USians are you voting center right (Democrat) out of fear of the alt-right (Republicans) winning?

I’m not voting for either party. Now’s not the time for division

I don't have a reason to vote for either a democratic candidate or a republican candidate.

It's simple as that, but since you're asking for an explanation:

The DNC has managed to convince me to vote for them up until 2020.

They promised a lot, but once they got into power, they walked back what they said and started talking about strategy and pragmatism. Legalizing marriage equality could cost the midterms. Cancelling student debt is too big of a risk to the economy right now. Healthcare will come gradually if we just make these concessions.

And now?

It's worse.

Biden's carcass barely skidded into the white house after fuckery in the primary, the same campaign promises trotted out from previous elections, and the utter shitshow of trump's presidency. For god's sake, it took mismanaging a pandemic to get the win.

Here we are now with people still suffering and dying from COVID, the dissolution of abortion rights, worsening climate disasters.

And the Democratic party can't even deliver on biden's campaign promise of financial relief. They're telling people to still go to work despite having covid symptoms. They're forcing trains to continue running without maintenance.

It took Thanatos to remove Diane Feinstein from office because nobody else with power in the party had the political will.

And that's what it comes down to. The democratic party doesn't have the will to make things better because it doesn't benefit them.

Why should I vote for them if they won't benefit me or the people I care about? What material conditions would I expect them to improve?

I'll vote in local elections and I'll continue what I'm doing in my community, but as I said, I won't vote for a candidate who doesn't give me a reason to vote for them.

CENTRISM DOESN'T EXIST, IT'S MERELY A RHETORICAL STRATEGY

THERE'S NOTHING ALTERNATIVE ABOUT THE RIGHT WING, THIS IS WHAT THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN

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Joe Biden is building the wall and let Roe get overrturned. Democrats don't even do harm reduction now.

The only difference is whether or not the president releases rainbow balloons at pride or rants about the gays ruining Christmas.

I have voted Democrat my entire life and things have gotten worse. Voting changes nothing

I'll vote Green. There are no PSL or SA or CPUSA for me to vote for. It's the left most option I have. And if not a green slot, then Libertarian just because they are more sane than Republicans and don't care too much for imperalism or culture war bullshit. is not "harm reduction".

Maybe write in Eugene Debbs. Hear he's still running from a cell somewhere.

In we're under the 3rd Red Scare and 2nd Lavender Scare. Fascist death spiral will continue until socialism improves.

Not anymore. If Dems want my vote they have to do better than strikebreaker Joe.

Dems want to build cop cities and Bidens on track to deport more people than Trump

I cannot in good conscience vote for that, it would be immoral and unprincipled, so I simply will not vote in a national election

oh fuck im gonna voot

can't you vote for 3rd parties or anything

I vote Dem straight-ballot, because of the harm reduction, and also because I don't buy the argument that having Republicans in power is energizing leftist sentiments more than it is emboldening outright fascim. But I am sympathetic to the idea that electoralism is a cul-de-sac where leftist political energy goes to run out of steam and die. I don't want to pretend that I'm totally sure of what the right approach is.

No, even if I did believe voting did something, it still wouldn't matter since I live in a very red state.

there is no point in voting, all we're doing is lending out tacit support to the system that will do as it wishes regardless

Why are people always trying to get people here to ????

Everyone here knows how the electoral system in the US works, and has madeca decision in whether they want to are not. The kind of people in a left political space are more politically aware than average.

The vast majority of people in the US don't vote and are not generally politically aware. If you really need to evangelize go out and talk to them. People here are not get-able, they've made their decision one way or another.

And most importantly, the people on this site who live in the US are not going to be the deciding votes in US elections, especially presidential (because that's what all US evangelists are always talking about) There's not enough communists or anarchists to blame your electoral losses on. Look into the 10s of millions of peoole that don't vote and don't have an exact reason for it, other than inherently knowing that the system they live under doesn't work

I'm probably just going to vote for the farthest left viable candidate in each race. If it's the liberal, it's the liberal. If it's the DSA candidate it's the DSA candidate. The meat of my organizing work happens outside of electoral politics, but I want the political environment I work in to be the friendliest possible.

