#I’ve NEVER voted dem because of that

[chewwytwee]

Voting democrat will do nothing to stop the genocide in Palestine. However it’s still disingenuous to pretend that democrats being in office is somehow no different than republicans being in office

[plaidos]

Transphobia has rapidly increased ever since Trump took office and gave tacit, then explicit support of it. The start of the current wave of bathroom bans and public existence bans ("drag bans") occured under trump. Did Biden do anything to prevent these in the slightest? No. Pretending that Trump won't actively encourage more of them and pass national legislation to make hrt harder to access is just as stupid as pretending Kamala being elected would have stopped the wave

actually, the start of the “current wave” of bathrooms bans started with Obama’s administration. anything is an outlier when you cherrypick data :p

anyway, i’ve never said that Trump “won’t actively encourage more of them” like you don’t need to invent things that i haven’t said fudjfufj

anyway like. sorry, no, transphobia has not skyrocketed under Trump like sorry i have been out the closet for now over ten years and there has been a total bipartisan increase in transphobia. the first trans congresswoman just said she doesn’t care if she’s banned from using the women’s bathrooms (throwing the rest of us under the bus). if you think that the increase of Transphobia is because of the Trump administration youre bonkers & not paying attention. if anything, Trump has only started focusing on anti trans legislation because of how much it a bipartisan issue it has become. outside of the military ban he wasn’t really particularly anti trans the first time, people pointed out as early as 2021 that the dude *pivoted* to anti-trans stuff *after losing*. like he was always transphobic (he’s a politician they literally all are) but it literally was not a part of his platform until it became the hot topic issue ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM.

Biden & Harris don’t support trans people & never have. any & all support they have provided to us (which is bordering on none) is just the carrot to get us to vote. we’ve already seen that the Dems are prepared to give us the stick and throw us under the bus regardless of whether they win or lose.

It is not pro-republican to criticise the democrats’ platform & campaign, and if you can’t understand that, you should stay out of grown up conversations about politics.

[carsonjonesfiance]

I feel like I trust leftists from red states far more than leftists from blue states. Maybe I'm biased (I consider myself a left-leaning personand I'm from a red state), but lately, a lot of blue state leftists have been showing their asses far more often

Ever since 2016 I’ve been slightly wary of blue state leftists and I think the best way to explain is to compare AOC to Doug Jones

Alexandria Ocasio Cortes is from a district that leans so heavily Democrat (IIRC it’s something like D+15) that she can say some truly leftist things without fear of losing her seat. This is why she can afford to be the face of things like the Green New Deal, but rather than acknowledging that privilege she’s taken her ability to win in her district as proof her politics can win anywhere. We see this attitude in the way she insists on primarying any and all Democrats with more progressive candidates regardless of their local political viability.

Doug Jones, who narrowly won out against a Republican pedophile and did lose his seat to a Republican football coach who is now holding up military appointments over abortion policy, is a lawyer who put away the KKK members that bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church. He’s been a civil rights lawyer longer than I’ve been alive, and he only won by 20,000 votes because of how deeply red most of Alabama is. Part of that was being pro gun and steering away from anything more harsh than background checks and being very quietly pro choice.

There are risks that blue state Democrats can take that red state Dems can’t and that principle guides us Red Staters to more pragmatic realist politics like Senator Jones. I’m sure there are Blue State Dems that get that what works for their district doesn’t work everywhere but a not insignificant portion of them have not learned that there is a reason Bernie Sanders represents the state of Vermont and not Wyoming.

When you expand that divide to a national level you get Red State Dems much more understanding of Moderate Presidential Candidates and quietly Progressive policies (I.e. literally anything that the Biden administration has done in the past two years) while Blue Staters don’t get why we can’t go further because their idealist, maximalist policies are never challenged in their area. It’s like an IRL version of an internet echo chamber.

[beardedmrbean]

Black Americans like me are often guilted into defaulting to supporting the Democratic Party — but with friends like the Democrats, who needs enemies?

No matter the paternalistic garbage they regurgitate into party talking points about our existence, we’re supposed to hold our noses and show our support for our political frenemies.

And now the stench of racial-rhetoric bile has emitted from the mouth of Gov. Hochul, with insulting and ignorant comments about black kids.

While speaking onstage in a California forum about her desire to have more of a diverse workforce in artificial intelligence, she attempted to highlight the disadvantage some have — but instead made an unfounded presumption about them.

“Right now we have, you know, young black kids growing up in The Bronx who don’t even know what the word ‘computer’ is,” Hochul said.

“They don’t know, they don’t know these things,” she continued.

“And I want the world opened up to all of them.”

Of course, her statement about black children’s knowledge of the existence of computers was met with swift backlash, even from lawmakers within her party.

“Deeply disturbed by @GovKathyHochul’s recent remarks and the underlying perception that she has of Black & brown children from the BX,” lamented Bronx Assembly member Karines Reyes on X.

