“According to FEC filings, the Synapse Group has worked for Republican Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination this cycle, as well as GOP candidates for Congress. Synapse has also been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for field and canvassing work by America PAC, the outside spending group started by allies of Musk that has spent millions of dollars this election cycle to boost Trump and oppose Democrats.”
Democrats should combat this by advocating for ranked choice or approval choice voting which is a fairer voting system and won’t allow for “spoilers”
They should.
They won’t because they benefit from the system too.
But they should.
That’s the thing about these viral talking points they’re making though - this can be used as a launch pad for approval choice voting if we all bring it up every time it’s mentioned in conversation. Using improv’s “Yes, and,” to further leftist causes. With enough peer pressure it’s possible to change public policy.
Yeah, election reform should be the first priority …once this election is done. And age limits for federal offices and judicial appointments. And federal standards for how federal elections are held. And roughly dozens of other things :)
Its always “next time”
Well, as magic wands are in short supply, how do you propose we deal with the practicalities of getting it done? A bit flippant, but it’s the kind of issue that needs to be worked on all the time, not just every four years.
Well, since Democrats ain’t gonna do it and Republicans sure as hell ain’t, let’s quit using it as a prerequisite for fixing things that centrists don’t want to fix but also don’t want to be pressured over.
🖐🤚We need to bring the wand-manufacturing jobs back to America 👐, it’s terrible👆 they’ve all closed up shop and moved to Narnia.
Disagree, I think any Democrat worth voting for will bring this up. I think this is a “right now” topic which is a perfect rebuttal to their annoyance with third party candidates.
The problem is that some form of ranked choice voting is the right choice, but have you ever tried to explain RCV to anyone over the age of 50? I have had to in a professional setting, and it’s nearly impossible. It just makes them confused and angry. Unfortunately elections are not the greatest forum for explaining new ideas, and if Harris were to come out for it, she’d likely lose more votes than she’d get.
Can you imagine the headlines and tv news chyrons from certain sources if she even mentions “needed election reforms” right now? The whole race would become about how she’s trying to “break elections” and take over the country. We’ve got people right now seriously talking about Haitians eating pets based on absolutely nothing - and you think her talking about changing how we hold elections is going to help?!
However, during the honeymoon of a new administration and if we get enough seats in Congress, it might be possible to start the conversation that would lead us down that road. Especially if folks are willing to make it obvious that we’re going to hold their feet to the fire when it comes time for the mid-terms.
We’re not talking about something even within the purview of the President - we’re talking Congress and state legislatures. The only way to do it is to have a President using the bully pulpit and citizen groups with such overwhelming activity that the politicians know their jobs are on the line.
Just call it instant runoff then. It’s the same thing (as I understand it) and has been in the American lexicon for some time now.
Democrats benefit from the current system. How many times to hear “Biden may not be great, but you have to vote for him to stop Trump?”
When you’re running against the “let’s be dictators” party lack of voter choice is an advantage. You don’t have to have any policy other than “we won’t be dictators” and voters can’t hold you accountable for anything without letting the dictator take power.
They are.
The last time that was introduced was 2021. They WERE. They currently are not.
They still are, the Wikipedia page just hasn’t been updated.
Edit: Actually, if you’d just look at the “Legislative History” section of the wiki article instead of reading just the top summary, you’d see it got reintroduced in 2024.
That’s not ALL the democrats. That’s not a message by the entire party.
Eta: yes since my last comment it was reintroduced by the same guy, at the time I commented it had not been reintroduced in 2024
It’s from some of the most senior democrats from the progressive and centrist wings and would permanently destroy Gerrymandering, I’m pretty sure most democrats would support it given the chance.
Then the public should demand their representatives talk about it more
Moving the goalpost
No.
Really? You think the Democrats should be spending valuable time in an election year talking about a niche electoral reform that most people would need explained?
There’s a reason 99% of political rhetoric revolves around bread and butter issues or something that can be used to scare people. RCV is neither of those, and most people who are actually dedicated to getting RCV already know about FairVote and the Democratic party’s willingness to pass RCV.
Niche? I thought it was an idea the entire Dem group was putting forth legislation on, now it’s an obscure idea we have to take time to explain? Your last paragraph contradicts your first one - is approval voting so niche that Dems don’t know about it and can’t talk about it and have to explain, or is it so well known that every Dem already has openly stated their support of it?
Yes, Dems should take time during campaigns to talk about actual policy. That’s what campaigns are for.
99% of status quo talking points are boring because our representatives are bad at their jobs.