Americans of Lemmy, what is your approach to next year's election?
Americans of Lemmy, what is your approach to next year's election?
2020 was... truly unique. It was so hard to stay away from doom scrolling, and I (and many others) were pretty disillusioned by the sad fact that so much of our country legitimately supported the Orange Man. I didn't get a wink of sleep the night of the election because I genuinely considered it to be a make or break decision for America.
My point is that looking back on it, in the end the only real difference I made was at the ballet box. This year I'm going for the Head-in-the-Sand approach. I'm done with the political memes. Done with the Twitter screenshots. It just riles me up and this year I'm gonna do my best to fight that.
It can be easy to feel like a drop of water in a large ocean when it comes to national elections. But you should also vote in your county and state elections; you can probably make more of a difference there.
I'm not saying "don't vote in the national election", but just know that there are other elections to vote in, and thry are just as important as the nationals.
I’m voting for the most progressive candidate possible in the primary, and then whoever’s not the Republican in the general, and I fully intend to do that for the rest of my life.
The Republican Party has some plans they’re putting together, and between that and the rhetoric that most major Republican politicians and candidates spout these days (very specifically including Trump), it’s abundantly clear they’ve more or less completely given up on democracy, and are planning on dismantling a significant proportion of the core institutions of our country and government, which will effectively usher in the American Empire (as in: a possibly theocratic, but definitely authoritarian and likely outright fascist dictatorship). To be clear: that would be a Very Bad Thing. You think Russia is troublesome now? Wait until Trump or someone similar starts treating them like an ally, emulating as much of Putin’s power structure as possible just because they think it’s cool and would make them look powerful, and potentially teaming up to do shitty things to the rest of the world because we have something like 95% of the nuclear weapons ever produced, and while Russian ones are in a questionable state, ours definitely work.
If Republicans win this next election - and especially if they are able to secure the presidency and both houses of Congress - I genuinely don’t think things will recover without significant domestic political violence, which may ultimately result in a civil war. I’m doing my best to prepare for some “GTFO” contingencies that could be executed in the next few years, but it’s not an easy thing to do, and there’s still a huge number of unknowns in a ton of dimensions.
If you think I’m being hyperbolic, you’re not paying attention.
I'm going to complain about not having a primary option for president, vote for the left-most person I can in the primary, and then vote down-ballot (D) in November. There's nothing I need to research with respect to these modern conservatives. Most democrats aren't really much better in most ways, but at least I can look my marginalized friends and colleagues in the eye after the election.
I like the Green Party’s eco-socialism, but their anti-vaccine lunacy and inability to do anything electorally beyond run a presidential candidate every four years doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies.
I like Cornel West, and I appreciate his long-standing commitment to left-wing and anti-racist values.
That said, I live in the real world, where Donald Trump is running as an open fascist promising to make America a dictatorship if elected, and Joe Biden is the only candidate running with a realistic chance of beating him.
So I’ll be voting for every Democrat I possibly can, while wishing they were better than they are, as always.
I see a lot of people here frustrated with our two party system. I too am frustrated. Donate to FairVote to get ranked choice on the ballot in more states. Ranked choice voting allows voters to express actual preferences between more than two parties and it is a win no matter who you normally vote for. Many states have a ballot measure system that can be used to pass legislation without requiring the agreement of the state legislature. Several US states have implemented ranked choice voting already. http://fairvote.org
I’ve voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past. Frankly, neither one of them deserves too much power.
If Trump is the nominee I’m voting for the other candidate no matter who that is. There is no circumstance in which I would vote for Trump. The devil himself could be running against Trump and I would either vote for the devil or abstain. If he is the nominee then the election is essentially a fight for democracy.
Although I generally like Biden’s administration, I am concerned about him and his age. If there was a normal candidate running against him I would consider voting for them, but it’s mostly a bunch of wackadoos on the Republican side.
Chris Christie and Nikki Haley were the only ones in the last Republican debate who had any common sense. Christie’s campaign isn’t going anywhere because he’s anti-Trump. Haley is too conservative for my liking. Ramaswamy and DeSantis are garbage humans. The Republicans need a reboot because they really suck.
In other words, I’m team blue - not because I’m thrilled with them but because I’m afraid of the alternative.
In 2016, I was an Independent. Straight down the middle. Would consider reasonable Democrats, Republicans, and 3rd party candidates.
In 2020, I was an Independent leaning Democratic. Would not consider Trump. Biden was locked in. Would hesitantly consider reasonable Republicans or Independents on a split ticket.