I don't shit on people for playing the harm reduction game. That being said, I was told that l'orange douche was the worst thing ever and while he was in office nothing really changed. Then I was told Biden was going to make everything better and that hasn't happened. So... like... this is all bullshit. Plus, I ponder if Trump is so incompetent it might be a blessing in disguise.

I dunno. Voting is pointless without a a people's vanguard and some sort of system with material benefit. I'll vote on local races but in the last 6-8 years I can't remember voting for a particular candidate on the national level.

no. i don't support right-wingers

it's honestly that simple

Nope. They can earn it, otherwise, I actively want it to fall.

What the fuck is doing that doesn't continue or even expand upon what did?

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Hahaha imagine participating in electoralism lmao...

Nothing had fundamentally change and nothing will fundamentally change from electoralism.

honestly I probably will. I’ve voted third party/not voted for all previous elections, but this election I really just don’t care at all. Like, we’re gonna get one or the other anyway so why not just vote for the one I’d prefer. Although I’m only voting if I can vote by mail, I’m not expending energy to go down to a voting station or anything.

No, but to be fair, I am in a very Blue state, so I don't even have to deal with hypotheticals about lesser evils. My state is so over-determined that my vote for national offices mean literally nothing.

Voting in the US is like having the option of 5 fruits, but through the magic of “democracy” you only get to vote for either apples or bananas or you could throw your vote away on oranges or something. Meanwhile, I just want mango’s. Since voting will never get me mango’s (communism) why would I engage. It’s materially inconsequential. It’s not like the political parties decide what happen anyways

Not since 2016, didnt work. I also live in one of the only solidly blue cities in TX so my vote means shit.

To be honest, I do actually think this marks an election where voting democrat might be in my interests... if I even lived in America in the first place.

It just is a fact that republicans are going mask off, and they truly are worse for much of the world than democrats. Obama put sanctions on Venezuela. Trump put down sixfold the amount. Whatever democrats will do, the republicans will do it worse.

I get having apathy towards it. I don't blame you if you don't. The contradictions will continue to worsen. It almost feels like events in the future are guaranteed to come, and that the democrats will only delay them very minorly.

If I was in a swing state I would because Project 2025 is genuinely terrifying, but I'm not so I won't.

I will vote dem for non-presidential elections for the sole purpose of keeping Sarah Palin out of congress, but that is pretty much it

I'm going to spend a half hour voting for my local politicians so I might as well vote for Marianne while I'm there.

I get my ballot mailed to me way before I have to do anything with it so I usually send it back with whatever takeout menu preferences I find in it

I'm sure I'll get called a federated lib but yes. I commonly see the argument that fascist encroachment has still happened under Biden, which is definitely true, but I still think it would be worse and faster under Republican leadership. If we had legitimate dual power institutions that could provide for and protect the most targeted amongst us, I'd be more open to the "fuck it" argument, but for now I will still participate in the elctoral system from an entirely harm mitigation perspective.

I vote dem downballot because the republicans are worse and I would maybe consider voting dem for president if I lived in a swing state.

Also I only vote at all because I live in a vote by mail state (ballot gets mailed to me a couple weeks before election day, I fill it out in like 15 minutes and then drop it in a ballot box whenever I'm in town next), if I had to go stand in line at a polling place on a specific day I absolutely wouldn't.

For presidential i always vote EATASS42069

Ill maybe vote dem down ballot depending on who it is.

no

That's basically been my attitude since college or so, but now in my 30's I'll vote my local Dems, some of whom are not absolute ghouls, but anything more national is going to be a write-in for Cthulhu at this rate.

no i vote out of spite for my conservative family

Yeah, probably. Not that I think it’s going to do much.