this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
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If you live in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, or Florida (really any of the fifty states, but these are the most critical), AND you don't want to see Donald Trump elected for a second term, you must vote for Joe Biden in November. Yes Biden is a doddering old man who is experiencing rapid cognitive decline, and yes it is totally unacceptable that these are our choices, but disengaging does not solve the problem, it only makes it worse.
Believe me, I completely understand the inclination to just say to hell with it and check out, but we can't do that. I have been as guilty of it as anyone but I now fully recognize it was a mistake. But it's not too late to make it right. Voting is not only a right, it is a responsibility. If we, the people, want to rule, we must be vigilant and responsible.
Right now, our priority is damage control and harm reduction. I know, it has been that way for far too long, and that is extremely frustrating, but it is nonetheless the reality of the situation. We must vote for Biden this year, and then we MUST stay engaged so that we can work toward nominating the best possible candidate in 2028. We must stay informed and vote, diligently, in every state, local, and primary election.
It’s more than just damage control. Everything you said should be enough to get people to vote, but the sad reality is reducing it to that may not be enough. If you’re reading this and considering whether or not to vote, OP is 100% correct. You need to do it. Make no excuse, get it done. But try to feel good about it too. You’re not just voting for one person, you’re voting for an entire administration, and Biden has proven himself in that regard. Under a Biden administration you’re going to have competent people working at all levels of the federal government, which is a big deal. Biden’s administration has done a lot of good as well that is easy to gloss over in favor of focusing on his negative attributes:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/02/joe-biden-30-policy-things-you-might-have-missed-00139046
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-opinion-biden-accomplishment-data/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/
You also need to be at the polls to vote for your down-ballot candidates. Do not underestimate the importance or closeness of those races.
No candidate is ever going to be perfect for you. Personally I wish we were finishing the 8th year of a Bernie Sanders presidency. But that doesn’t mean that because I didn’t get it perfectly the way I want it I’m going to take my ball and just go home. I hate the democrat strategy right now, but please don’t let yourself be told that Biden has been a bad president. He’s done some things you can be happy about and some things you can wish were different. If you want to see those differences, the best way you can do that is to be politically active and work for that change. Not participating means you forfeit that right.
Decisions are made by those who show up; it really just comes down to that.
And if the other side is better at getting people to show the fuck up…. You need to make an effort to do the same. Even if it is a far from ideal choice.
If the other side is better at showing the fuck up*
Ftfy we are the sides. Cavalry ain't comin
I understand why it isn't enough for a lot of people. I think the biggest reason people don't vote is they don't feel their vote matters all that much, and/or they see a certain futility in the whole thing. I understand why, in the face of that apparent futility, many people feel powerless and thus choose to disengage. But, yes, as you've said, disengagement does nothing and the only way to take back power is greater engagement. The powerful want us to feel powerless, they want us to be disengaged and they want us to be misinformed, thus we gain power by being informed and engaged, which will lead to us feeling empowered, which promotes even greater engagement.
Personally, I vote in every election. I’m a very well educated, very well informed voter. I know the issues, I know the candidates, I know their track record. Basically, you couldn’t find a more ideal voter. But, I only have one vote.
And so does every illiterate, uninformed, uninterested person who might stumble into a voting booth by accident.
The only thing I CAN do is show up, and hope an idiot with a different view stays home. And even if they vote as well, I’ll at least have the satisfaction of knowing I negated their vote.
I might not always get what I want, but I’ll damn sure show up just in case more of my guys do. Voting is a team effort and I’m doing my part.
You can also combat the propaganda, misinformation, and poorly informed people on social media. You can donate and volunteer, too.
I wonder if it would help him to frame his campaign more along those lines “you’re not just voting for me, you’re voting for my entire administration.”
Really needs to highlight the key players in his cabinet. Dudes like a master bench carpenter.
Don't forget to contrast it with Trump's circle!
...I'm sure he'll stick Mike Lindell in charge of something too.
It's a real turd dream-team.-
Only in the media. Also, according to the media, the orange 34 count felon is completely fine, A-okay, in fact.
Get a grip America. Biden's policies are popular with Democrats AND Republicans
If you want to be more strategic, if you can convince right wingers to not vote that also can make a difference. Feed your red-hat uncle's ideas about how voting is rigged so he shouldn't bother. Tell your maga neighbor you'll drive him to the polls and then don't.
This is an existential crisis. Don't think the right wing won't do anything they can to win.
Or convince them to vote RFK. My dad would normally vote Trump, but he's an anti-vaccine nutter, so I'm trying to convince him to vote RFK instead.
This is such a great strategy, also mention how tRump passed the Unconstitutional bump stock ban and doesnt give a damn about the 2nd amendment.
