#independent voter

[jccheapalier]

[billionbrilliantstars]

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot since the debate is the fact that we are no longer having to choose a lesser of two evils. We now have a strong, vibrant, empathetic, and intelligent choice who will do her absolute best for us. The only way to have a president who you agree with 100% is to become president yourself. Her plan for the economy has been shown by economic experts to be far better for us than Trump’s economy. This was fact checked to be true. She is the candidate proven to support LGBTQ rights all her life. She is the candidate proven to support racial equality, she’s been fighting for it since she was a child. She is the candidate who grew up as a regular person. She is the candidate who cares about both Palestinians and Israelites (the citizens, not the corrupt government). She is the candidate who will push for a ceasefire. Let’s remember that she isn’t president right now. She doesn’t have any power unless there’s a tie to break in the Senate.

I truly believe that if we don’t see a real positive change in this country under Harris it will be because of Congress and Supreme Court pushback. And that is the worst case scenario with a Harris presidency. Nothing changes. What’s the worst case if Trump wins? A project 2025 dystopia. Best case? Increased racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, police brutality etc. The president serves as a role model beyond just their political power. If the commander in chief in a country says it’s okay to hate a certain group of people, the country is going to lay into that.

[thegaylink]

Biden and Harris shot themselves on the foot but sure the 500k people who voted Stein are to blame

Many things to work on here.

1. Stein is not the only 3rd party candidate.

All together, this amounts to 2,097,242 votes

2 million votes that were wasted on candidates that everybody knew wouldn't win. When we say every vote counts, this is why. They ADD UP. These numbers can change the course of an election, and they were tossed aside.

2. I never said 3rd party voters are the only ones at fault. If you chose not to vote, you are as much to blame as Trump supporters. Non-voters also make up an enormous number of people. Those kinds of numbers can change the course of an election, and they were discarded by people who chose to remain ignorant, uneducated, and uninvolved.

3. I assume you are the same person who sent me an anon message that says "genocide is bad" and YES. That's exactly what I said. Trump has been very clear about his plans for Gaza. He will not help them. He will continue to fund the IDF and support Isreal. He will help Putin invade even more European countries, and in doing so, he will fund the murders of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. I understand that Kamala Harris has contributed to the horrid deaths in Gaza, but the chances of getting a ceasefire/stopping support of Isreal were much better under her than Trump. If you seriously believe that voting 3rd party is going to help the people of Gaza, you are just as ignorant and uneducated as those who support the genocide.

4. Even with the genocides going on, the president's biggest loyalty should still be to the people of THIS country. They should be fighting for the rights, liberties, and happiness of the American people. Out of every candidate on the ballot, Harris has shown that she is loyal to America. She had worked in all 3 branches of the government, she has worked her way up and worked hard to get to where she is. She understands the struggles the average American faces. Trump is loyal to his own pocket, and that's it. He makes decisions not based on good values, but on how much money he's set to make. He is greedy in his professional and personal life. He takes from people over and over again, whether it's by taking their money, their trust, or their bodies. He grew up rich and stayed that way by running back to the comfort of his father so he can take more from him. He ran his business into the ground repeatedly, he ran his marriage into the ground, and he ran this country into the ground. He has no sense of loyalty. Not to his family, not to this country, and not to our people. He is loyal to himself and his wallet, and that's it. To see all of this evidence, these testaments to their character, these reflections of their values and morals, and still decide to use your vote for a candidate that you know will not be able to win even one state, even one county, shows where your loyalties lie. It is a testament to your character and a testament to your values. If you vote 3rd party, you do not value the people of this country. You want to be able to say you voted, to let people think that you used your power and your voice, while allowing your voice to be silenced. You want the praise from voting, but refuse to help. When you vote 3rd party, you prove your loyalties lie only to yourself, not to your community, and not to others. You are thinking only of your conscience, despite the fact that your poor choices will lead to thousands of deaths. You do it so you feel better when you lose, instead of fighting to win. Nobody will never agree with everything a candidate believes in, but elections are not for you to elect someone just like you, they are to elect someone who will lead the country with its people in mind, with loyalties to their people. If you vote 3rd party, you have failed at your role in this election.

[eugenedebs1920]

Our democratic constitutional republic has stood longer than any democracy in history. Longer than the Greeks or Romans of ancient times. One of the strongest reasons for this being the tripartite checks and balances between the branches. No single branch with significant power over another. What reptilian alien turtle variant Mitch McConnell did with the GOP’s mastering of minority rule is throw this balance off kilter. Trump’s stacking of the court with barely vetted, extreme right wing MAGA judges has created a constitutional crisis the likes America has never faced. The fact that 45 out of 46 presidents didn’t need absolutely immunity from crimes committed while in office is clear proof of this. Trumps MAGA justices have given a tyrant free rein to shred the limitations and ignore the granted freedoms of the document that has held this nation together for so long. This election is about the future. This election is about freedom. This election is about the sanctity of our Constitution. 🇺🇸

[angel-derangement]

NOT wading into american politics discussion IM NOT IM NOT but your basic problem is that no one fucking understands a thing about the economy even slightly. they all voted against the incumbent party bc they had inflation rise during their term, meaning they voted for Mister Tariffs. this is because they do not know what the word tariffs means nor do they know how inflation happens. I know I’m preaching to the choir but please god please please learn about money this is so important. I hate this system too but my GOD if you don’t learn about it You Will Be Scammed By Your Leaders and you won’t know why.

