• nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 days ago

    I’m a little dumb, and not an American. Can someone explain how democrates are using republicans to kill voters?

    • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 days ago

      It has been the Democrat’s major strategy to gain political power in this country since 2016 when Trump first took office to advocate for a certain type of negative politics that isn’t the Republicans, rather than advocating for a positive politics focused on what makes the Democrats.

      Establishment Dems use the existence of MAGA Republicans to try to persuade voters that they’re at least not as bad as MAGA, when they should be spending the time between elections persuading voters with all the good policies that defined the Dems for decades: positive immigration, civil rights, social safety nets, etc.

      Establishment Dems have a politics of what are we against, while new sects of the party like Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have a politics of what are we for. The latter are seeing amazing success across the country.

      • Luminous5481 "Enemy of the State"@anarchist.nexus
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        3 days ago

        they should be spending the time between elections persuading voters with all the good policies that defined the Dems for decades: positive immigration, civil rights, social safety nets, etc.

        except they no longer support those policies.

    • TheYojimbo@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Not an American either but I think it’s more like democrates threatens the voters that if they don’t vote for them, republicans are gonna kill them. Republicans are definitely making things worse, and democrates are blaming leftists that didn’t vote for them.

      • disorderly@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        As an American, I can confirm that every election cycle is literally this. In 25 or so years of voting, I have never once avoided some talking head explaining how any policy left of processing immigrants into Sysco food would alienate “moderates” and lose the election to someone that’s actually bad.

        • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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          3 days ago

          As if they would be processed into something edible were talking about Americans it would be left to rot for a while then made prison grade

        • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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          3 days ago

          Why don’t progressives just uppercut these fuckers’ jaws out in the primaries if they have it right?

          • MrNobody@quokk.auOP
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            3 days ago

            Because the DNC is controlled by the elites. You cannot fix the system by voting in it, it’s rigged to their advantage.

            • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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              3 days ago

              Can’t you primary them out of control? Join, volunteer & push out the limp fucks? I mean, the Tea Party was able to take over the GOP in less than a decade

              • Nouvellalia@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                This seems to be a very good point on it’s surface. However, the GOP got cooked by a dozen billionaires working very hard and spending a lot of money against a dozen other billionaires. The tea party and eventually the magats, where in no way grass roots.

                If you can find a few dozen billionaires, and they might have to be centi-billionaires at this point, it’s not the 90s anymore, if you can find a dozen of them, you have a chance to sway the DNC over the next 30 years just like the magat billionaires did.

                Do you know a dozen hundred billionaires who want a 95% tax rate on their fortunes, strong, pervasive worker unions and legal protections, a $70 minimum wage, an end to “political donations”, a complete overhaul of the police and judicial system, free education and healthcare, etc? I bet we can’t find one that wants even just the first one.

              • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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                3 days ago

                No the primary is controlled it doesn’t actually have to obey its rules this most recent time they didn’t even hold one

                • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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                  3 days ago

                  Bar some very specific cases, they’re holding primaries for every electable house and senate seat that comes up every 2-4 years.

                  Sure, party leadership tries to steer these (same as GOP) but if you want to break their balls: that’s where to do it

          • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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            3 days ago

            Because the parties can cheat declare whoever they want winner or just whatever the FBI will kill you if you go too far left and are politically viable its w whole thing

      • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 days ago

        It’s not killing IMO but “holding a gun to someone’s head” means “forcing” them.

        Like look at those evil republican politicians, you must vote for us, or get more evil republican politicians.

        They are not wrong though, but could do so much better smh.

    • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      It refers to the last 20 years or so, where the democrats platform has been so terrible, that the only way they get elected, is because they are not Republicans.

      Obama only got elected because of how terrible Bush was, then Biden got elected because of how terrible Trump was.

      The problem is this strategy only works with recency bias and people are starting to ignore it.

