Americans of Lemmy, what is your approach to next year's election?

2020 was… truly unique. It was so hard to stay away from doom scrolling, and I (and many others) were pretty disillusioned by the sad fact that so much of our country legitimately supported the Orange Man. I didn’t get a wink of sleep the night of the election because I genuinely considered it to be a make or break decision for America.

My point is that looking back on it, in the end the only real difference I made was at the ballet box. This year I’m going for the Head-in-the-Sand approach. I’m done with the political memes. Done with the Twitter screenshots. It just riles me up and this year I’m gonna do my best to fight that.

mydude,

Jimmy Dore is moderating a presidental debate, I will watch that. Some info here, freeandequal.org

soviettaters,

I like Ike.

BURN,

Ignore all media, vote for whoever the democratic candidate is.

I realized that all the election media just makes me angry, and I already know who I’m NOT voting for, so there’s really only one choice anyways.

soviettaters,

That is a very intelligent decision. I’m sure that every Democrat is the right choice!

Jax,

You were given the gift of speech and this is what you do with it.

Fucks sake.

Xtallll,
@Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Every Republican is the wrong choice.

TeenieBopper,

Probably vote blue all the way down the line but I’m going to be shitting on the democratic party publicly and loudly for all the fucked and/or cowardly shit they do because not as bad != not bad.

FrankTheHealer,

Very fair and measured approach. I wish more Americans would adopt this strategy.

Asafum,

I honestly think the worst kinds are the delusional people who try to make themselves believe they’re “above it all” by voting Democrat for the president and then Republican for their representatives…

Ffs learn how government works in today’s era… Maybe that was ok 50 years ago, but now it’s just “you’re on the other team, fuck your clean bill that’s just saving puppies and children, I’m voting no so my supporters don’t see me voting with Democrats!”

Narauko,

Everyone should vote for whomever represents them best despite whatever letter follows their name, and everyone should know all of their local and state options to be able to do so. Please do the same for your primaries if you at least want a slim possibility of having a decent option. Ranked choice voting would help a lot, but engagement at least helps a little. Hell, third parties got elected this year even.

People blindly straight party ticket voting after skipping the primaries simply because they just hate the other team is how all the shitty entrenched old guard like Pelosi, Manchin, and McConnel (extra especially McConnel, who even republicans hate) stay in power on both sides. And forgetting about the primaries is how we end up with such weak ass candidates as Trump and Biden. It’s so good damn infuriating.

I_am_10_squirrels,

My state has open elections. In the primary, I’m voting for the least bad republican candidate. In the general, I’m voting democratic, which unfortunately probably means Biden but at least not trump.

xkforce,

Further develop contingincy plan to GTFO of dodge if the country is insane enough to elect the cheeto man again.

Zoomboingding,
@Zoomboingding@lemmy.world avatar

I can get Canadian citizenship and my wife can get Irish citizenship. Hope it doesn’t come to that, but the crazy people here scare me, and they’re going to pull some wild shit no matter the outcome…

calypsopub,

Literally where can one go?

tacosplease,

Countries don’t just let you live there unless you’re an awesome doctor or engineer etc. Anyone worth accepting already knows that.

All the other Americans who think they will just move to Canada are in for one hell of a surprise eventually. They’d probably try to do more to fix things here in the US if they understood that.

chahk,

“Vote early, and often.”

OprahsedCreature,

😉

shiveyarbles,

A lot of trolling about voting green party, not voting, not voting Biden. Any of these positions is pro Trump, and that’s the simple truth.

So admit that at least, you WANT a dictatorship.

thesmokingman,

If my two options are a fascist who will end the US and a conservative who will continue favoring the rich, is that really a choice? How is one a success vs the other? Neither one of them or their supporters care about the world I want to live in and both will materially harm me and mine (albeit in different ways). Why should I perpetuate either when I could vote a different way and, at worst, perpetuate the shitty system that has given me no choice?

shiveyarbles,

I don’t have words. Trump literally admires Hitler and aspires to be like him. Biden is just a somewhat centrist old guy. See if you can spot the whataboutism

thesmokingman,

What, exactly, has Biden done to reverse anything Trump did? What, exactly, has his party done to reverse the changes made? Where’s the rhetoric condemning Trump? Where’s the sense of urgency to reverse course?

