10mo ago

A longtime GOP operative helped the Green Party’s Jill Stein get on the N.H. ballot. Democrats smell mischief.

www.bostonglobe.com

A longtime GOP operative helped the Green Party’s Jill Stein get on the N.H. ballot. Democrats smell mischief. - The Boston Globe

"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."

128 comments

With a tip of the keyboard to a certain someone who has blocked me and won't see this (a shame really):
Since many in this community have a habit of resorting to personal attacks when responding to posts recently, I’ll say this: I support and respect everyone’s right to vote for who they want to. Just as I support the ability of anyone to point out to someone the consequences of their actions. ;)
I’m just posting this article that’s already available on a much bigger platform than Lemmy—I didn’t write it, just sharing it for discussion.
- What this? Oh just Jill Stein enjoying dinner with known traitor Mike Flynn and the guy who wants Democracy destroyed and Trump in office— Pootie.
  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna742696
  
  Yep, she's the greenwashing candidate who comes out every four years to collect a paycheck and espouse Libertarianism. An absolute grifter.
- Hey, you never need to apologize for sharing news unless it's fabricated - some people may downvote articles they disagree with but most of us just appreciate the folks that find stories to share.
  
  They are being facetious because the user they mentioned constantly posts in favor of third party candidates and had taken to writing a bizarre disclaimer like this to essentially troll the many users they're pissing off with their behavior
- Lol I love it. It's almost a badge of honor to be blocked by that user. They seem to want to be aware of people countering their troll campaign so they can bait those people into saying something that will get them banned. So you really must have upset them to get blocked.
  I did the math last night. On average they've posted or commented about every twenty minutes, assuming they sleep 8 hours a day, since they created their account a month ago. Posting at this rate, almost entirely in favor of third parties. Hmmm.. I wonder why. They don't give a shit about third parties; only about keeping Democrats from getting votes.
  
  Oh, I saw the numbers! That was terrific that you pulled that together!
  And yeah, their history shows that they’re either chronically and desperately online (sort of sad actually) or posting like they’re getting paid for it. I don’t envy the mods for having to deal with all the chaos that user causes, but the user is almost preternaturally good at threading the needle of the rules.
  Luckily the election will be done in less than two months and then I have to guess we won’t seem them again for another four years ;)
  
  And not one post about efforts to advance alternative voting systems.
  
  Which user? Sorry I'm out of the loop
- With a tip of the keyboard to a certain someone who has blocked me and won’t see this (a shame really):
  I can take a pretty educated guess as to who that is. You're not wrong for posting this in the slightest.
  These shenanigans are the exact type of bullshit that shows the U.S. is a failed democracy, and is in need of severe election reform. That goes for the form of financial reform, switching to more representative types of voting like approval voting, measures taken to make gerrymandering impossible, etc.
  
  The irony in my discussions with that other user is that I wholeheartedly agree we need viable third parties. And to your point, we desperately need election reform. But their willful ignorance of the fact we need to put out the house fire before we start discussing changes to building codes is the kicker.
  The sad thing is that all the current third party candidates are useful idiots and not viable alternatives. And with democracy literally on the line, there’s not any real option other than acting like an adult and casting a ballot for the only option that moves us forward. And then the day after Election Day, start doing the real work to fix this for every Election Day thereafter.
- If your second paragraph is implicating who I'm thinking since you're basically using a direct quote of theirs, then I'm not at all surprised by them blocking you. They love to take quotes out of context or ignore half of a quote for their own benefit. I love that you're directly calling them out. Good on you for actually knowing how our election system works.
- Oh lord, don’t normalize this drivel.
  
  I don’t believe anyone else will do it, but based on the article, I couldn’t help but be a bit cheeky this once.
  
  Haha I thought it was pretty funny
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 :)
  
  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.
  
  Its always "next time"
- They are.
  
  The last time that was introduced was 2021. They WERE. They currently are not.
Putin’s Jizz Stein wants Nato disbanded, the US to give up their SC veto, and revoke weapons to help Ukraine defend itself while simultaneously forcing ‘peace’ (subjugation) negotiations with russia.
For those that don’t understand how the Electoral College + FPTP voting works, voting for her means helping donald become president due to the spoiler effect.