“Our children are bright, brilliant, extremely capable, and more than deserving of any opportunities that are extended to other kids. Do better.”

While many want to translate this moment as being a gaffe, I believe it served as a window into the mindset of many mainstream elitist Democrats.

Hochul inadvertently revealed how she’s a country-club Democrat who perceives anyone who isn’t a member of the upper class as being beyond ignorant and incapable.

To smother the mild guilt they feel for being fortunate, such people pretend to understand the plight of the unfortunate with leftist virtue-signaling.

Ironically, her twisted belief that black children are ignorant of a word reveals her ignorance about the world.

It would be bad enough to presume black children in The Bronx don’t have computers, but she verbalizes an even more putrid belief that the word “computer” isn’t anywhere to be found in their vocabulary.

It makes me wonder: How deep does the pit of Democratic condescension go?

Does she believe black people in The Bronx use rotary phones because they never discovered the wonders of an iPhone?

Would she be shocked to know that black people don’t walk barefoot in New York and that shoes are readily accessible to them?

There has yet to be a day that I regret leaving the Democratic Party and choosing political independence, because I know that this mentality of seeing people who look like me as expectedly pitiful — and being shocked when we are successful — is rampant.

Hochul and her country-club Democrats pass themselves off as being the saviors of black people when we didn’t ask them to be.

They’re self-serving narcissists who use our likeness for social clout and voter-base bragging rights — when, at the end of the day, we are nothing more than the help that caters to them at their exclusive clubs.

The party I used to support still argues that black people are less capable of getting a government-issued ID to vote, when I’ve yet to meet a black adult in my entire life who didn’t have one.

And now it makes sense: They think we can’t Google where the DMV is because we don’t have a computer to complete this task. I mean, what even is a “Google”?

I have a problem with being led by elitists who’ve disconnected themselves from the reality of the average American because they often invent falsehoods about our existence — as it’s more comforting for them to use their imaginations than to leave their gated communities.

I spent part of my childhood poor and homeless, yet I’ve defied the Democratic odds of not only knowing how to use a computer but previously having an entire career in the information-technology field.

Being poor is not the same as being incapable or unintelligent and lacking resources, and it doesn’t determine your outcome unless you want it to.

Gov. Hochul, that “black people not knowing about computers” line might get applause from your golfing buddies on the sand trap, but it doesn’t jive with anyone outside of those gates.

[thequietabsolute]

In my lifetime i’ve never seen a more shambolic, dishonest, ineffectual, corrupt or, in the end, embarrassing election campaign as that run by the democrats this cycle.

‘Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. I know many people feel we are entering a dark time. If it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant, billion of stars’ — Kamala Harris, concession speech Nov. 6. 2024.

These words, expensively and no doubt arduously formulated by many experts, are very telling to me because they’re precisely the sort of soft-hearted leisure-speak platitudes that have had many people this election frowning at the dems and thinking, Hmm. Okay. Apart from that being unbelievably lame, what is it supposed to actually mean in practical terms? furthermore, what do you stand for? can you explain to me for example your policies? i get it, you’re ‘not the other guy’, but what do you actually have in mind for the nation and our futures?

and get this: all told they’re saying $16 billion* were spent in this election, with the Democrats and their advocates spending double that of the Trump campaign. And not content with losing the Presidency, Senate and House, they even went and lost the popular vote by about five million.

If i were an American, I’d be a democrat: and I’d want to know just who the fuck the people are behind the scenes running the Democratic Party. I’d want to know that very badly indeed.

And so they lost, horribly; and they entirely deserved to lose. So how about we never let our side try that horseshit again.

(*in numbers this is: $16,000,000,000)

[rustbeltjessie]

I don’t really like to see Democrats (or people like me who don’t actually align with a lot of what the Democrats do but know they’re a damn sight better than the other guys) blaming nonvoters for the election results. I am equally angry at nonvoters who are blaming the Dems for the loss because they ‘didn’t talk about issue x or they said the wrong thing about y’ or whatever else. I think there’s probably some blame to be placed in both places. But that’s beside the point.

The point is that 1. the bulk of the blame goes to anyone who actively voted for Trump. and 2…

I care less about who on the left did what wrong because that’s part of the reason the right is better at winning. The left is easier to divide, because instead of building coalitions with people who disagree with us on tactics but fundamentally want similar things, we often get too bogged down with the details and waste our energy and time infighting and attacking each other rather than uniting against the right. And over the years to come, we need to work with anyone to the left of literal fascism.

All that said, a hearty fuck you to the accelerationists who I’ve seen posting things along the lines of “this is actually good because now you people will actually start fighting again instead of just thinking everything is okay.” Who are these ‘people’ you’re speaking to? Ostensibly anyone who voted for Harris. And I can’t speak for everyone else but I know a lot of people (myself included) who are fighting, who have been fighting, who have never stopped, and for whom a large part of the reason we wanted Harris to win is because she’d be an easier opponent. Seriously, fuck you. You wanted the glorious revolution, you go be on the front lines.

