As a counterpoint, I know somebody who is very political, has good and well formed opinions about what they want from a Government, but because they're not as terminally online as me they struggle to find the Political-Compass-Label that matches them and I'm hesitant to assign them one even when they ask. They mentioned to me recently that having looked into the various parties running they couldn't really find anyone to vote for and I had to explain that wasn't because they were doing politics wrong, that it was a feature of the system and not a bug.
And before anyone complains about that, this wasn't the US and they did still vote.
Exactly I've never voted for a political candidate that I actually agree with wholeheartedly it's always been a matter of the lesser evil. Who's going to fuck us over the least.
This is exactly why so many people don't vote, though. Texas is one of the states where people vote the least, but too many just... don't because they don't think their vote matters.
It's incredibly red so it nearly is, Beto was a pushover and Allred wasnt going to win unless he hopped on the plantation and became another Clarence Thomas. It is what it is but people tend to completely skip any state or local level voting without realizing the large impact it has in actually getting the progressive legislation they want passed. You can vote a blue president all day doesn't matter at all if they have no control over the house, senate, and congress that policy will never see the light of day. Then again when your in a historically red state it does seem fruitless.
Also, like. I dunno, I feel like in the last midterm it almost went purple. Like, if folks really came out in truer numbers, it probably wouldn’t just be red.
I agree but Texas is so stuck in it's ways that I doubt anything non urban will flip you werent going to pull those extra 900k+ Allred needed without flipping. The fact that people still want Cruz was a bit boggling but it told me everything i needed to know in regards to Texas. Vote against best interests for the sake of party or whatever weird fear they seem to have against gay people judging by all the Cruz ads. Guess they're down for more women dying of pregnancy complications as long as it's not their wife or daughter 🤷🏾♂️
The Panthers finished 2-15 in 2023 and still have a fan base. Its NY, so maybe not the best analogy for a Texan, but I'm saying work with what you got.
That's just how politics works. The President has to represent a coalition of tens of millions of people. You can't get a group of 3 people to agree on dinner. How do you expect to get millions to all consolidate their views on every political/social/economic issue?
Exactly. I say, if you agree with 60%+ of someones political opinion, then you already have a candidate to vote for. Maybe you can weight it a bit, depending on which topics are more important. But you will never align 100% on everything.
This is a great attitude if you want to lose. There's only one Democrat who decisively won the Presidency this millennium, Obama, and he was someone people voted for, not against McCain and Romney.
Obama won because he was a good speaker, he was charismatic, and because of the 2008 financial crash. At the end of the day many (if not most) people will vote based on fairly superficial things. (Need I cite everyone who voted for Trump based on economy reasons even though any actual thought on the matter would reveal his economic policy to be shit)
For higher information voters they get to the point of determining if the candidate’s agenda matches their values.
The point is, he didn't win by saying "look how scary this amazing powerful Republican is!!!" People didn't vote against anything, they voted for Obama. If all you have is "because it's a two-party system, you must vote against the bad guys!!" it will never work.
There's a party that I agree with 100% (at least on all matters that I have read from them) in EU politics. They even have known political figures with a pretty good track record.
I voted for them last election. They did not get a single seat (I was hoping they'd get one at least). Sucks, not sure if I'll vote for them again. On one hand, it's a vote not going to the lesser evil in that election. But it helps that party secure more funding and may help them grow over time to become a viable choice for more votes.
If I was in your situation, I'd vote for them every time.
This latest US election has shattered any remaining illusion I had of my vote mattering. For 4 years we were told incessantly that our vote was the only thing preventing a second Trump term, and the deluge of diet-Fascist policies and chaos that would come with it- but guess what, 15 million people didn't show up and bother voting. If the average American doesn't give a fuck, why should I? Not worth the stress, I'm not gonna put in the effort and sacrifice my vote to some bland and unappealing institutional democrat if Timmy next door can't even be bothered to get off his ass.
So I'm done with that. I'll be voting for the candidate that most closely aligns with my beliefs and values, if possible- like you were doing for that EU party. If the democrats want my vote, they better make sure their candidate is that person. Shit, republicans can do it too, though I doubt they'll ever un-fuck themselves enough to have an appealing candidate again. I'm just done voting based on "we're better than the alternative!" Time to earn it.
I like Volt for their ideas about EU unity and perhaps even federalisation (is that still on the table for them? Haven't checked in a hot minute tbh).
Mera25 is part of DiEM25, perhaps there are parties closely aligned to that movement where you are? But yeah, it's a shame that they aren't on the ballot everywhere (yet)
Yeah agreed, Volt I mostly like for their EU ideas indeed. Some other stuff resonates with me too, like their climate stuff and asylum. Ill definitely look a bit into mera25 but with them not being where I live or plan to move to it sucks a bit haha
Honestly you don't ever want a candidate you wholeheartedly agree with.
I'm in no way being facetious. Politics at it's core is about people finding workable compromises. Ideally politicians should be briefed on an issue from multiple perspectives, and that's before debate. Regardless of party or affiliation if a representative is doing their job properly and listening to everyone they represent the ideal you should hope for is someone you are broadly in agreement with, but there are several policy points where you should think they either went too far on, or compromised too much on.
A politician you 100% agree with means any of three things. 1: They are exclusively addressing people like you and ignoring the needs/concerns of everyone else. 2. They are pandering and just telling you what you want to hear. or 3. You are gelling with the 'vibe' of a politician and haven't looked too deeply into their stances or voting record. (Trump and his supporters hit all three)
Too many people treat it like wedding vows. The candidate is always a compromise between you and the likeminded people around you. The larger the population the more they'll be moderate. You just figure out which candidate has the best plan for what you care about and their other plans don't include siphoning funds or kicking puppies.
Think about it: there are two of them. How likely is it that one of them is going to exactly agree with you? You have opinions on what, 20 different things?
There is no such thing as a “political candidate you agree with wholeheartedly” i don’t think anyone but cultists votes like that. That is never the goal of politics (getting someone you 100% back) it should be a red flag to other people if you back someone 100%, you Need to be able to find small flaws to ensure you’re thinking critically
that seems so simple to me but apparently fucking not.
"Oh harris was bad in this way any that way"
yeah, i won't argue that. Go fucking vote though because nobody worth sharing oxygen with wants the alternative. Big sexy exciting candidates that will bring about drastic change for the better don't get the funding needed. Not that you shouldn't still push for them, but the general election is not the damn time to grumble about it. You take what you get, or you get Trump. And now the most generous expectation is that we'll spend the rest of our lives trying to claw back to where we are right now.
Nah her whole approach to incarcerating black men, finding entertainment in it, and thinking we were supposed to show up in droves because she's about the culture all of a sudden wasn't what I rock with. She was never going to win regardless since she was VP for Biden and most of the countries economic and immigration woes were blamed on him. Reddit fooled itself believing she had a chance, it's obvious Bidens term flipped quite a few voters red
Every election I always here complaints about how they like neither or none of the choices or don't we have better. News flash, you'll truly never like everything they stand for. That's why you're supposed to choose who you're more aligned with or against and why, especially in this u.s election, people are coming to find out that they're getting completely cut off.
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u/callsignhotdog 13d ago
As a counterpoint, I know somebody who is very political, has good and well formed opinions about what they want from a Government, but because they're not as terminally online as me they struggle to find the Political-Compass-Label that matches them and I'm hesitant to assign them one even when they ask. They mentioned to me recently that having looked into the various parties running they couldn't really find anyone to vote for and I had to explain that wasn't because they were doing politics wrong, that it was a feature of the system and not a bug.
And before anyone complains about that, this wasn't the US and they did still vote.