You’re not giving me any choices here ergo I’m choosing another option. If that means I’m supporting “the bad” then the experiment has failed and we’re just circling the drain. I can choose to actively support circling the drain or I can try something new. I’m not going to play the old game because it’s already lost.

shiveyarbles,

None of that matters in practical terms. One choice leads to the end of democracy and tyranny, the other is not perfect but you still have freedoms and rights.

The two options are not the same. I’m not sure if you’re receiving the signal

thesmokingman,

If you’re telling me I have one choice to avoid tyranny, that’s tyranny. There is no more democracy. The game is over. We lost. Why continue to do the same shit over and over expecting a different result? Why delay the inevitable?

If I vote Trump, I am supporting fascism. Not going to argue for anyone doing that; no positives in that camp.

If I vote for Biden, I give explicit support to attacks on labor, a complete lack of response to the attacks on everyone that Trump did, and prop up a party so supportive of our current Gilded Age you can’t talk shitty wealth policy without mentioning Democratic tech worship. War crimes, genocide, and surveillance were issues I’ve had with the party for years and Biden just continued them with a smile.

If I vote 3rd party, there’s a small chance something positive could happen. Worst case scenario it’s like I didn’t vote at all, but at least I didn’t vote to support fascism or billionaire ownership of common resources.

I have this debate a lot. If there’s only one choice in a two-party system, we don’t have a choice or a democracy. Call me all the names you want; I won’t vote for someone that thinks the way that Biden or Trump does about labor or foreign relations.

FoolishBrainiac,

In case you actually don’t know all of the policy work that the Biden administration has done to reverse the damage of the Trump presidency here is a policy tracker. Many of these policies take actual work to reverse and can’t be changed unilaterally by the executive.

thesmokingman,

The big issue here is that the Biden administration is attempting to play by some old rules the Trump administration and current Republicans ignore. Sure. They’re pushing policy. Where’s the daily executive order undoing something or adding something? Where are the test cases constantly being pushed up like the right is doing? Where is the constant rhetoric to combat the vitriol? Where is the tit-for-tat removal of federal support for states fucking with people? Sure, lots of it will get thrown out. Some of it sticks, though, like blocking Garland’s nomination, and then seven years later you have people on the internet saying the Biden administration, doing fuck all novel, is actually trying to make a stand.

lemillionsocks,
@lemillionsocks@beehaw.org avatar

Eh I understand the long term apathy and eventual giving up.

They cant keep winning votes by just not being republicans. They will always not be republicans and eventually people are going to want more out of them.

shiveyarbles,

I don’t understand accepting tyranny. The two party system kind of sucks and we can work on it, but once you accept the tyranny of an authoritarian, you’re fucked. Oh boohoo Biden is old and centrist, the option is a dumpster fire that is infinitely worse.

OprahsedCreature,

old and centrist

You forgot to put “and genocidal”. Which I guess is centrist in Amerikkka these days.

Rudith,

Unfortunately he’s still the better choice. There is a sum to this comparison. Do we think Trump would not be genocidal in the ways you’re referencing?

OprahsedCreature,

Let’s assume you’re right. Why would anyone vote for anyone committing genocide? Voting third party or abstaining would be your only moral option in this scenario, otherwise you’re complicit. At this point the number of dead Palestinian children is conservatively 4000. If you contribute to reelecting a leader enabling that, their blood is on your hands.

MisterScruffy,

When will tyranny happen? Trump was president before and everyone thought that he was going to take over as tyrant but he never did because he’s too lazy for that. Biden has been involved in murdering civilians overseas for like 40 years and trump hasn’t. Trump is the lesser of two evils

shiveyarbles,

You weren’t paying attention, there was a failed attempt at a coup of the US government.

MisterScruffy,

The coup failed because Trump is a lazy moron and tried to asked the military to back him up on the day and they said no. A coup cannot happen without military support and trump is never going to get that from the generals and officers who run the us military. Too many of them are democrats.

The bad outcome that you’re worried about is happening right now the current president is supporting genocide overseas and has supported mass slaughter for his entire long career

shiveyarbles,

No you’re being hilariously ridiculous. Good day

OprahsedCreature,

I do want a dictatorship…of the proletariat

shiveyarbles,

Oh you’ll get what you deserve then

OprahsedCreature,

🤞

Count042,

Not at the cost of supporting a genocidaire. If the Democratic party wanted to not have a second Trump term, they shouldn’t have supported genocide.

shiveyarbles,

I warned you Dems! Now I’m going to vote for a fascist dictatorship! That’ll show you!

Count042,

Great reading comprehension.

MisterScruffy,

A party that wants my vote should do something I like to earn that vote. This is politics not religion.

shiveyarbles,

Yes but in reality, no party can please everyone… and a crappy democracy is much better than any dictatorship.

MisterScruffy,

American voters have zero say over our foreign policy. That isn’t democracy.

Outtatime,

I’d like to see Trump reelected. If not him then Vivek ramaswamy

xkforce,

The first time he was elected I could probably forgive but knowing what that man did, you do not have an excuse now.

Outtatime,

I have no regrets or…excuses? I think he was a great president. But I don’t think the gop will even let him run at this point. I’d really like to see Vivek get the nomination.

xkforce,

You voted for a criminal and traitor to the US. Great presidents dont have mobs attack the capitol trying to instill them as a dictator.

Outtatime,

That’s your opinion.

I’m not here to fight. Have a great day

prunerye,

Honestly, I’m just glad you can feel comfortable enough on Lemmy to post something like that. Fuck you, and let’s be friends.

Outtatime,

Thanks friend. I just don’t care what people think anymore.

OP asked and I answered with my opinion. I’m tired of fighting anybody with a different opinion.

CountryBreakfast,
@CountryBreakfast@lemmygrad.ml avatar

Don’t vote

rusticus,

A reelection of Trump will prompt seriously considering an exit strategy away from the US.

Bitrot,
@Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Passport processing times aren’t too bad right now, but will likely get worse as the election is closer.

PosadistPotatofish,

Yeah the political theater is just that-- theater. Aside from occasionally checking in to laugh/sob at how awful it all is, I’ll be devoting my energy to things that actually matter.

As for voting, I guess if something local pops up worth voting for I’ll vote in that. Nationally, the Democratic Party has shown its enthusiastic support for fascism and genocide so there’s nobody I can vote for except maybe Cornell West or whoever the Greens or the PSL run. The one thing I know is, I won’t vote for Biden or anyone like him. Arab and Muslim Americans are calling for a boycott of Biden, and it would be like breaking a picket line to vote for him, only 1000x worse becauase instead of exploitative work conditions it’s literal genocide.

SweaterWeather,

I live in DC, so my vote doesn’t really matter. So I’ll be leaving the president spot blank, and just voting for the most left non-incumbents I can on city council, ed board, etc etc.

dangblingus,

Apparently Americans forgot about the years 2016-2020. Trump is polling favorably and if an election was held today, he’d probably win.

oatscoop,

I’m not saying this to encourage complacency – too much is at risk. Everyone needs to go out and vote.

But on the other hand: look at how those polls are conducted. The vast majority are cold calls, and what are the demographics of “people who answer calls from unknown numbers in an era of rampant phone scams” these days?

tacosplease,

I stopped responding to polls this year because I don’t trust conservatives not to conduct fake polls to find all the libruls.

I literally don’t feel 100% safe to respond to polls texted to my phone. Historical fucking times these are.

RememberTheApollo_,

What a shitty place this country is becoming where a POS criminal like trump polls well.

OprahsedCreature,

“becoming”

Cowbee,

Same as usual. Vote for the least harmful candidates while advocating for actual grassroots improvements, because voting harder won’t move America to the left, ever.

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