In 2024, I'm a Democrat. Will only consider Democrats up and down the ballot. No 3rd parties.
Vote against Republicans.
I'll vote for a non-Zionist candidate in the primaries with no real expectation of them winning. But I will vote blue no matter who for national and state politics, and Working Families Party for local if any run.
Is "Genocide Joe" an accurate nickname? Yeah. But fuck that, it's not like Trump will be any less zionist and third parties/independents don't work in FPTP. I'm mixed race, I'm bisexual, I'm worried about worst case scenarios with a second Trump presidency (which is basically "what Trump is saying out loud" at this point,) and I am willing to vote in enlightened self-interest.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place. It sucks.
I’m tired of the 2 party system. I don’t think I really have a party or political ideology that aligns with Democrats or Republicans and third party candidates are all over the place. I want to start voting on issues and not just politicians.
I don’t care what my politician’s feelings are. They represent a constituency and the only things they should be speaking about and for are exactly what they’re being asked for. Instead we have this political machine that takes every issues and gives it a red spin and a blue spin and then it’s force fed to the people.
Congress should not be creating our ideologies they should create the laws that structure the things the citizens want.
The Supreme Courr overturned Roe v Wade, put it on the ballet and let the people decide.
Gun control, put it on the ballet
Universal health care, put it on the ballet
Abandoning fossil fuels, put it on the ballet
Stop forcing your political and personal ideologies on us and start listing to the people. If we vote “Yes” on universal health care, the politicians must then go and figure out how to make it happen.
Let it truly be a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
There is no electoral solution to the accelerating depravity of this evil and crumbling Empire
Same as usual. Vote for the least harmful candidates while advocating for actual grassroots improvements, because voting harder won't move America to the left, ever.
Honestly there's not that much one can do, but I will:
- Hope Trump is thrown in prison
- Vote straight ticket Democrat
- Hope another Jan. 6 doesn't occur
- Try not to lose my shit when idiots say stuff like "both parties are equally bad"
I live in a solid blue state, so my national-level votes don't do much (though I'll cast them anyway).
In past years I've thrown a few hundred dollars at close senate and house races. In 2020 I volunteered for a phone/text bank sort of deal to make sure people were registered to vote.
Well, I've had to remove multiple people that used to just be right leaning for outright fascist statements and ideas in the last few months as they've deteriorated into hate speech and ethnic cleansing....so while I grew up conservative...yeah, I can't support that shit.
Democrats are a mild improvement at best but at least they aren't constantly being approved of by the KKK and being touted by mass shooters.
I'd like a proper left-leaning candidate, but with America's history. They'll end up assassinated.
It does not matter who I vote for for federal office. My state is never close to competitive and my house district is gerrymandered.
If fascists win my districts for state office, it will not affect the balance of power in the state assemblies.
So I told all of the Democrats running for state and local office that if there is not a primary for the presidential election, then I will not vote for any Democrats in the general elections in 2024, for any office. Maybe they can put pressure on the DNC.
This is the only way I can potentially have any input.
The only way this works is if Democrats would shift left if they started losing elections because people refused to vote for old white male conservative Democrats.
But I fear they would actually shift right. The Democratic Party is not a big tent that holds both the neoliberal corporate shills and the progressives. It is a hostage situation where the neoliberal corporate shills demand our support, otherwise the fascists will kill us.
Voting by mail as usual.
Trying to avoid customers that can't shut up about how wonderful trump is.
"I think he's the antichrist but he's doing a good job"
You know, bat shit insane things republicans say.
Well my choices are backslide slowly by voting dem, maybe buying enough time to get out of the country safely in the next few years, or risk being federally persecuted for being trans. So I'm going to dissociate through the whole thing and hopefully won't be able to remember voting for fucking Biden. Outside the election I do what I can to support actual leftist movements but until any of them have a chance to win against the fascists on ballots I'm team 'slightly better of two shitty choices'. I just want to be left alone to garden I hate all of this
Live in upstate new york so unless I throw my ballot at Biden so hard he dies my vote will have exactly zero effect on federal elections.
So voting for people who think public education is a positive and not communism in local elections where the differential is 12 votes and writing in Hunter Biden for president because it's funny.
hard liquor probably
The bourgeois elections are the least important part of politics
I'll research the voting habits of the candidates and vote for whoever has proven they can vote for what they believe in and not just party lines. So, probably no one.
