• @[email protected]
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    2 days ago

    There are no mental gymnastics, and unless you’ve been absent in the debate since it began in 2023, it’s been one conversation regarding the direction of the Democratic party, with effectively two camps.

    The first camp, effectively taking the party line and acting as cheerleaders of the DNC, have taken a “No critisism of the Democratic Party is acceptable; voters need to move to the positions of the DNC” approach.

    The second camp took a “The DNC needs to be better and acknowledge it’s shortcomings, and make changes when necessary. The DNC needs to align itself with DNC voters and the party base.”

    The first camp, for the first 8 months of 2024, insisted we had to run Joe Biden. That there were no other possibilities, options, or potential outcomes. They defended the approach the DNC took to the primary process, which was by any measure, the least democratic primary they party had ever held.

    The second camp raged at the preposterous farce which was the DNC primary. They pointed out that Bidens poll numbers were so bad he basically had no chance of winning. That by insisting on this losing strategy we were losing critical time.

    Bans were made, here, regarding this debate. And the first camp was wrong. There was another way possible.

    After the candidates were swapped the first camp further insured that people just needed to move to where the DNC was, after taking effectively a pro genocide, Republican lite campaign philosophy as an outcome of the convention.

    The second camp pointed out that this would lose the DNC the election, that we needed our focus to be on moving the candidate to a more popular, more electable position.

    The first camp won the argument and lost us all the war, because their fundamental belief in what is being argued and whom they are arguing with is wrong. The first camp is responsible for the millions of votes difference between Kamala and Biden, because they insisted on this losing strategy.

    • Nat (she/they)
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      82 days ago

      I’m sure the first camp exists, but you should not imply that everyone who voted Democrat and wanted people to vote Democrat was that. I did that, and I encourage everyone to criticize their horrible decisions and actions, of which there are depressingly many.

      I’d love it if we pressured them to not be quite as horrible, but at the same time I did not want the Republican party to win control because I knew they’d be worse for people in almost every way. And now, as a trans person, I have to worry about what I won’t be allowed to do anymore, or how they’ll try to make my life worse just for existing. Sending a signal or whatever you think Democrats losing does does not justify the new shit minorities will face now.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 days ago

        Sending a signal or whatever you think Democrats losing does does not justify the new shit minorities will face now.

        I just want to point out, that you are making this about me as the rhetorician, when I haven’t even weighed in with my position. Its not me you are arguing with when it comes to the application of strategy; its the millions of voters for whom them sacrificing their ideals to get a milquetoast Democrat, pro-genoicde, draconian border policy, democrat into office doesn’t work.

        This is about a basic understanding of how the table is set, and no amount of willing the environment one finds themselves in changes that. Its like '16 Hillary supporters whining about winning the popular vote. The people who were out their using the argument of “strategic voting” to shield the candidates deeply unpopular positions among democratic voters did real significant harm this election cycle. If your strategy doesn’t or can’t result in a specific outcome, can we really call it strategic?

        My point is that the chiding of voters for not doing the job of the candidate is a way of morally washing ones hands of a strategy that genuinely hurt the candidates ability to get elected.

        • @[email protected]
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          2 hours ago

          This is fucking despicable.

          We have a 2 party system. Does that suck? Yes.

          Should we fight to change it? Yes.

          Does that give anyone an excuse for helping elect a fascist, racist, xenophobic, physchopath who is in the pocket of a foreign enemy leader by not voting for Kamala?? Fuck no. You’re out of your mind.

          within the context of federal elections as operated in 2024, it’s certainly not the fucking fault of the people who were able to recognize that letting Putin’s puppet in the office of the president for a second time to subsequently leave Ukraine to fend for itself and to ensure a genocide in Palestine was the worse of the 2 possible outcomes.

          Giving in and voting center left establishment to ensure a win is a much better poison than what we have now. anyone who says otherwise is trying to “morally wash their hands” of the blood that’s being spilled in Ukraine and Gaza and domestically.

          The people who didn’t vote because the DNC chose an establishment dem to replace Biden are narcissistic or stupid.

          Trans people, gay people, immigrants, women, elderly people on social security fixed income, 1000s of workers in industries who will face layoffs in the face of these tariffs, farmers who are losing 2 billion (40% of the food USAID gives out comes from purchases from us farmers) in USAID food purchases per year, children whose education will be forever altered will all be much happier knowing those self righteous progressives stuck to their guns and didn’t compromise their morals as they get persecuted under this administration.

          WELL FUCKING DONE GUYS. Don’t break your arms jacking yourselves off.

        • Nat (she/they)
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          31 day ago

          Yeah, I’ve given some thought to what I’ll do in the next election cycle, and I just don’t know. I can wish that people would think like me, but I’ve seen enough evidence from several elections that that’s not gonna happen.

          That makes me feel a bit hopeless, that we’re doomed to the worst politicians winning and ratcheting the US further right, and that I will not be safe to live here for a long time. I know there’s organizations I can get involved with, but I really struggle to commit time to anything, and I just feel isolated from everyone (yay social atomization). I think my best bet is giving up the fight and just leaving the country.

        • @[email protected]
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          217 hours ago

          Maybe democrats want to lose. Why else would they not invite 3rd parties to participate of equal footing. Why would they say no to multiple chances at beating the republicans? Why would they say no to increased voter participation and the free votes that come along side that.

          Where is the urgency during the election? Where is the urgency now? Do they not believe what they’ve been saying about the republicans this whole time?

          • @[email protected]
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            18 hours ago

            3rd parties cannibalize votes from which ever majority party it aligns closest with. That’s the problem with our system. Your comment makes no sense I’m the context of current voting rules.

            Ranked choice voting would help immensely and then your tongue in cheek rhetorical questions would make sense, but until then the answer is obvious. The Dems don’t want that because it takes votes from them.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 days ago

      Makes sense; sow further division in the groups who don’t like Trump so there’s less opposition to him.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 days ago

        That division is much, much older. The beltway is full of people who benefit from corporations or come from wealthy families and are materially aligned against the working class, and their ideology reflects this. These people as a group stand to lose more from the democrats moving to the left and hurting the bourgeoisie than winning than staying in the middle and losing.

        This is a common dynamic historically; liberals in power need the people to maintain power, but their interests aren’t aligned with the people, so they pass policies that marginalize their own base of support, and so the conservatives take power and then do counterrevolution.