And another fuck you to the people saying “you’ll be fine—you survived the first Trump presidency, you’ll survive another.” It’s one thing to say “don’t give up,” but when you phrase it that way…are you forgetting how many people very notably did not survive the first Trump administration? And he’s even more dangerous and unhinged this time.

[jewishbarbies]

https://www.tumblr.com/jewishbarbies/768080310343778304/gotta-admit-bernie-sanders-is-getting-ridiculously?source=share

Bernie been pissing me off too but I ain’t wanna say it coz people get real protective of that old ass man nowadays, as if he’s their lord and saviour. Did the Dems do him wrong in 2016/20? Yeah, sure whatever. But Bernie has NEVER BEEN POPULAR BECAUSE HE IS RADICAL. The demographics that vote the most are old people and middle aged people and Bernie ain’t never been popular to those demographics. Maybe now, in the age of radicalism, but not in ‘16 and definitely not in ‘20. He keep acting like he would be the saving grace of America, but he forgets that he failed to capture the support from southerners, especially southern black folk. And it ain’t coz he Jewish, it’s because he has no fucking charisma at all and came off as a stuck up northerner and talking down on people. They’re gonna tell you it’s because black voters are more conservative, but it’s more complicated than that. The Clintons put in the work over the last thirty years and were actual active members of the Democratic Party. Bernie was not an active Democrat for most of his career and served a constituency of mostly white people in Vermont. Add on top of that the endorsements of Clinton by local black leaders, and Bernie Sanders never stood a chance. Also, black voters aren’t afraid of social spending, but Bernie’s specific type of social spending is more appealing to middle income to affluent college students. He had the wrong message and the wrong institutional bonafides. But people gon say it’s coz “black democrats are more conservative than white democrats” THAT AINT THE TRUTH AND YOU KNOW IT. BERNIE JUST FAILED.

But in terms of him talking shit bout the Dems and Kamala nowadays, he been pissing me off because he truly doesn’t get the real problem here. He doesn’t get that he himself aided towards the Dems losing the election.

One thing I will say is that the republicans won because they vote red no matter WHAT. No matter how outlandish their politics are, they vote as a united front, which dem voters didn’t. And radicalism aided towards that. One issue voters aided towards that. All of that shit is shit that Bernie himself largely contributed towards. And now he wanna act all high and mighty, get your old ass outta politics and go play golf. And take McConnell with you.

He keeps pushing radicalism and he doesn’t seem to get that radicalism on either side is what’s destroying this fucking country. Radical right wingers are everybody, but so is radical leftism. Does he not see how radical leftism is harming black and Jewish folk? The two demographics that vote Dem overwhelmingly because we know what’s at stake if we don’t? Maybe he sees it and doesn’t care, idk. “They’re not radical enough” WE DONT NEED RADICALISM.

The way he be talking about Kamala and the Dems on the podcasts and shit, it’s like he wanted them to lose to “prove a point”. And that shit pisses me off. Because at the end of the day, Bernie’s an old, rich, white (or white passing Jewish) guy. Project 2025 and all ain’t gonna affect him like the way it’ll affect us. He’s old as shit. He won’t be here much longer. And he rich too. He ain’t gonna suffer from the tariffs and shit like we will. So for him to act like this knowing how much pull he got… idk man. Shit pisses me off.

Sorry for the rant. I’ve just been thinking this for weeks. Bernie been unpopular with voters for a long time and his bitter ass won’t get over losing.

well said.

Bernie did a lot for activism in his life but he’s doing actual harm to the people he claims to be an activist for now. he should just go back to local politics or get out of the game altogether imo.

[barzfrommarz]

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussions/discourse on tumblr and twitter surrounding kamala/voting for kamala so I want to put my two cents in as someone who will have no actual influence towards the outcome of the election

(important parts with be in bold)

Let’s look at the hypothetical that trump wins because the vote was split or people simply just refused to and kamala didn’t gain enough votes to win.

In the scenario, I want every person who decided it would be better not to vote or vote for a random third party candidate who has no shot at winning who only comes up during election years to say all of the “not like the other guys” talking points to explain to not just me but every queer, trans, disabled, non white, AFAB person who is now at severe risk why you chose to not vote to help them have rights. I want to see your explanations if trump wins. you also cannot use Palestinians suffering to make yourself seem better than you actually are

My point is that if trump wins because your delusions lead you to believe that you can single handedly change the way elections work in this country by “sticking it to the dems” and trump wins and we become a facist state, I want to hear what you have to say when we all start loosing rights and palestine gets wiped off the map

“Well we won’t let that happen” Good fucking luck. In project 2025 im pretty sure there is a section about how we basically won’t be able to protest anything anymore, not only that im also pretty sure trump has talked about deporting pro palestine protesters specifically!

