• Rikudou_Sage@lemmings.world
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    9 hours ago

    You Americans are really weird in that regard. As a foreigner, both your parties are fucking horrible. To demonstrate what I mean: one party wants to ban abortions, the other party says that unless you vote for them, the bad guys will take away your abortions and then they proceed to do absolutely nothing about it.

    So yeah, one of your parties is almost cartoonishly evil, the other is plain old adult-level evil.

    It’s not that democrats are any better than republicans, they’re just smarter about pretending they’re not evil.

    • prole
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      6 hours ago

      This is not only incredibly reductionist, it’s just flatout wrong. How can people still tout this “both parties are the same” bullshit?

      It’s gonna get real hard to keep it up in a few months when we start to see the real world implications of a second Trump regime.

  • bouh@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    And thus, instead of fighting the actual enemy, the republicans, you’re antagonising the people who are more reasonable. Next time you can do it like France and call leftist crazy extremists so you’ll seem less hypocritical about it.

    • Moneo@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      Been saying this the whole time. Libs were shaming and harassing undecided voters for weeks instead of acknowledging that the dems were running a god awful campaign and pivoting towards nazi policies.

  • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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    20 hours ago

    Some of us are actually not Democrats or Republicans because we really think both sides are bad in different ways. I still voted though.

    • rigatti@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      It’s still worth it to register for one of the major parties to vote in their primary and push them towards your actual politics. For example, I wouldn’t consider myself “a Democrat”, but I am registered to the party and I vote as progressive as I can in primaries.

      • Bruncvik@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        From what I’ve read, the two times Trump won, many Democrats felt that they were denied this choice, which left them disillusioned, and they didn’t vote. I don’t think that’s the main reason for Trump’s victory, but what you touched on was definitely a factor in the Democrats’ loss.

      • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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        10 hours ago

        Not all states work the same. In Ohio I can just show up and tell them which one I want to vote in each time. I always vote in the Democrat or Republican primary, I get a voice without committing to one or the other.

    • JaymesRS@literature.cafeOP
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      20 hours ago

      And some of us who are that way understand that in FPTP there can only be a winner from one of the major parties and we are choosing who we want to fight to push for changes.

      • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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        19 hours ago

        I always vote for who I perceive as the lesser evil of the two. This year is no different. I’m not excited about what either candidate wants to fight for. I will oppose whoever is elected on multiple fronts.

  • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    I think both Dems and Republicans suck in very different and not proportionate ways, but I am also a very big proponent of voting. Go vote! It’s your duty.

    • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      I find that the thing people need to remember is that the general election is purely damage control time. For actual change, and getting candidates that don’t suck, the work needs to already be done by the time the election rolls around.

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Politics is marketing. Governing is the slow boring of hard boards. You only get there with dilligence, conviction, and commitment to the idea that you are planting the trees that will shade your grandchildren.

      • Guy Dudeman@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        The local candidates and party officials matter more than the final presidential vote. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t vote for President.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      I find OP’s post functionally defeatest. It hinges on this theory that there really is only one choice every election season. You must vote Democrat - whether it’s Sherrod Brown or Eric Adams - and you can never question how these officials behave during an election season.

      The Dems don’t have any real duty towards their voters, or even an obligation to do a particularly good job of governing. They can just point at Republicans, say “Worse! Vote for us or that’s who you get”, then blast people with anxiety-inducing advertisement until folks panic.

      The end result of this system is one in which Dems win by maximizing anxiety, rather than improving quality of life for anyone.

      • jatone@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 hours ago

        Which is why they lose. People literally tune them out. Unless they’re morons like myself who keep trying to help the Democrats.see their nonsense.

      • JaymesRS@literature.cafeOP
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        19 hours ago

        There are vastly larger numbers of choices in local and legislative races. And I encourage people to work hard to more variety in local and legislative races to push your values instead of only checking in every 4 years. The primary is the key time to push for who you want as the candidate.

        During the actual election though, with FPTP, it unfortunately is that reductive. You are stuck choosing who is the lesser evil or who you want to push for change. The November presidential election is like public transportation. You may not like the conditions of the train or the exact destination the bus ends up at, but you take the bus that gets you closer to your destination.

      • curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 day ago

        I’d say most people think a wasted vote in a contentious election with a racist, rapist, fascist who wants to end democracy is stupid.

        If you were to say, I don’t know, be working with local parties at the town, city, and state level to grow them and get them into positions, making them viable for the presidency down the road - not stupid! Awesome, in fact.

        Telling people vote for a 3rd party in this presidential election?

        Stupid. Very, very stupid. Yes, it will be frowned upon. Because its stupid. And people should be telling you how stupid it is. Because it is.

      • JaymesRS@literature.cafeOP
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        23 hours ago

        If you want to organize and elect socialists at local levels of power who form coalitions with other left wing groups to coordinate against conservatives, I will help you do it.

        If you do nothing but whine online and avoid politics to vote for a socialist candidate every 4 years during the presidential elections in a FPTP system, you’re a moron.

        • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml
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          22 hours ago

          I can see you understand the flaws of First past the post voting quite well. We are going to need people like you to change this mathematically flawed voting system.

          Feel free to stop by my ask lemmy post to discuss replacing First-past-the-post voting in your state when you’re ready. Thanks.

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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        24 hours ago

        In my experience, most people voting for 3rd parties care more for their own sense of morals than they do with actual outcomes. This election has not changed that in the slightest, and it’s even more open and obvious when the question of ‘ok, then what happens?’ comes up. I’ve been told by a supposed anti-genocide person that it’s ok if Palestinians get genocide harder because of the Democrats win they won’t pay attention to the progressives.