        • sunnie@slrpnk.net
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          3 days ago

          The lesser-of-two-evil choice only makes sense when you’re using it to avoid a singular looming catastrophe. When it describes every election, people disengage from that process instead of actively voting for “evil” over and over again.

            • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml
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              3 days ago

              Short term utilitarianism is how you end up voting for 99% Hitler. Demand better.

            • Cherries@lemmy.world
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              3 days ago

              People make decisions for reasons beyond a cold-blooded cost benefit analysis. Sometimes, when faced with an ultimatum, people will pick the worse option out of spite, especially if they are presented with the ultimatum repeatedly. If the only choices are dying quick and dying slow, hopeless people will pick “the less optimal option”.

              To be clear, I do not endorse this. This analysis is not justification. However, it is important to understand why this behavior happens in order to change things. If we want people to “stop picking the less optimal option”, they need to be presented with better choices.

              • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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                3 days ago

                Sure, but if you don’t endorse it, why entertain the idea that it’s wrong to point it out? (not saying you do, but that’s the OP)

                Voting for the lesser evil and working for a better choice should be the way

                • Cherries@lemmy.world
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                  When you say, “They’re fucking dumb”, it feels like you have no interest in understanding or changing why people make “less than optimal choices”. The thing I don’t endorse is disengaging from politics. I would like more people to be more active in politics because I believe in people power.

                  I 100% agree with you that people should be more active in politics and trying to change things for the future, but lesser evil politics is a very big reason we are in this mess right now. Because the Democratic Party has constantly been offering garbage options, people have decided to disengage from politics. People would rather jump off a burning building than die to the flames.

                • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 days ago

                  You’ll never negotiate that point here. You’ll get downvoted to oblivion instead. All sides that aren’t a new candidate are just equal and the same and there’s no nuance because otherwise you couldn’t just sit on your couch and doom comment. You’d be have to be accountable for doing literally nothing and waiting for someone else to bring you a candidate.

                  It’s ELecTorALisM to point out the practical reality of the situation and generally speaking you just catch a ban. Double true in the next 12 hours when the other hemisphere provides its vast expertise on the 2 party system.

                  That’s the lazy entitlement you’re dealing with.

                  Fun times.

            • Luminous5481 "Enemy of the State"@anarchist.nexus
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              when the “lesser evil” is still a fascist who wants to actively engage in multiple genocides around the world, they aren’t a lesser evil than the group who also wants to actively engage in multiple genocides around the world, you dumbass fucking nitwit. you absolute fucking baboon.

            • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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              I put a zip tie around your neck every minute you tell me whether to tighten it one click or two not saying one every time is stupid right maybe you start to resent the zip tie and tell me to fuck myself maybe you try to cut the zip tie or propose not tightening it at fucking all because you want fascism you chose two clicks by not saying one this is your fault

              • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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                Yeah ok I’ll tag you as “doesn’t worry if the US goes even further down the shitter” so likewise I guess

                • ultimate_worrier@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  You: “Why can’t you be guilted into voting for someone that can’t even pretend to try to stop an ongoing genocide being funded by their own constituents?!?!”

            • MrNobody@quokk.auOP
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              And this is how the right wins. People acting like voting the lesser evil is the solution and not putting your foot down and saying “no more”.

              • TheFinn@discuss.tchncs.de
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                No, putting your foot down and saying no more was how the right won.

                The left can’t “just” win though. We need to be actively working to ratchet the party back to its principles.

                Both sides are equally bad is stupidly binary thinking that only benefits the right.

                • Luminous5481 "Enemy of the State"@anarchist.nexus
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                  there is no lesser evil. both sides are voting against trans rights, both sides want to actively engage in multiple genocides around the world, both sides want to increase corruption, both sides want to funnel money into the military industrial complex, and both sides want to make the US more authoritarian and increase government surveillance and decrease civil rights.

                  voting for the “lesser evil” only works when there’s a lesser evil to begin with.