You cannot be a single issue voter in this election and in many elections to come. Change doesn’t happen overnight and you need to wake up and realize that kamala will be the start of actually getting more progressive candidates and policies even if it’s not enough right now at this very moment. We all have to actually start putting in the effort instead of sitting around on our asses complaining

If we get kamala in, we won’t have to worry about our country becoming a facist state therefore we can worry more about palestine and putting more pressure on the dems than there already is. That should be a no brainer to some of you

This post isn’t praising kamala or trying to idolize her in anyway, always be critical of politicians. This post is more of a message to the preformative leftists on tumblr and twitter who have zero knowledge on how the US government works.

It’s kamala or trump this november. We cannot change that less than 100 days away from election day

Should I repeat myself? I hope you can understand that.

I’m not trying to bash anyone for continuing to put pressure on kamala and the dems for being complicit in bombing children. That’s not who my post is about like I already said

I think that all the protests outside of the DNC are especially important because it shows we have not forgotten and will continue to put pressure on the dems to do the right thing for once

but like I already said, it’s kamala or trump. Third party candidates are either grifters who only are there to get money and trick gullible leftists or candidates who have never been in any lower level political positions who think they can automatically garner a shit ton of support to win when they can’t. Your other option is to not vote which is arguably worse

I’m not trying to be the one to change anyones mind but I hope this post can help you reconsider your options and start facing the reality of this election

You have an important choice to make this november. I hope you can make the right one

edit: im not trying to beg anyone to vote for kamala or make anyone who is against her because of her handling of Palestine vote for kamala, especially if you are Palestinian yourself. Im not trying to make anyone feel bad about it either. Thats not the point of this post. The point is that change needs to happen now and this election is a perfect start to do so. We cannot have good change under a second trump term. I know im just repeating myself at this point but I want to put this out there incase I come off wrong or offensive. Also, I dont like the dems at all. I dont align with their party but you shouldnt even care abt what party I align with most. Im not a pro activist whose been in the game for 10+ years, im just a trans boy who has essentially been forced to pay attention to the shit going on in the country because of who I am even though it shouldn't concern me nearly as much as it does.

second edit: check out this tiktok and this persons other tiktoks abt palestine and kamala

[lesb0]

Kamala is the first time I’ve seen the young people in my family really get interested in politics (a few are abstaining from voting because if her stance with Palestine which I totally get) I think she has a real chance but the way people hate women makes me not want to hope. Plus the racism that’s already ramped up and there are months to go. What do you think?

denying your own suffrage will never help Palestinians. it's actively against Palestine not to be politically engaged in voting. not calling on delegates to support Palestine is contributing to Dems complacency. Outside of leftism, racism and misogyny is constantly dying and losing in the real world every day. the Republican people are moving on to much more sophisticated forms of hatred because their own cohort are increasingly comprised of black men and Serena Joys

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Emily Crane

A North Carolina Democratic progressive caucus leader has come under fire for declaring that allowing a Jewish caucus would “end” the party because “they control everything.”

Ryan Jenkins, who is president of the state party’s progressive arm, took aim at the North Carolina Democratic Jewish Caucus after Democrats voted last week against recognizing the group as an affiliated organization, WFAE reported.

“If the Democratic Party caves to it, that’s the end of the Democratic Party. We’re not Democrats, we’re the Jewish Caucus. We’re a Zionist group. Because they control everything,” he told the outlet Friday regarding the vote.

Since the vote, Jenkins claimed members of the Jewish caucus — whom he described as “rich white people” — had been attacking Democrats who had abstained. Seventeen Dems voted no, while there were 16 yes votes and 17 abstentions or no-shows.

“(If we approve the caucus) we’re telling them very clearly they are allowed to threaten and bully us and they will get their way every single time and that our rules don’t apply,” Jenkins said.

In the wake of the failed vote, several Jewish caucus members emailed supporters with the subject line “North Carolina Democratic Party to Jews — Drop Dead!” and said the meeting had been hijacked by what they slammed as the anti-Jewish left.

“What you are seeing is basically a very small group of rich white people who have never been held accountable for anything, who have never faced consequences for anything, throwing a temper tantrum because they are facing consequences for once,” Jenkins said.

“And their only mode is, ‘Oh well you must be antisemitic — because I’ve never done anything wrong.’ ”

The Jewish caucus’s leader, Jeffrey Bierer, was among those to slam Jenkins’ statements as “baseless incendiary remarks.”

“We are deeply disappointed to see these attacks from someone whom we believe should be an ally,” Bierer said. “The Jewish Caucus was started to combat antisemitism, help fight fascism, and support a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.”