For president, there's no way I'm voting for the orange convict if he's the candidate, which he probably will be because people that vote republican are morons. Unfortunately, based on where I live, my vote won't matter. I'll vote anyway.
I think avoiding political memes & etc is probably a good idea.
I'm gonna become the gosh dang joker yall
Not voting. Both parties suckle only at corporate teats. My domicile is in the reddest state so my vote doesn’t matter & it costs like $10–15 to mail in my ballot from abroad making it really not worth my time or money.
They said vaccines for all Americans during COVID then someone had to come in & asterisk that that doesn’t include Americans abroad. You pay taxes but no services like Medicare are offered abroad & you’re one of the last on the list of priorities so feeling disillusioned is the normal.
Not Trump
I have become a little active in my county party. Trying to learn the Democratic way of doing things (first impressions: no one is in charge). Hoping to be able to use my database and reporting skills to help improve the ground game for 2024.
Ill do what I always do, vote third party. Not that i think itll do litterally anything, i just hope one day enough people do it so we can atleast get some funding for a third party.
Voting is pretty pointless though, I'm going to try and pay as little attention as possible to the contest of warcriminal ghouls as I can. Maybe we'll luck out and have some of those octogenarian creeps die. Atleast then I can have some brief feeling of satisfaction before the world kicks my shit back in.
Feels bad ( if not alittle freeing ) to know you dont actually have a choice in this clown show, and would be just as well off using your political capital shit posting on the internet, or better yet do some irl praxis.
Yeah the political theater is just that-- theater. Aside from occasionally checking in to laugh/sob at how awful it all is, I'll be devoting my energy to things that actually matter.
As for voting, I guess if something local pops up worth voting for I'll vote in that. Nationally, the Democratic Party has shown its enthusiastic support for fascism and genocide so there's nobody I can vote for except maybe Cornell West or whoever the Greens or the PSL run. The one thing I know is, I won't vote for Biden or anyone like him. Arab and Muslim Americans are calling for a boycott of Biden, and it would be like breaking a picket line to vote for him, only 1000x worse becauase instead of exploitative work conditions it's literal genocide.
Point and laugh
Arizona here. Very likely voting straight Democrat. We’re a swing state that feels like it’s swinging further Democrat at time goes on. At least at ground level, it feels like things are changing for the better. Phoenix doesn’t look and feel like the land of the Karens and boomers as much as even 4 years ago.
If it's Trump on the ballet. Whoever else is better. Keep Hitler Jr out of office.
tell boss I'm gonna vote, take day off
don't vote, chill and eat ice cream at Coldstone
blatantly lie to coworkers the next day, pretend that I voted
I'm gonna make sure my loved ones are armed and have ammo.
Not voting and enjoying a beer
I'm not party affiliated, but I will vote for the Democratic Party candidate. It wouldn't make any difference in my state, but I do it anyway. My state doesn't swing, so I will probably send some money to Democratic candidates in closest out-of-state Senate races (I don't waste money on sure winners or losers).
It's a hold-my-nose thing, since I'm really only about 50% in agreement with them. I tend to swing farther left on certain issues and near-libertarian-right on others. My primary concern at this point is averting a slide further into fascism. I've spent quite a bit of time in formerly-fascist countries and it's a messy thing to untangle. The scars last for generations.
To vote in it.
If Trump gets elected again somehow then... I don't know what we can do to fix the country. I can't put into words my feelings about that situation, but I worry it will cause me to no longer believe our country can be saved.
Writing in Xi Jinping (no, not that one, a different one)
Not in a state where my vote counts so it doesn't matter much. My political plans are trying to avoid getting thrown in jail per the popular bipartisan SB 686 for being too outspoken about opposing the genocide of Palestinians.
Since the 2010 Citizens United decision when the supreme court legalized bribery, the best I've been able to hope for is a managed and slow as possible decline into a feudal-like state with a heritable and defined noble and peasant class. Hopefully nuclear war will prevent the worst possible consequences of climate change so I can have a little hope while I'm being vaporized.
It's gonna be a shit show. Two shit choices again blowing hot air every which way with billion dollar advertising campaigns.
The area I live in is wildly deeply democrat so my vote is irrelevant anyway, so I'm just voting third party. And until then I'm gonna try to avoid the whole mess.
The 2020 election got me off of facebook and most other social media. Not quite sure how I’ll approach Lemmy going into 2024, seems ok for now and not the dumpster fire that facebook was during 2016 and 2020. If it gets too bad I might block national news & political communities and see if that helps. I already know that Trump/GOP represents fascism in America, so I don’t really need more news to confirm that point or help me make up my mind going into the election.