[yesornopolls]

are you a political agnostic? i.e. being politically homeless and not comfortably belonging to any one definitive Party or movement. Note: this is distinct from not voting for one or believing parties are “worthless”

[badbirdnews]

The future of Medicare Part D healthcare system is being destroyed. This is not leadership; this is cowardice!

The Biden-Harris administration has chosen to betray the very people they claim to represent. With the election looming, they have shamelessly forced hardworking taxpayers to bail out the Medicare program that they themselves have destroyed. This is a blatant disregard for the trust placed in them by the American people.

Medicare is a lifeline for millions of Americans, particularly senior citizens who rely on it for their healthcare needs. Yet, instead of taking responsibility for their actions and rectifying the situation, Biden and Harris have chosen to throw taxpayer dollars at the problem in an attempt to hide their incompetence. It is a slap in the face to those who have worked tirelessly and paid their taxes faithfully.

It is truly astonishing how these politicians can turn on the very people who put them in power. The Medicare program, which once provided essential healthcare coverage to 67.3 million Americans, has now been left in shambles by the very individuals who were supposed to protect it. Senior citizens, who make up 80 percent of those enrolled in Medicare Part D, are left feeling betrayed and abandoned.

The audacity of Biden and Harris to prioritize their own political survival over the well-being of the American people is nothing short of disgraceful. It is a clear indication of their lack of leadership and their willingness to sacrifice the needs of the many for their own personal gain. The fallout from this betrayal will not be forgotten, and come election time, the American people will not be fooled by their deceitful tactics.

Paul T., Opinion Journalist and Editor of Bad Bird News

[poll-boy]

sorry for the double poll i forgot a not voting button :(

also if you are not voting (in any election anywhere) - please reconsider !! voting is important!!

[ridenwithbiden]

STOP BLAMING MEN FOR EVERYTHING

it's a gross generalization, it's sexist, and it's wrong.

the gender gap was actually smaller in 2024 than in 2020 or 2016.

as one example, women between 45 and 64 voted for democrats

by 7% less in 2024 than they did in 2020, and under 30 years old,

women voted 2% less, that's right, even under 30 voted less. but,

both men and women over 65 the same in both 2020 and 2024.

most likely, because of social security, medicare, and medicaid.

"Vice President Kamala Harris’ potentially history-making bid to become the first woman in the White House did little to bring more women voters into the Democratic Party during the first presidential election after the loss of federal abortion rights, with seemingly one exception: women over 65.

These women were motivated by the same issues that were important to the overall electorate, like the economy, threats to democracy, immigration and abortion, something central to Harris’ failed bid for the presidency. They were, however, more likely to name priorities like caregiving, aging in place and preserving the government retirement savings program Social Security as decisive factors, according to an AARP analysis of an AP VoteCast survey of 120,000 registered voters.

The specific priorities of women over 65 could explain why they voted for Harris at higher rates than men their age and moved more in Harris’ direction than younger women.

“Social Security … is not an issue that people said was either first or second most important, but 70 percent of voters said that Social Security was an extremely or very important issue in their vote, and it was slightly higher among voters who voted Democratic,” Jeff Liszt, a partner at Impact Research, a Democratic polling firm, said during a post-election briefing hosted by the AARP.

“And then voters 50+? Eighty percent of voters 50+ said that Social Security was extremely or very important in their vote,” he continued.

Across gender, age and race, the electorate largely moved away from Democrats this year and the shift typically, though not always, benefited Republican President-elect Donald Trump. This happened even as a record-breaking percentage of voters said that abortion was their top issue and majorities of the electorate across all demographic groups said they trusted Democrats to better handle it.

Trump picked up support despite his role cementing the conservative Supreme Court majority that overturned Roe v. Wade, the dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct against him and his conviction last year for sexual abuse. He received more support from women across all age groups compared to 2020, except for those 65 and older, who swung in Harris’ favor by several points: 54 percent of them backed Harris while her support from men of the same age group was 44 percent, according to CNN exit polls.

A main takeaway this year is that a gender gap that many political experts predicted could be historic did not materialize, in part because the share of the women’s electorate that Harris won decreased across all age groups, except for women over 65.

A gender gap has existed in every presidential election since 1980, with more women supporting the Democratic candidate. This year, it was smaller than in the past two elections. Trump competed in both — winning the first, losing the second — though each occurred before Roe was overturned and the former president’s sexual abuse conviction. He has also since been convicted of 34 felonies related to falsifying business records to obscure payments to an adult film star during his first campaign.