[96z]

i really don't mean to argue, but i don't agree with shaming third-party voters. i voted 3rd party bc i live in a deeply blue state and i wanted to show allegiance with the palestinian community in my state (paterson nj) that voted for stein. to shame 3rd party voters, means shaming palestinian and arab americans around the nation.

the dems sent bill clinton to michigan to justify their actions and shame arab americans. the fault is in the growing fascism in this country and the dems for not earning their vote.

harris should've never been the nominee. the dems should've had a primary. she lost the popular vote! that's insane. she underperformed in nj compared to biden in 2020. these are all faults of the dems, not 3rd party voters.

this reel by jenan matari explains my thoughts well

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBy4E6gPiSG/?igsh=ZmVrdmpocXAxcm5z

i get where you're coming from, and i respect that this is important to you— i’m not here to argue for the sake of it either. speaking as a muslim american voter with arab roots (my father is egyptian and white), who spent some of my most formative years in that very same area… i have a lot of frustration because what’s at stake here isn’t just political differences; it’s our safety, our families’ safety, and the survival of our communities. i’ve seen 4 years under trump and i’m honestly scared to see another 4. i don't think kamala was the best choice either, believe me, and it sucked to make the decision to vote for her. but i do believe we were never going to have a better choice, not in the short term, and definitely not from a third-party candidate. the system isn't built to let them win, at least not yet.

honestly, i understand why third-party voting feels like a way to send a message. but at the end of the day, i just don’t feel a third-party vote was going to lead to the change we need. with jill stein, she built a platform by presenting herself as someone pro-palestine who would immediately fight to end the genocide, but then ultimately unmasked herself as someone who is at best, a soft zionist, betraying the people who trusted her stance. it was devastating to see, and i hate that so many were misled. voting for her felt like a powerful stand. but in the bigger picture, her campaign, like so many third-party campaigns, didn’t stand a chance of creating real change in this election.

but the reason i didn’t specifically mention her is that to me, this isn’t only about jill stein or those who voted third party. my anger is not with them. in this election, nearly 600,000 people (mostly white conservatives) voted for robert kennedy, a foolish candidate with staunch anti-vax views, who will likely be working alongside trump now that he’d won again. another 900,000 or so went to other third-party candidates. those votes didn’t go anywhere that would shift anything in our favor, and they ended up supporting a system that’s dangerously close to tipping into fascism.

it frustrates me to think we maybe possibly potentially could’ve had a slightly better shot if some of those votes had been used differently, as some polsci experts suggest could’ve been the case. i don’t mean to shame anyone, but we’re all part of this system whether we like it or not. sometimes we have to make tough choices within it to protect ourselves and each other—even if it means holding our noses and voting for someone who isn’t our ideal. i do agree that in the end, the real fault lies with this country’s growing fascism and the democrats’ failure to earn and sustain trust, especially in marginalized communities.

like i said, it’s not even about the jill stein voters or people casting votes as a stand for palestine. some people (non minorities) voted third-party simply because they didn’t want to pick a side— look at the people who went for rfk or other candidates who don’t even align with real change or have any real plan. i didn’t call out any single candidate in particular because my frustration is with the entire phenomenon of voting for a candidate who will absolutely not be elected when we’re up against so much.

i do think that the presidential candidate should work to earn their place in the white house through genuine campaigning and engaging with the issues that matter to us. but imo trump didn’t exactly do that either. he’s not winning support through any real policies or outreach; he just has a bandwagon of followers, some of whom have terrifying views. his stance on muslims, israel, and basic human rights deeply scares me. no, i don’t feel that kamala truly ‘earned’ my vote either, and i don’t think anyone’s pretending she did. but i voted for her anyway for a couple reasons — one, because a lot of palestinians asked for us to vote for her, and two, because we can’t dismantle this system in one go.

this was my first time voting, and honestly, i’m angry that it had to come down to settling in this broken two-party system. i wish we had more choices, but this election wasn’t going to be the one to give us that option. i want change just as much as you do, and i believe we’ll get there one day. but realistically, it wasn’t going to happen this election. so i made the tough choice to take the L this time, hoping it will help set us up for something better down the line. the outcome really sucks

[gentil-minou]

hi! I hope you’re doing ok! I’ve never written an ask before so I have no idea how to do this, but you’re one of the only people I follow who is posting about Palestine, so I wanted to ask. And as a brown person I’m really worried rn.

Elections are next year and I’ve seen so many saying that people should vote for Biden because he’s at least better than Trump which is… I don’t know what to say, but it’s completely absurd. This is going to be my first time voting and all I get from people is the same “lesser of two evils” rhetoric. It’s genuinely disheartening to see that these are the only options that are shown to people. I was wondering about what you think of what’s happening, and whether voting third party seems possible

I’m sorry if this was rude to ask you, but thanks for taking the time to read this!

It's not rude, I'm glad I made you feel safe enough to ask this!

I only have one answer for you: Do not let anyone tell you who to vote for or make you feel like an evil person if you choose not to vote for the person they want you to.

Vote, definitely vote!!! Especially in local elections, those are the best ways to get people you want in power and they are in charge of a lot of important changes.

