I am so so divided on if I should vote for biden or not. I wanna vote third party to at least do something or should I just stay home and protest and advocate where I can? Thoughts?
this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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If voting did nothing, there wouldn't be so much voter suppression and gerrymandering.
Personally, I would say absolutely do not stay home. If you want to abstain from the presidential vote or primaries it might not make a difference, depending on your state, but in the more local ballots you can make a difference for sure. Even better, consider getting involved in local politics, even just in the school board. Showing up to meetings and speaking can change minds. Shifting your town's culture and making local connecions makes a bigger difference than a vote for Biden in most states.
Voting is not enough, but as someone else here said, vote for who you'd rather negotiate with. Additionally, when people like Trump get elected it sends a message to their sympathizers that they're in the right, and it helps the overton window shift to the right. Look at the increase in hate crime after Trump won. Who is in power can cause cultural shifts that also make activism harder or easier, or even literally safer.
You can't negotiate without leverage. If our votes are guaranteed, we have nothing to offer and they have no reason to listen.
The bulk of the US operates with two-stage elections, a primary election where you decide who the party nominee is, and a general election where it's a contest between parties. The place to not guarantee your vote is in the primary; it's a smaller election, and each vote there matters much more than in the general election. By turning out in the primary, and choosing a candidate there whom you agree with, you get enormous leverage over policy.
Yeah, and when we tried that with Bernie they destroyed the Iowa caucus with the Shadow App. Then they handed it to a nobody like Pete.
When Bernie kept winning the other early states, all the other candidates dropped out to form Voltron with Biden as the head and Warren to stay in as a spoiler to stop Bernie. Obama personally called up the also-rans and got them to drop out! Then, as a reward, Biden handed out positions to his competition for being loyal to the party and stopping the socialist.
The Primary has too little electoral oversight and too much Party meddling. We have no leverage there.
I voted for Bernie after he lost because it meant his supporters were still there to help influence policy.
And it isn't like voting keeps you from other firmst of political organization and action. It is just low hanging fruit you can do along with other actions.
I'm going to vote down ticket for legislators and city council and such, I'm just not voting for Biden without a ceasefire.
If my vote is guaranteed then I have no leverage. They can just ignore me forever because I'm already locked in.
I'm not saying don't vote, but is it reasonable to expect that we can negotiate for much of anything?
If you are going to organize for political action, then you might as well include collectively voting for certain candidates.