                • mrdown@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  3 days ago

                  You got Trump because of the lesser of the two evil bullshit. Majority of americans decided Trump was the lesser of the two evil. I wonder how many more trump like president do you need to understand.

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          3 days ago

          Because their lives almost invariably get progressively worse under each administration, with the ruling party deciding the pace more than anything else? No form of government lasts long with only sticks.

            • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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              They don’t; people who don’t see hope just don’t vote. The people who do vote red are those who (correctly) see the current status quo as hopelessly corrupt but (incorrectly) believe their favorite fascist demagogue is the solution. That’s what the “draining the swamp” stuff comes from.

              • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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                Well who’s dumber? The one who makes the wrong analysis and votes or the one who sees things right but doesn’t?

                • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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                  There’s things other than voting to be done at some point endorsing the violence is just too much kamala Harris put me in one of her rape dungeons she didn’t even have to it was entirely her call her decision before there were trabsphibia points on the board anyone who wanted me to vote for her as harm reduction can go through that then fucking kill themselves

            • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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              Kamala Harris put me in one of her rape dungeons when she was a head cop there were no points to be gained yet it was just a personal call say again I should have voted for her because I’m not the only one she did that too I wasnt there for long I got declared not guilty too so she got me raped for literally nothing and you think anyone should have supported her or any party who backed her what the fuck is wrong with you seriously fucking tell me what the fuck is wrong with you

              • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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                Do you think Donnie T is keeping anyone from getting raped?

                Sorry, but if you care about the total amount of rape you should have voted for her

        • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works
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          3 days ago

          They are depressed and jaded. Money just keep flowing up, no matter what they do.

          Nothing short of a revolution is going to change that.

          • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zipBanned from community
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            If they’re sitting on their asses during elections waiting for a revolution to drop by I guarantee you they’re going to see a whole lot more money flowing up

            • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works
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              Exactly. This is sort of why I agree with the accelerationists. Things have to get bad enough, quickly enough for them to get shocked into action.

        • youcantreadthis@quokk.au
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          Ratchet effect can only be so dead different between getting blown up with ten pounds of dynamite up my ass or a hundred is what even its what got idiots voting trump the fact nobody in system will ever advocate for even some of the like five or six things most americans agree on like money out of politics fix healthcare weed good genocide badexpensive abortion when pregnancy nonviable pregnant life at risk and while thing result of rape cops badoverpriced and do not need bunker busters

    • huf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      the democrat election strategy for the last few election cycles has been to promise no substantial improvement and just point at the republicans. obama was the last democrat president who remembered to lie and make big promises.

      • Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        At least we got the Affordable Care Act with him (while Trump got rid of it) and repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell allowing LGBTQ+ service members to openly serve in the military. Almost everything else after that has been a disappointment from the Dems since they find it more profitable to act as controlled opposition to the GOP thanks to bribery from groups like major oil companies and Israel.

    • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
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      The Democratic party largely runs on a platform based more on counteracting the Republican party less than substantially improving anything. Despite claiming to be progressive, they have slowly shifted to the right over decades, and manage to bungle easy wins again and again.

        • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          “What someone said makes me uncomfortable because it challenges my government indoctrination. I have neither the self-awareness to recognize this nor the vocabulary to articulate it if I did, so I’ll just call them stupid instead.”

          Classic American response.

    • Spacehooks@reddthat.com
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      Its more like gop are far worst than dems in mostly every regard. So not voting for dems is voting for the greater evil. So the gun is just the representation of the threat of more damage by madmen if you dont vote for dems.

    • GeneralEmergency@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      It’s a russian propaganda meme.

      Just ignore it and be disappointed but not surprised at how gullible Lemmite are.

    • jimmy90@lemmy.world
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      you know in my home town we train spies

      it’s true

      im saying it out loud

      in public

      yeah

      you love democracy

      yeah

      nah

      yeahnah

    • BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      I don’t understand how people can argue you should choose one at all. I don’t want to be harmed at all and it’s not my fault for wanting that.