As for the presidential elections, I've had so many people I thought I admired or at least felt comfortable around attack me for my choice not to vote for Biden. I've had people claim I was spreading "pro-Trump propaganda" (which is just ridiculously bad faith in all ways), tell me that I—a queer POC—am anti-LGBTQ, and tell me I'll be deported.

They do this all while ignoring and invalidating the very real anger and hurt the Muslim and Brown populations of the US are dealing with, all because their comfort is being threatened. And instead of pressuring the party that's doing that harm and try to listen to why we feel so betrayed by Biden, they double down and attack us. In fact, they are showing their true colors. They, like Biden, only ever pretended to care about us. So I am going to vote for people who actually do care about me, even if they say I'm going to "waste my vote"

Here's the thing; as long as you vote for who you feel the most supported by, as long as you go into that voting booth and step out feeling good about your vote, then you are not wasting it.

Putting this under a read more cause it's getting long

Personally, I'm voting third party. I've had my eye on the Socialist Party but am also keeping an eye out for the others and whether or not they stand out to me

At this point, unless the DNC decides to put another candidate forward, which they most definitely won't, the Democratic party has lost me forever. I'm lucky that my Dem representative has at least shown they're on the right side of history, but I don't think I will ever vote for the Dem party again. I've forced myself to do it for the last decade and I've been disappointed or betrayed every time, so no more.

I agree this two party system is a joke and we are all being made to be a part of it when no other democratic nation has something like this. Even other countries say our "progressive" party is just centrist. And that just doesn't reflect my values.

Liberals and "vote blue no matter who" are going to tell you that you're wasting your vote by voting third party, but in actuality they are the ones supporting a flawed system that only benefits itself, not the people. The more people who vote third party, the more the dems will be pressured to put forth progressive candidates like AOC or Rashida who are actually on the left. By voting third party, you are saying you won't stand by a broken system any longer

does this mean Republicans might win and we get another trump administration? Yes, probably, but here's the thing: when you look at the last 3 years, and I mean really look at it, have things improved all that much under biden? I, as a queer poc can't say that it has. Both are evil, one just pretends not to be. At this point I see no difference between Trump and Biden. Both don't give a shit about me.

The lesser of 2 evils is still evil, why vote for them? Why would I vote for either of them?

Why would I reward anyone who support genocide and cheers for it? Both Trump and Biden openly do. Their only difference is Biden is a better actor.

If my people were the ones being slaughtered (and they were. For a long long time they were), would I be okay with sitting back and letting these parties walk all over me? No, I don't think I would be.

The fact of the matter is that change does not come fast or easy. These things take time and pressure and a refusal to give in. Voting for Biden after all the horrible things he's done the past couple years is just rewarding a system that is fundamentally broken. You can keep trying to chug along on a broken wheel hurtling you towards doom, or you can take the time to force it to change.

I do believe the younger vote has a big chance to change things, to pressure our government to actually support its people, not just the white ones with money.

Ultimately you get to decide who to vote for. Use your right to vote, don't ignore it and don't waste it by voting for someone you don't actually believe in.

[persephoneflouwers]

Hey Angie, please excuse my rant in advance. This is not about 1D, this is about the US election. I’m American and I’m very very liberal- I think healthcare should be free and people should be housed and billionaires shouldn’t exist and of course I’m a massive feminist and we have this election happening in three days and I am truly ashamed and upset about it. Donald Trump is obviously not an option, I’m not even going to go into why. Everyone knows it. And Kamala has some good policies and I see eye to eye with her on a good amount of stuff (not everything). But I cannot support her stance on Israel which is that she will continue supporting them and in doing so, continue supporting and arming the Palestinian genocide. I feel like I am losing my mind because everyone is acting like it’s ok what Israel is doing and it’s NOT. They are committing the most egregious war crimes I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. But I can’t not vote. And voting for a 3rd party who has no chance of winning (the politics in this country are so fucked up) will only split what is probably going to be a close vote and could tip thr scales for Trump. How do I reconcile voting for someone who has better policies than the alternative but has one deeply upsetting policy that I truly feel I cannot support? I also can’t not vote, I won’t throw away my chance to vote. But I also can’t keep seeing mutilated corpses of innocent civilians that are a direct result of the US greed and involvement. Help!

I understand your frustration.

I also think that I would have no problem voting a third party. I’ve been voting for little parties for ages and to this day I can say I’ve never won an election. I don’t vote PD, which you would say is the Italian version of your dems. I have never voted them. Still, I don’t think my vote didn’t count.

This way of thinking looks a bit manipulative of the Democrats, if I’m honest. They use this mathematical approach to hold people back from voting another party. Masses make the difference, but the change is slow and won’t be happening in a season. Just taking into consideration a third party now seems a huge development. Maybe in 25/30 years, there won’t be THIS or THAT, but a strong third option too.

The thing is you shouldn’t vote to make the other party lose. You should vote because you believe in a political program and identity with their policies.