The gender gap is typically considered the difference between the proportions of men and women who supported the winning candidate. In 2024, there was a 10-point gender gap. In 2020, there was a 12-point gender gap. In 2016, there was a 11-point gender gap, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

A smaller proportion of women overall backed Harris this year than did President Joe Biden in 2020, with 53 percent voting for her; 45 percent cast ballots for Trump, according to a CNN analysis of exit polls, an imperfect science that nonetheless provides an initial look at the electorate.  The same exit polls from the 2020 election indicated that 57 percent of women backed Biden and 42 percent backed Trump.

The CNN exit polls indicated that Harris lost support across all other age groups of women this year. The drop ranged from two points among 30- to 44-year-old women to seven points among 45- to 64-year-old women..

But women and men 65+ moved roughly equal amounts in favor of Harris as compared to 2020  — and women in this age cohort remained more likely than men to support the Democratic nominee.

Liszt participated in the briefing hosted by the AARP, along with Bob Ward, a partner at Fabrizio Ward, a Republican polling firm. The two pollsters analyzed AP VoteCast data across 43 of the most competitive U.S. House districts, most of which were also in presidential battleground states. As they layered gender across age and race, a fuller picture started to come into focus about why women 65 and older in these key areas seem to have defied the ideological shifts seen across other demographic groups.

The AARP analysis showed that abortion and immigration were the top issues overall that determined candidate choices this year, with about one in four voters naming each as the decisive factor. The economy and jobs ranked at a close second, though it became the top issue overall when expanded to include inflation and Social Security in the broader category of “personal economic issues.”

Voters 65 and older were also far more likely than those in other age groups to say “protecting democracy” was at least a “very important” issue to them. About 90 percent of 50+ women said that protecting democracy was very important, compared to 79 percent of men.

While women over 50 were less likely than men the same age to name “personal economic issues” as the most determinative, more of them specifically picked Social Security. Women in this age group preferred Democrats’ approach, with 59 percent of them reporting that Social Security is or is expected to be a “major source” of income for their household. Fifty-one percent of men the same age said the same, the AARP analysis showed.

The biggest gender gaps in 50+ voters were on the issues of abortion and immigration, with women prioritizing the former and men the latter, the pollsters said.

Voters caring for an elderly, ill or disabled adult were more likely to vote for Harris and more women than men over 65 reported being a caregiver. Women over 50 were also 10 points more likely than men to say they trusted Democrats more than Republicans to “help seniors live independently.”

AARP’s takeaways are supported by interviews The 19th did with 65+ women ahead of the November elections.

Take Kathryn Engelhard, 69. She said after a mid-October Harris campaign event in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that protecting Social Security was her top concern, followed by health care, specifically the GOP policies related to reproductive rights and abortion.

Sue Shomsky, a 70-year-old Michigan voter who backed Harris, said she was inspired to put up yard signs and go door-knocking for the first time this year because of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which she saw as a threat to democracy, as well as Republican abortion policies, which she considers a threat to her grandchildren.

“You know, after January 6, I said: ‘My God, we cannot let this man get back in the White House.’ I’m going to do everything I can to protect the rights of my daughter and my granddaughters. Whatever it takes, I’m willing to do it,” Shomsky told The 19th in late October.

The AARP analysis was based on AP VoteCast, which surveys more than 120,000 registered voters across all states and is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, PBS NewsHour, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. These interviews, conducted in English and Spanish, took place in the final week before Election Day and reflect responses from registered voters who cast ballots in person, early, absentee, by mail or decided not to vote. It is a more expansive survey than the exit polls analyzed by CNN, which were compiled by doing voluntary interviews with about 23,000 voters.

The post Harris lost support from women overall — but not women over 65 appeared first on The 19th."

[demontruth]

[james-the-axew]

I only wish the worst upon all those who didn’t vote, voted independent, and voted trump. When natural disasters hit don’t expect sympathy from me. When shooting happen in your state don’t expect any sympathy. When Covid or some other virus runs rampant don’t expect anything. You get what you deserve.

[imaginethathaikyuu]

i hate democrats sosososo much like they could have so easily won this election …. and yet they choose to be center right and LOSE EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!!!

anyway pookies… itll be ok… if anyone needs to rant my dms are open…. love will prevail… ❤️❤️❤️

[billionbrilliantstars]

“It’s important for people to recognize he’s not a conservative”. Liz Cheney

Anyone who is undecided in this election but leans conservative, I ask you to please consider watching this video. At least listen to Liz Cheney and hear her out as you make your decision.

[sophaeros]

btw in case you havent seen my twitter this is my "this user still thinks julian casablancas is a shithead" note appended to every post about him in spirit. hes right in some ways and really stupid in others and is either way very annoying

[eugenedebs1920]

How is this not sedition!? How is Bannon and others not locked up, more so than 4 months!? He says how they’re going to steal the election! Not sure how I missed this audio back when but damn!! This is treason! This stands against everything our country is! The MAGA atrocity must be stopped…

[davidaugust]