        Like, how can you take someone seriously that is openly advocating for a path that makes their cause worse?

    • Billiam@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      The fact that you only ever hear of third parties every four years really illustrates what their true objectives are.

      • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        The fact that you only ever hear about ranked choice voting when you tell Democrat you’re thinking of voting third part illustrates what their true objectives are.

        (Also, I see third candidate parties in every midterm and local election I vote in at all levels of government. I have no idea what you’re talking about).

        (Also also, anyone reading this who lives in a swing state and hasn’t voted yet, please, just votes for Harris. She sucks, but Trump is even more dangerous now that he has a staff full of enablers and an actual plan. We have to beat him.)

        • Billiam@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          Not having RCV doesn’t make anything worse.

          Promoting third-parties without RCV in place does.

          • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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            22 hours ago

            Well, third parties have always existed and will always exist, so it sounds like the Democrats need to get cracking on RCV. That is, unless they don’t actually want RCV because it might disrupt the duopoly that empowers them, and they’d prefer that third-parties remain a boogeyman they can use to bully people I to voting for them (or a scapegoat for their losses).

    • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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      23 hours ago

      Third parties run at all levels of government and they would actually benefit from eliminating first past the post polling far more than the major parties.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        The bitter fact is that a winning candidate has no incentive to reform the voting system that put them in power.

        Why would a dominant party want to give any competitor an advantage?

        • Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          I hate to say it, but the only way I could see it happen is if both parties simultaneously see significant 3rd/4th party challengers acting as spoilers. In that situation, RCV would be the short term solution to remove the effect of spoiler votes. Basically the situation the UK is in right now with both the Lib Dems and Reform.

        • JaymesRS@literature.cafeOP
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          19 hours ago

          Because they care about maintaining their voters far more than enticing non-voters. If you listen to legislators and their staff for example, the way they perceive it is that non-voters may as well not exist in their minds, but eroding voters get attention.

      • Wiz@midwest.social
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        6 hours ago

        I see no Green party members on the local ballot to enact this. They are starting at the top, which doesn’t help.

        • wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works
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          6 hours ago

          The greens internal voting is literally done by RCV, they have it both in practice and in platform all the way down the line. AFAIK, so does the DSA.

          But whatever dude, keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working out great, clearly!

      • Queue
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        10 hours ago

        Shhh, they need someone to blame for their horrible run.

  • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml
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    22 hours ago

    Looking to shut up those people complaining about both sides from the sidelines? Put them in the game by passing electoral reform in your state.

    Since they seem to know it all, let them show us how it’s done by replacing First-past-the-post voting, passing equal access and airtime laws, and switching away from a perpetual election cycle to something shorter and more reasonable.

    Get them to prove to us they know how to do things by making third parties viable and doing away with the infamous spoiler effect that is inherent with FPTP voting.

    More people involved in the poltical process, more people voting, more people voting = more democratic votes, more chances to defeat the republicans, more people to call out bullshit on the debate stage, no more canceled debates because of giant man babies.

    Electoral reform is just win after win for the American people. I know the election season has people exhausted, but things don’t have to be this way. We can be free.

  • Sunshine @lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    Yup, they know they’re outnumbered so they try every trick in the book to stop the Democrat bloc surplus from voting.

  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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    24 hours ago

    For anyone who already knows the truth of this meme, or who would like to know more about the vast methods of deception and how to spot and counter them, this DEFCON 32 talk is incredible.

    DEF CON 32 - Counter Deception: Defending Yourself in a World Full of Lies - Tom Cross, Greg Conti

    The Internet was supposed to give us access to the world’s information, so that people, everywhere, would be able to know the truth. But that’s not how things worked out. Instead, we have a digital deception engine of global proportions. Nothing that comes through the screen can be trusted, and even the things that are technically true have been selected, massaged, and amplified in support of someone’s messaging strategy.

    Deception isn’t just about narratives - we see deception at every layer of the network stack, from spoofed electromagnetic signatures, to false flags in malware, to phony personas used to access networks and spread influence. They hide in our blindspots, exploit our biases, and fill our egos while manipulating our perceptions.

    How do we decide what is real? This talk examines time-tested maxims that teach the craft of effective deception, and then inverts those offensive principles to provide defensive strategies. We’ll explore ways to counter biases, triangulate information sources, detect narratives, and how hackers can build tools that can change the game.

  • zanyllama52@infosec.pub
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    22 hours ago

    I voted, that should be enough, same as anyone.

    Also, both sides are bad, in different ways.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    voter suppression and voting are not the same thing.

    a vote for third parties is as valid as a vote for a primary color.

  • usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml
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    1 day ago

    Find your polling location. Go vote!

    Your ballot will be deciding much more than just the president. Even if you did theoretically think both presidential canidates were equal in all regards (they aren’t), then vote for the down ballot races!

    Keep your local school boards from having insane people on it that will ban books and harm your kids or your neighbors’s.

    Vote for the constitutional ammendment questions and ballot initiatives. For instance, many states have either pro and anti abortion questions on their ballot.

    • JaymesRS@literature.cafeOP
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      23 hours ago

      They are technically correct in that a first past the post system will always reduce to a 2 party contest. The fact that conservatives are more consistent and reliable voters is where that distinction breaks down in reality. Non-voting and splitting the left wing coalition hurts the Democratic Party more.

      • aviationeast@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        I’m more right leaning the left. So I guess I’m your statistical outlier. Harris won my state. Doesn’t matter, the oligarchs have gained more power.

      • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml
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        21 hours ago

        The democratic party should get to it replacing First-past-the-post voting then. Stopping the Republicans is priority right?