If all the people who say “voting for a third party will only split the votes” could actually vote for a third party, maybe the third party would have a chance of winning.

We all know Trump is dangerous, but is Harris winning safe?

[whatiwillsay]

Are you not asking Taylor to completely excise Brittany (an apparent Trump voter) from her life? If not, then it seems I’ve misunderstood your criticism and expectations of her.

If you are asking it of Taylor, shouldn’t the same be expected of others (other celebs, readers of this blog, etc.)?

yeah i definitely think you have misunderstood!

on the pod i talked about how I don't really care if she sees brittany in private due to her near familial connection to travis but it's important that she not soften trump's image by palling around with her publicly while staying politically silent. if she wants to come out and loudly endorse kamala then I don't really care who she is seen with, in the grand scheme of things if she's endorsed kamala strongly she's done more good than harm IMO.

we've also had lots of conversations about how taylor is not a normal person and does not have a normal life or job. maybe it's unfair but she's at least well compensated for it. with her position comes great responsibility. far more than a normal person. we've talked about how many normal people have to have trump supporters in their life and how that can even be a good thing! but taylor isn't a normal person. obviously, behavior prescriptions for one of the most famous billionaires in the world with a huge influential platform that branded herself an activist 5 years ago will be different than prescriptions for the average reader of this blog. (although I have suggested everyone donate to dem causes if they can and to sign up to volunteer... we can all do our part!)

the issue is not taylor having a trump supporter in her life and I'm sorry if it came off like that.

the issue is brittany and by association trump (why do you think he tweeted ab her thanking her? it's not because he gives a fuck about her, it's because of her proximity to taylor) being able to use taylor's platform to propagate their message.

basically, taylor either needs to full throatedly endorse kamala (and there's still plenty of time for her to I still believe she will) OR at least take care to not appear sympathetic to trump's evil message. she's got to do one or the other.

there is a reason he posted this:

taylor swift is good for business.

she catches eyes, commands headlines, and can swing votes.

it's her responsibility to make sure she is protective of her power and she must not let trump co-opt it and harm millions of vulnerable people if he gets elected. ESPECIALLY when she complained in miss Americana about how bad she felt for not speaking out against him.

the average reader of this blog and even the average celebrity has not released a documentary where they talked about how important it was for them to use their platform for good in the world of politics.

it's far beyond "taylor shouldn't be friends with a trump supporter." it's about her platform and what it's being used for.

so basically 1. i'm not prescribing taylor cut brittany out of her life and 2. even if I were obviously I would never say the average reader of this blog needs to do the things taylor needs to do.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The Loudest Pundits Don't Talk to Voters. I do...

Jess Piper

Jul 6

Tysons, Virginia.

I was invited to speak at a summit just outside of DC, and just got back a week ago. The Women’s Summit is a large annual conference hosted in part by Network Nova. I have to tell you something: the message from rural America never fails to captivate an audience. Especially an audience filled with activists in a solidly Democratic city and region.

But I am not writing to tell you what I spoke about. I am writing to tell you what I heard when I listened to the voters and activists in the room.

What you’ll hear me say is not at all what the pundits are saying about Biden after the disastrous debate. It is the opposite of the narrative being furiously flung at us each day by everyone from MSNBC to CNN to the New York Times to the nightly news to opinion pieces across the country.

I speak to actual people…the pundits feed off each other. I work with grassroots organizers to spread Democratic messaging…the pundits write clickbait headlines and stoke fear.

The debate.

First of all, I did not watch but a few minutes of the debate live. I chose to watch it in clips and videos afterward. I was horrified. I felt like I was watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Biden performed terribly and Trump lied continuously.

Honestly, I wish Biden had never accepted the debate premise because it’s pointless to debate a liar. It just gives Trump the runway to lie even more, and without pushback from the moderators, the debate went nowhere.

The voters and activists I listened to in Virginia weren’t wondering if Biden should step aside and none of them were kidding themselves about what they witnessed during the debate. They are solidly behind the Biden administration. Solidly.

The summit in Virginia was diverse. Hundreds of women gathered and many were Black women. I like to hear the viewpoints of folks who are neither rural nor white — I am not in enough diverse rooms. I get a different POV and that’s important. What I heard was real and heartfelt. They are behind Biden.

I listened as several Black women spoke about their admiration for Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, but how pundits holding them up as replacements for Joe Biden is condescending and irritating. Joe Biden has a Vice President. A Black woman — Kamala Harris. The women wondered aloud if there would be such a push to replace Biden on the ballot if his VP were not Black.

Same.

They wondered why journalists and politicos demand that Biden step down, but not Trump. They wondered why so many articles are being written about Biden’s age and fitness, but not the same about Trump. They wondered why Democratic strategists are making voters fearful instead of leading with a steady hand. They wondered why Biden is taking all the hits while a felon with a rape conviction, his opponent, is not even addressed.

Same.