If the republicans win, I wonder what the MAGA cultists' reaction to the immediate repeal of the 2nd amendment would be. The republicans would never allow citizens to own guns since that'd be a threat to their rule.
The problem is, the people who are swayed by this argument were already going to vote Blue no matter who.
To win the election, you need to convince voters who are still doubting between Trump and Biden. And they have definitely heard this argument before, so a different argument is needed.
No, the point of the argument is to convince the people who are not planning to vote at all to show up.
The last presidential election had ~60% turnout. That's one of the highest turnouts EVER. People sitting at home are indeed the problem.
While voter apathy is a big problem, it is likely that voter suppression targeted at the tie breaking areas has more of an effect on the overall outcomes. Suppression includes duscouraging engagement, leading to apathy.
Like I have voted in every election that I could, but my electoral college votes always went to the person I voted against. Even locally the vast, vast majority of my votes were for the losing party. It is really hard to not be apathetic, and for me voting is a breeze.
Agreed. And to your point, competitive states without voter suppression like Wisconsin and Michigan had turnout of around 75%, while Texas (which is most known for suppressing voters) only achieved 60% turnout.
Texas is mostly a cultural issue. The left in this state are a bunch of defeatist do-nothings who think Texas will always be red. I cannot tell you the number of times I've talked to a like minded person, asked them about voting, only for them to give some half-hearted excuse why they didn't/won't.
With the way early voting works here, suppression is hard to pull off. For 2 weeks you can show up at any polling place to vote, even the ones in the rich white neighborhoods. The last time I voted, it took all of 10 minutes. There's no doubt some fuckery with voter registration, but you have plenty of opportunity to check your status online ahead of the election.
I have read a lot of reports on how Texas doesn't provide polling places in poorer, minority neighbourhoods, forcing them to travel far to vote.
And I have also heard reports of people who had to stand in line for hours to vote in Texas. Again, in poorer, minority neighbourhoods.
Are you saying those reports are not true?
they're true and you'll only see them the most in houston and san antonio and a little bit in a dallas and austin.
source: me, a poor brown man who used to live in texas and tried to vote there for 5 years.
the excuses they come up to de-register you are with are laughable to hear; but texan officials will say it with a straight face and texan "liberals" will justify it by saying "it's the law".
moving from san francisco to austin has taught me that texan "left" is further right than in most places; but yes, they're defeatists to the extreme and it makes sense given the state's political recent history.
Couple that with a state party that cuts funding to progressives because they're not republican-adjacent enough.
And Congress could have done something about it when Democrats had the majority in both houses. In one hand, they had the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and in the other, they had the continued preservation of the Jim Crow Filibuster.
Democrats chose to keep the filibuster.
So "Shut up, we're not going to listen to your concerns, we are owed your vote" is sure to work!
The debate fallout has made the fence-sitters' decision for them.
Dems need a parachute candidate pronto. Kamala would win, too.
Ohio used to be a swing state, too, right? Not sure of it still is or if it isn't, how that turned around. But maybe they should be in the list?
We went for Obama twice and trump twice. It’s complicated. We’re mostly just extremely gerrymandered and divided. Columbus is extremely liberal, rural Ohio is frequently terrifyingly conservative
We did do the right thing in most of the special elections these last twelve months, though
Hell yeah we did. We often do the right thing when faced with a direct democratic clear choice.
Important to talk to people we know, and make sure they actually vote.
If you want to be more strategic, if you can convince right wingers to not vote that also can make a difference. Feed your red-hat uncle's ideas about how voting is rigged so he shouldn't bother. Tell your maga neighbor you'll drive him to the polls and then don't.
This is an existential crisis. Don't think the right wing won't do anything they can to win.
But ~~the economy~~ rich people's yacht money though!
It would be nice if Biden or the Dems or really anyone had a plan to protect us or to somehow stop what we're seeing happen before our eyes, but it just seems that there's no end and the second a republican gets in power it's all over for us
I can't count the number of times I've heard people insist that Biden's DOJ is doing a great job, but also that all these Republican leaders are committing crimes with impunity.
I so want nothing to do with this election, I feel so defeated and disgusted by all of it BUT I keep reminding myself that if I don’t vote then I essentially voted for whoever ends up winning. And that could easily be Trump. And in my view he’s not just an awful candidate, he’s an existential threat eat to democracy. So I will vote. But damn, literally almost anyone else could beat Trump, why this is our choice is so insane.
Hear hear
If it's that dire, why is it not more important than Biden's massive ego and power hunger that he doesn't care to step down even if it pretty much means Trump's gonna win?
You need to vote to make sure the electors just ignore you.
Get the plane tickets while they’re cheap.