2015 Stein breaking bread with Putin, his senior staff, and Mike Flynn (later Trump's national security advisor
- Just as a bit of context:
  Willy Wimmer is a German former Bundestag member, who is massivly into conspiracy theories and at this point far right
  Michael Flynn was one of the contacts between Trump and the Russian government. He plead guilty to that
  Cyril Svoboda was one of the guys who gave Voices of Europe an interview in which he supported Russias position on Ukraine. Voices of Europes interviews were paid and used as a way to finance the far right in Europe using Russian money. It is currently under EU sanctions. His former party has distanced themself from him, due to his ties to Russia.
  Emir Kusturica is a Serbia film director, who makes propaganda films and has far right pro Russian positions. His wife is well his wife.
  The rest are obviously all Russian politcal figures and well Jill Stein. The photo was also taken at a Russia Today celebration. Just saying.
I'd also like to point out something I've heard way too much lately:
maybe democrats should run on some of the policies that are overwhelmingly popular instead so there’s no room on the left for someone to run.
I've heard probably a dozen variations of this statement by now.
The spoiler effect is the result of geometric distance between candidates, not the strength of policy positions. If anybody tells you that the democrats should just do X, unless X is switching the country over to approval/star/rcv, or some other system that is more representative, they don't know what they're talking about.
Here is an example using a randomly generated set of voters and candidates. The first election is just two candidates, the second election is identical, but with an extra 3rd candidate

Total voters: 765 The winner was favorable to 56% of voters lachlan - 427 emma - 338

Total voters: 765 The winner was favorable to 44% of voters emma - 338 lachlan - 312 omalley - 115
Any party, any candidate can fall victim to this, no matter how strong or inspirational they are. This is simply the result of everybody voting for the candidate closest to them.
A good electoral system will not have the results changed by an irrelevant candidate. But our current systems are vulnerable to this, and it is disastrous for the state of our country.
Seems kinda dirty that Jill Stein would even consider "doing business" with the GOP. I kinda figured as a third party leader she of all people would put her morals and beliefs above numbers.
- she is, and always has been, at best an out of touch accelerationist, and at worst a fascist sympathizer and collaborator
Something smells like borscht at this dinner?
- I don’t know what borscht smells like, but I assume it’s …. Uh…. “Unique”
  
  Borcht is delicious. It's beef/chicken/protein veg with beets as a kind of stew with a sort of tomato creme sauce. You typically serve it with a genous dollop of sour cream and dill. The dill is optional (I know some people hate that flavor) but in my opion is really key.
  It doesn't really have a particular scent other than "stew". It's great in a slow cooker, and you can bastardize/customize it if you want (although it may not technically be Borcht at that point). If I don't have beef I'll do it with polish sausage and sometimes had boiled eggs.
  10/10 don't sleep on tasty European tomato beet meat stew. Stew/soup season is coming.
  
  Nothing wrong with a good borscht and good bread.
  Lots wrong with the people in the picture though.
I think this is a losing issue for Democrats to be putting effort into.... while third party candidates may be spoilers in our current system the solution is not to try and disenfranchise those parties - it's terrible optics and, if you want to capture green voters there are so much easier tactics.
- That 3% that third-party candidates typically earn makes a big difference when polls are showing 49% to 48%. It’s fair to question a Republican’s motive to support a candidate with opposing views to their own party.
- I think it’s really important for people to know that fringe parties are being propped up to divide the left.
  Might make voters realize a pragmatic choice will result in an outcome more aligned with their goals.
  
  The Democrats can retaliate with Libertarians.
- Yep, and the reason they rely on non-Democratic operatives for this stuff is because the DCCC will blacklist you if you help a third party/independent campaign.
  If you need the expertise to get on the ballot, your best chance is to hire someone that worked for one of the big parties before.
  Instead of handwringing about spoilers, maybe democrats should run on some of the policies that are overwhelmingly popular instead so there's no room on the left for someone to run.
  
  But voters and politicians aren't one and the same. Voters have every right to call out spoilers. Politicians, I don't see doing it all that often, but even still you have a point there. They could listen more to what people actually want rather than being afraid of alienating centrists.
  
  Instead of handwringing about spoilers, maybe democrats should run on some of the policies that are overwhelmingly popular instead so there’s no room on the left for someone to run.
  The spoiler effect is the result of geometric distance between candidates, not the strength of policy positions. You don't know what you're talking about.
Isn't she also a crazy crystal lady? 🤔
- I think that’s Marianne Williamson? She was a wacko that ran in 2020.
  
  Nah it was Jill
Media Bias Fact Check | bot support
- Boston Globe is left-center? Yikes, more misinformation from the conservative bot.
Considering Democrats did the same thing when Trump was running in 16 because they thought it would be easier for Hilary to win... Maybe they would learn that this kind of crappy gaming is dumb and could be fixed with improved voting systems.
- I'm not sure if they are a russian shill, but unfortunately they are telling the truth. Democrats have often employed the pied piper strategy, and it has come back to bite them a few times.
  It was probably most famously used when Hillary Clinton boosted Trump, because he seemed to be the weakest Republican primary candidate at the time. How the Hillary Clinton campaign deliberately "elevated" Donald Trump with its "pied piper" strategy
  Democrats are still boosting and supporting extremist Republicans now. The risky strategy Democrats are using to win elections
  
  Pointing out that Democrats played stupid games and got stupid prizes makes me a Russian shill and Trump apologist?
- Right... Because it's the Democrats that don't want to make it easier to vote and improve voting systems....
  This is sarcasm.
  
  Democrats are never going to do anything that breaks the duopoly in IS politics.

128 comments