The biggest takeaway from the folks outside DC is they are angry that the “same shit” that happened in 2016 is rearing its head again. Several stated they are tired of the line “The DNC chose Biden.” They reminded me that primary voters picked him…Black voters picked him. They are sick of repeating it.

These voters and activists did not waver when they repeated over and over again that they have no hesitation in voting for Biden in November.

From that group of over 600 suburban folks to a group of about 20 rural Dems…

You know I am rural and I often speak in rural spaces. Most of these spaces are older and White. When I listen to voters in these spaces, they have zero doubt about who their candidate is…even after the debate. Do they doubt that it was an awful showing? They do not. They watched it with their own eyes. Do they wish Biden performed better? Seemed younger? Spoke more clearly and concisely? Yes. Will they still vote for him? Also yes.

Not one rural person I’ve spoken with wants to remove Biden from the ballot in favor of another candidate. They believe in the administration and they are fearful of another Trump presidency. They think Biden can beat Trump.

This is what rural voters have told me: Biden has been good for ordinary people. He’s worked for public schools and the LGBTQ community and student loan forgiveness and infrastructure and rural broadband. They’ve seen highway projects funded. They remember that Biden curbed COVID deaths and consistently pushes for union jobs. They know he will not sign away reproductive rights.

Listen, I am not paid by the DNC and I don’t earn a dime from my state party. I am a Democrat because the party aligns with most of my views, but I am not a party first person…I am a country first person. I can see with my own eyes what the Republicans are about and I already know what a Trump presidency will bring. We all know what it will mean.

I will never forget the maxim: Democrats fall in love. Republicans fall in line. I know many of us are not in love, but can we come together to beat a certain autocrat? To overcome the fascism and Christian nationalism creeping in?

I was as scared as any of us after the debate. I had a feeling of doom bearing down on me. After talking to so many voters since, even after reading so many terribly divisive pieces, I feel more calm. The voters I’ve listened to are not doing what the pundits claim they are doing. They have said that replacing Biden on the ticket will almost certainly divide the party. They have faith in the Biden administration. They have faith in his VP.

I am tired of pundits creating a narrative that I don’t see in real life. I don’t know why they do it? For clout? For clicks?

I hate that each of us is exposed to the fear every single day. I hate that many in the media are driving a wedge between Democrats with this incessant message of doom and gloom and the need for a new nominee.

I have no crystal ball, but I do have neighbors and friends and I know organizers across the country. I hope we can make it through this with a nominee intact and a win in November. I hope we can listen to our neighbors and mute the pundit-class.

Our country can’t manage another Trump presidency.

~Jess

[eowynstwin]

hi i sent the ask about voting, i didn’t mean to make you angry and i’m sorry. like i said i’ve never voted before and i’m not really sure how any of it works and i don’t really have anyone to ask, which i suppose isn’t fair to just ask you instead, so i apologize. you make good points about emotional votes it’s just frustrating that the only parties that seem to exist here and red and blue

as for the censorship i did it because i’m relatively new to tumblr and i figured outright saying trump or biden would get the post flagged but i suppose i’ve got more to learn on that front as well

again i’m sorry for making you angry, i probably just shouldn’t have asked at all but i appreciate your response anyway, i’ll take it to heart. i hope you have a good day/night

It’s not entirely your fault I was angry and I want you to know that. In fact, I’m glad you’re asking questions even so young. A lot of people your age don’t—I certainly wasn’t. I want to encourage you to keep asking, even despite the emotional reactions of others, because that’s genuinely the only way you’re going to learn. You can even keep asking me stuff! I have a huge ego and I don’t know when to shut up.

The reason I was angry, I want to explain, is because Dems/progressives voting third party is what put Trump in the White House. I was literally watching the vote tally live in 2016 and it was brutal. I will never forget that day. I will never forget, leading up to the election, people on Tumblr proclaiming that if your heart told you to vote third party because you hated Hillary so much, you should.

Here’s the thing—my family is a Republican family. I know how average Republicans felt about Trump. They hated him too. But they rallied behind him because they didn’t want Hillary to win. They did not want Obama’s promises to be carried out by another Democrat president. They understood what bleeding heart progressives don’t—that their vote is for more than just a president, it’s for an entire administration, and it’s for choosing who you believe is more likely to listen to your demands as a constituent.

It’s really ironic because the Republican Party is THE rugged individualist party, but every election they suddenly are able to show the Democrats how collectivism is done. Meanwhile, Democrats act like their vote is some grand spiritual gesture that will somehow change the world AND determine whether they go to heaven or hell in the afterlife.

Needless to say, that’s not how it works. You’re not voting for who you want, you’re voting for who you’d prefer between the only two candidates who stand a chance to win. You’re voting that way because you personally voting third party this year is not going to magically transform the US into the socialist utopia we all dream of the very next day. You have to play the game with the pieces you’re given, not the ones you’re fantasizing about having.