I appreciate much of your list and accept the danger of the third party vote.
And while that’s partly a result of right-wing and foreign operatives seeking to wedge-drive the Democratic coalition, it’s also a reflection of lack of voter enthusiasm and greater apathy.
Like it or not, for better or worse, elections in the US are popularity contests akin to shitty reality TV. It’s not about who is more qualified; it’s not about experience or education. As much as it should be, it IS NOT a job interview.
Whoever stands out, for better or worse, tends to win. Obama was different. He stood out; he won. JFK was different. He stood out; he won. Trump was different. He stood out; he won.
Hillary was boring. Uncharismatic. Anything but new. Carrying the baggage of decades of right-wing smere. Poll after poll of voter enthusiasm was in the gutter.
Voter enthusiasm for Biden was shit, too. But Biden stood out because he was at least different from Trump.
If Dems wanted to ensure victory they’d yank Biden and run someone fresh, young, charismatic, likable. Easy win. Why? Because they stand out, the right-wing taking-points and marching orders wouldn’t be prepared, and people would be excited for something different.
Changing the winning candidate at the eleventh hour for a nobody is definitely the worst thing Democrats could do.
Who would they even pick that the majority of Americans have heard of?
If the news dropped at the right time, it would be free publicity across social media and every corporate media outlet nonstop until election day. Not necessarily a nobody, but just someone less in the spotlight.
I’m pretty certain given my previous arguments that a young and semi-charismatic individual could sweep the election solely on age and freshness alone. And I’d say Kamala, but she’s uncharismatic and conservatives already have talking-points written up for her.
Considering the current polls, leaving Biden in is frankly just as if not more risky in my view. (disclaimer: I’m voting for Biden, of course).
That’s impossibly risky and there’s already been primaries. And the fact you don’t have a name and are proposing this shows there simply isn’t anyone.
Republicans would eat them alive. So close to the end it’d scream desperation of the worst kind by the Democrats and everyone would assume Biden was dying.
I can’t come up with a plan that would ensure another Trump presidency with more certainly than that.
What I see a ton of on Lemmy is the supposed logical voter. Who’s waiting for the logical policy, and the logical platform, and the logical position. And they will logically wait for it, and until then they will logically not vote, in logical protest, to send a logical message. Because they are the be all of logic.
And what I’m saying is that if you want to be productive and effective in moving the window left, you accomplish that by electing Dems. Consistently and overwhelmingly. Because every time they lose they go to the center to find votes.
I agree. I also think it’s important to note that the nature of entropy dictates it’s far easier for Republicans to cripple the nation and set us back than to rebuild let alone add extensions. So for me a vote for Biden is above-all damage control.
Still I only wish we could curate better candidates because I think we can eat our cake and still have it. This appeal to the middle in terms of policy; this watering down our rhetoric tends to shoot ourselves in the foot in the long-run.
Stagnation (and regression) is easy.
Progress requires effort, hard work, and time. And all 3 houses (house of reps, Senate, presidency) to actually pass anything.