So far it's shit.
I really believe individuals are looking at the issues wrong. Choose a side because of this choose a side because of that. Why aren't we rephrasing it as - stay away from that side, he doesn't know who the current President is. Stay away from that side who believes people are "vermin" Stay away from that side, it's a bunch of old dudes that dodged the draft to do drugs.
People should start choosing elected officials that will help us, not tear another individual down.
We have a generation of geniuses that haven't figured out how to fix private insurance yet we can develop AI that can scan images for any abnormalities with a higher success rate than doctors.
We can design and model infrastructure to be more efficient yet we'll keep those plans in the attic and let them go to waste.
Greed will win, and I don't know how to communicate that I can solve all of these problems without demonstrating I too am greedy, but my currency is human progression, and a few extra bucks to get us there.
I live in DC, so my vote doesn't really matter. So I'll be leaving the president spot blank, and just voting for the most left non-incumbents I can on city council, ed board, etc etc.
Things will get inevitably worse. Voting might slow that decline slightly if we're lucky.
The only hope for any kind of improvement, to reach a slightly tolerable world, is mass action outside of voting, and that just doesn't seem to be happening. So it's hard to care too much.
Whichever is the lesser of the evils. It seems that's been the majority of our choices lately.
To be clear I'm all for the people: whoever will create the least amount of suffering, and retain the greatest amount of human rights. It feels like we've stopped making progress and the best we can do for now is cling desperately to what we still have
So... not republican. Obviously.
Fucking democrat all the way. Primaries I'll vote for the less corporate candidates. The republican party is fascists and traitors.
- I’m not gonna look a memes or opinion pieces, just review genuine news articles to keep on top of things. For local elections, I may have to dig a bit, but I’ll try not to get down into the sewers.
- I’m gonna vote for whoever is the least-bad option at every level.
- If I actually find a candidate that I can support on their own merits, I will talk them up to neighbors, and support them monetarily.
- I will remind myself that human nature has been the same for millennia, and nothing I can do will change it. All I can do is try to mitigate the fall-out. “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” “You do the job that’s in front of you.” (Terry Pratchett, “Night Watch”)
I just need to go viral on some platform as 'the people's choice' president who will put most major national decisions that aren't classified up to polls on said social media platform. It's the perfect solution to rake in those who don't want to vote for 80 something geriatrics. I have about a year to implant myself into the world of politics.
I also considered legally changing my name to 'No Vote' for a bit.
Waiting for the impromptu Cornel West vs Jill Stein debate ig
Super fucked both ways
My state has open elections. In the primary, I'm voting for the least bad republican candidate. In the general, I'm voting democratic, which unfortunately probably means Biden but at least not trump.
The only reason he lost is because people were loud, reading, reposting and following. People who probably wouldn't vote did because of the doom scrolling post being shared and talked about. Personally, I will continue to do it because this guy is running on revenge.
Hope my liver can outlive either Biden or Trump depending on who gets elected.
Fighting like hell right now to get viable candidates for local offices in my area, because the deadline to announce your candidacy is less than 30 days away for us, and many offices go uncontested. I might not pay too much attention to news on the national level, but I'll definitely be spending the next year working to campaign and canvass for local candidates, register people to vote, and helping people get to the polls.
Don't vote, and whoever tries to shame me can go climb a tree
My approach is the same as it's been since 1996: FUCK THE REPUBLICANS.
I don't need to follow the news. I don't need to pay attention to dumbfuck liberals or self-styled progressives online. I know the score, and I know what to do. "Vote blue no matter who?" Fuck you, you self-righteous, terminally online shitfountain; I've been doing that since I turned 18.
Why? Because GOP = KKK, and has been since the fucking Nixon administration. The Republicans are terminally infested with fundies, fascists, and white supremacists, and has been since Lee Atwater came up with the Southern Strategy.
Unfortunately, this means voting Democrat or for myself as a write-in (when the only candidate for a given office is a Republican). Why do I call this unfortunate? The Democrats are a neoliberal party. They might allow progressives to run in primaries, but its corporate-friendly neoliberals who make it to the general election. That means having to vote for capital-friendly stooges like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Unfortunately, voting third-party or not voting at all helps Republicans more than it harms Democrats, so I've got to hold my nose and vote for neoliberals to keep neo-Nazis from winning elections.
