making sure my representatives know they are replaceable, since it seems to be working at least as well as your strategy of unconditional support.

this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2024
706 points (100.0% liked)

politics

19136 readers
3480 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS