Democrats need to vote in congressional elections.
“But the democratic candidates aren’t perfect or exciting or far left enough, so I’m going to stay home and teach them a lesson!”
Narrator: that lesson? That your (left) vote isn’t worth fighting for, so they go right to get votes. V. O. T. E.
To add to your point, not voting is ceding power to those who would (and do!) act against you and your best interests. Perfect is the enemy of good. No candidate exists that shares all your views, so the only way to make things better is to vote for the better option that can win so the worse option doesn’t roll back progress. If that’s not good enough, run for office yourself locally or invest in local parties to change your locale for the better.
I’ve fallen victim to this sort of apathetic sentiment before and even voted for Trump in 2016. I quickly learned my lesson and have voted Blue on everything since. Sometimes even a subjectively mediocre candidate is far better than an exciting candidate who may not have anyone’s best interests in mind. Don’t be like how I used to be!
I hear you. I voted for Nader in 2000, then spent years protesting the Bush administration. If Democrats consistently win for long enough, primaries can force them further left to capture more of the vote. I’d love to see us break the two-party system, but they always fail to get a single Electoral College vote, and mostly help elect Republicans. Why do you think RFK Jr. is funded by conservative PACs and Jill Stein is supported by Putin?
It doesn’t take much to run locally. I know someone who wanted to be a member of the county board and he did so without doing much more than some mass mailers to constituents.
Going for bigger offices you have a point, but not on the super local level.
You can correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure nobody gave AOC a suitcase full of cash. She put in the effort and that got her first the district and later the congress. You can dismiss her as the exception, but she’s “the exception” only if you consider her effort to be exceptional. And there was that other guy (literally blanking on the name) who ran as a democrat and is now turning republican after being elected, pretty sure he also did a grassroots campaign. You can absolutely get shit done if you put in the effort.
The “suitcase full of campaign money” is the lie you’re told to keep you from running.
“But the democratic candidates aren’t perfect or exciting or far left enough, so I’m going to stay home and teach them a lesson!”
People would stop thinking things like this if they met the people in their local and state parties. They insist they’re the adults in the room and that they have no lessons to learn.
That’s how most votes go. Have you seen the marijuana decriminalization and expungement bill? Stalled in the House with 116 cosponsors.
Democrats need to vote in congressional elections.
“But the democratic candidates aren’t perfect or exciting or far left enough, so I’m going to stay home and teach them a lesson!”
Narrator: that lesson? That your (left) vote isn’t worth fighting for, so they go right to get votes. V. O. T. E.
To add to your point, not voting is ceding power to those who would (and do!) act against you and your best interests. Perfect is the enemy of good. No candidate exists that shares all your views, so the only way to make things better is to vote for the better option that can win so the worse option doesn’t roll back progress. If that’s not good enough, run for office yourself locally or invest in local parties to change your locale for the better.
“Or young enough”
I’ve fallen victim to this sort of apathetic sentiment before and even voted for Trump in 2016. I quickly learned my lesson and have voted Blue on everything since. Sometimes even a subjectively mediocre candidate is far better than an exciting candidate who may not have anyone’s best interests in mind. Don’t be like how I used to be!
I hear you. I voted for Nader in 2000, then spent years protesting the Bush administration. If Democrats consistently win for long enough, primaries can force them further left to capture more of the vote. I’d love to see us break the two-party system, but they always fail to get a single Electoral College vote, and mostly help elect Republicans. Why do you think RFK Jr. is funded by conservative PACs and Jill Stein is supported by Putin?
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/senior_lawyers/resources/experience/2024-january-february/are-thirdparty-candidates-always-spoilers/
Yeah I’ll get right on that with the suitcase full of campaign money that I definitely have.
I get the point you’re making but running for office is not a realistic goal for most people. This is intentional.
It doesn’t take much to run locally. I know someone who wanted to be a member of the county board and he did so without doing much more than some mass mailers to constituents.
Going for bigger offices you have a point, but not on the super local level.
You can correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure nobody gave AOC a suitcase full of cash. She put in the effort and that got her first the district and later the congress. You can dismiss her as the exception, but she’s “the exception” only if you consider her effort to be exceptional. And there was that other guy (literally blanking on the name) who ran as a democrat and is now turning republican after being elected, pretty sure he also did a grassroots campaign. You can absolutely get shit done if you put in the effort.
The “suitcase full of campaign money” is the lie you’re told to keep you from running.
People would stop thinking things like this if they met the people in their local and state parties. They insist they’re the adults in the room and that they have no lessons to learn.