However, I'm not holding out much hope for Dems in 2024. All Biden had going for him in 2020 was that he isn't Trump. That's not going to cut it in 2024. Not after four years of everything going up but our wages.
Frankly, I'd rather just kill 'em all and let the carrion-eaters sort 'em out. Fuck democracy; we barely even have a republic. What we have is an empire governed by an oligarchy that has generally managed to swap out figurehead emperors every 4-8 years without a lot of bloodshed.
The same way I always do. Ignore as much of it as I can until I get my ballot.
Research people/issues as I fill out the ballot.
Check the results the next day to see how the results shake out. Repeat for the next election.
Don't vote
Thinking about buying a gun and starting training so I'm not behind when the shit inevitably hits the fan.
/s ... Mostly
Turn on, tune in, drop out.
I am still hoping (sure it won't happen) but the GOP pick someone else so Trump runs as a independent.
I like Ike.
I will vote for Democrats for every position and hope like hell it all works out.
Get the hoppers registered to vote, make sure they do so.
Find the best candidates running by doing exhaustive research, then, if they meet a minimum standard, vote for them. If no candidate in a given race meets the minimum, abstain on that race. I'll vote in the Democratic Party primary even though I'm not a Democrat just because that's the de facto election for most offices here in Chicago.
I know in advance that most of the candidates I support in the primary won't be in the general and most of the candidates I vote for in the general won't win, and most of the candidates who I most want to keep out of office (because they're corrupt) are running unopposed (because they're corrupt). I know this but I'm still going to vote anyway, and encourage everyone else to vote as well, because that's the only hope we have for improvement.
Same as every election the last decade. (Before I got married I never voted in the primary out of principle, but my spouse convinced me that was silly.)
The last time I was actually idealistic about an election was 2004. 2004 showed me the harsh realities of contemporary politics all too clearly.
Jimmy Dore is moderating a presidental debate, I will watch that. Some info here, freeandequal.org
It's not a question of policy. Republicans literally killed people last election trying to overthrow democracy.
Not that I even like democrats, but anyone who votes red after Jan 6th is fundamentally an enemy of democracy.
Fuck everyone in the US Government except Rashida Motherfucking Tlaib.
I’m going to write in Rashida Tlaib. It’s all bullshit. What is happening right now proves it. Even fucking Bernie Sanders sounds like a Warhawk right now.
Ps. You’re all a bunch of lesser evil voting shitlibs. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
What did your harm reduction get us when we put Biden in office:
- genocide with our tax money
- cop city
- stoking the Cold War and enthusiastically sending our tax money to interfere in another country’s business BECAUSE IT’S WHITE PEOPLE to enrich the Military Industrial Complex rather than helping US citizens
- overturned Roe vs. Wade
- no marijuana legalization (mark my words: until the primaries or GE next year when it will help Biden in the election)
- Medicare for those who can afford it
- austerity
- austerity
- more austerity
Same as usual. Vote for the individuals that seem like they are the best person for whatever position I am voting on at that point in time.
Historically, I haven’t cared about what party they were affiliated with, however I suspect it’s going to be a good long while before I vote for a Republican again.
Hold my nose and pick the minimum harm candidates.
Spoiled vote
Prepare as many molotovs as possible and vote for Biden. My heart wants everyone to write Bernie in but that ship sailed. Instead, I will vote for the person thats not a faux mob boss and prepare for my country to turn into an autocracy because the faux mob boss is somehow pulling a shit ton of votes.
Edit: way too many comments here saying it doesn't matter and they aren't gonna vote. Just hand the direction of your life over to someone else then lmao
What will my approach be to next year's election?
Going to ignore it because it's all bullshit.
Free your mind. The real world is beautiful out here.
Third party. I sincerely believe the threat of Trump is completely and utterly overblown (compared to any random neocon), and I don't care about blue tribal rage. This election isn't "too important" to vote for someone you'd actually want; that's the argument literally every time, and it's still not true. Until a major party earns my vote, I'll spend it wherever I please.
I don't vote nor care about politics
Not voting Democrat this time around.
Not sure yet who I'm voting for, though.
I do not vote for a party but a person. Regardless of side I vote for the one that best appeals to my morals and beliefs. Most likely I will vote for Mr. Kennedy this year.
As for following social media and the news, I simply don't. I just ignore them and rate the person myself through their communications with people and talking points.
Voting trump, assuming he takes the nomination
DT. Orange man. Trump daddy, whatever you wanna call the greatest president of all time is getting reelected baby.