    • Cherries@lemmy.world
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      During her campaign, Kamala Harris promised to go after “illegal immigrants” and create the most lethal military in the world. The DNC just released a report claiming that Trans people were a weight around Harris’ neck that she should have abandoned. When asked if she would change things from Biden era policies on Isreal, she claimed nothing would change under her tenure.

      I voted for Harris because I wanted Trump to lose, but it really seemed like a vote for Harris was a vote to harm the marginalized, the minority, the child, and the disabled. A lot of people heard what was said and saw actions enacted and decided not to vote for either party because they saw the options presented as, “harm lots” or “harm lots but with pride stickers”.

      • BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        I just got told since I’m already marginalized by our political and voting system I shouldn’t say anything in political discussions. Blue MAGA is really a thing.

      • village604@adultswim.fan
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        That’s why its a good practice to ignore campaign bullshit and look at their voting history. Pretty much no one actually follows through on campaign promises.

        Harris ran a bad campaign, but she was actually a good option if you look at the stats that matter.

        • piccolo@sh.itjust.works
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          It seemed DNC thought they could gain votes by appealing to republicans that were on the fence, and underestimate their core base found it incredibly distasteful and apparently had amnesia from the previous trump admin.

        • Cherries@lemmy.world
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          It doesn’t matter how good the restaurant is if all their advertising says, “we put bugs in our food!” It is kinda useless to consider how good the Kamala presidency might have been, how much of her campaign she would or would not have followed through on. People made their choice based on what she said she would do, and people did not like what she was promising.

          It is possible that she would have given less weapons to Isreal, but that’s not what she said she would do. It’s possible that she would have reined in ICE and defunded them, but that’s not what she said she would do. It’s possible that she would have protected the rights of minority groups, but that’s not what she said she would do. Even if Kamala Harris had a perfect voting record and had a history of supporting progressive changes, I think it would be very reasonable to become skeptical of her based on her campaign promises.

    • MrNobody@quokk.auOP
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      If your vote would harm the marginalized, the minority, the child, the disabled then fuck you poser

      So don’t vote Dem or GOP? Got it.

  • GraniteM@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The crazy thing is, primaries exist, and an engaged coalition within a given political party can make an outsized impact in them, and then the party just is whatever those primary voters determine it is. That’s how we got Trump’s Republicans in the first place, and that’s how we got Mayor Mamdani, over the objections of the previous establishment in both cases.

    The only obstacle is if the coalition is so disorganized, or their views are so niche, that they can’t even win a primary with a fraction of a fraction of the turnout for a general election, and if that’s the case, then… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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      The DNC has argued in court that it has no obligation to provide a fair elections in the primaries. That’s also just not really how parties work in general. Parties can purge whoever they feel like.

      If we’re supposed to just rely on primaries and treat them as free and fair elections, then what exactly would be the issue with a one-party state? If you don’t like the way the one party is running things, just join them and start an internal movement to change things. It’s the exact same logic.

    • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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      Comments like this just serve to absolve the people who do show up to primaries for being pieces of shit. And believe me, as someone who has phone banked plenty, they are fully aware they’re fighting leftists and progressives. 🤷‍♂️

      You tell us we’re disorganized or niche fine. That means another group is organized and therefore has the power. That means they are responsible for outcomes. They are responsible for Joe Biden blocking a rail strike, going around congress twice to ship weapons to Israel in order to be used in a genocide, failing to bring Trump to justice and ultimately losing the general election in 2024 due to hanging on too long so a proper primary couldn’t be run.

      If you aren’t willing to acknowledge that side of the conversation then you’re just another liberal trying to absolve yourself of the failures you and your organized group have caused. If you aren’t willing to take responsibility then stop showing up in the primaries and get the fuck out of the way. 🤷‍♂️