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If we can't be bothered to vote in the primaries, wjy would anyone believe us that a progressive candidate would somehow lure millions more to vote?
As I know the comments will be, uhhh, fun, I've turned off reply notifications.
you know, like our last primary.
Well... shit... can't argue with that
Imma head out
Progressive here. I vote in every primary and try to rally support for the most progressive in my coalition. Come November, I vote against fascists which means voting for Democrats because they're obviously better in every way.
If you don't vote or vote third party, congratulations, it means you were duped by right-wing propaganda or don't understand how our election system works and the inevitable binary outcome that comes with FPTP and whole you didn't give fascists +2, you gave them +1.
This.
Not voting or voting for a third party hands a win to people you don't want winning. The system is not fair, at all -- but that doesn't mean we should operate in a way we know will lead to a bad outcome. We have plenty of evidence that third parties in the US don't really make a dent, but they do sway elections (and generally not how you want). The rest is idealism.
It's also a good example of why single-issue voting means you'll almost always get more collateral damage, even if you get representation you want on that specific issue.
I've gotten more down votes saying exactly this.
In 2020 Biden won with 81.3 million votes. In 2024 Trump won with 77.3 million votes. All we had to do to avoid the mess we are in is turn out with the same "enthusiasm" we had for Biden in 2020.
I agree with this strategy but I think you have to also concede that anti-electoralists have some good arguments too. Since voting is relatively low investment, my personal view is that it's best to pursue a variety of strategies. But for the vast majority of Americans for whom voting is their only political activity, I would challenge them to figure out what the next step is in becoming a more effective political actor. Frankly, there are a variety of actions a person can take that are way more impactful than voting. And this moment demands more from us than passive participation.
Independents can't vote in primaries in my state and many others.
Independents are the majority, 40% of voters, with Rs and Ds at 30% each.
There may be a ring of truth in that, but I'm registered "no party" in my state and therefore CANNOT vote in the primaries. I've considered changing my affiliation to Republican, so I can vote I'm their primaries.
What fucking primaries? 🤦♀️
The 2024 Democratic primaries, OP?
How about the 2026 primaries right now?
Yes, not great that the presidential primaries were effectively skipped, but people need to participate in a broad set of elections instead of just being fixated on the presidential race.
Your smaller races are the best shot to shape everything. If folks only bother to show up when a president is up, can't be shocked that the establishment isn't in touch with you.
Democrats haven't held an unbiased presidential primary since 2008, but go off. Superdelegates will save us.
Indeed.
Polls showed Bernie beating Donald head-to-head. Polls showed Hilary losing to Donald head-to-head.
Heard enough from liberals about “electability.”
It's not just about voting. We need more people RUNNING!
Regardless of your opinion on AOC, this documentary about how she got elected lays out the steps. IMO it's how AOC got elected that is the key to fixing America. Americans need to make that happen every single election. Systematic problems need more than 1 presidential term to reverse after all.
Independent local grassroots electoral movement. Dedicated to getting/organizing volunteers, signature gathering, door knocking, everything from getting candidates on the ballot to winning in the election.
Candidate nominations. AOC didn't sign up, her BIL or someone nominated her and the Grassroots Movement approached her to run.
PRIMARIES. PRIMARIES. PRIMARIES. Target establishment DNCs who clearly have more in common with corporate lobbyists than their own constituents.
Run the numbers game. Only 1/4 of their candidates won. Democrats should face a primary EVERY SINGLE ELECTION.
I mean you say that, but in the state I live in a progressive candidate is running and getting huge engagement with the largest primary turnout ever I think but certainly in decades. All while the establishment Democrats are fighting hard against him.
Reminds me of Mamdami! Keep fighting!
I vote in primaries, I vote for the more progressive candidate. I've also held my nose for too long voting for the candidate with more money and especially when they are just MAGA lite.
We keep being told that we're not voting in the primaries.
I don't quite believe it. I'm starting to think the primaries are rigged. And this is their excuse -- they get to smugly tell us we're just not showing up to primaries in enough numbers to make a difference. Conveniently puts the blame on us, trying to make us blame ourselves.
Ahh, projection.
Tell me again how Bernie dropping out of the primary and endorsing Hilary lost her the general election.
“Yadda yadda yadda misogyny.”
Or, if you want a more recent example, there’s this progressive who won the democratic NY mayoral primary. Progressives did what we’ve been told to do — disagree during the primary, then vote blue no matter who in the general. Liberal democrats lost their goddamn minds and ran Andrew “Sex Crimes” Cuomo as an ~~Independent~~ spoiler.
Progressives’ biggest mistake was ever believing liberals.
lol what primaries? As I recall last time we were simply handed Kamala, and everyone I know voted for her despite that. But If Biden had stepped away earlier as he originally claimed to intend to, we would have had time for a real primary. And I would have voted in it.
There's an upcoming midterm election. The Democratic primaries are just getting started for it, in fact the primaries for Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas are starting tomorrow.
Other important Democratic primaries, according to a quick Googling:
So maybe let's get to it. When the election itself comes around you'll have the usual two-party choice of D or R, which isn't really much of a choice. Hold your nose and vote D in that one regardless of anything else, it's the lesser evil. The primaries are where you can express your political desires more freely without handing a win to the Republicans by picking the less-than-optimal choice.
DNC primaries are nothing more than a livestock auction for donors. Libs will cry a big game about FPTP election systems and our need to overturn CU, but will ignore any of those major systemic contradictions when it happens to affirm their worldview
Damn right I didn't vote in the last primary!
... because I was fucking homeless!
Can't vote without a permanent mail receiving residence!
One does not simply walk into a DNC lair to vote and expect a warm welcome with open arms. Everyone knows that the DNC is corrupt. Progressives need to organise grassroots first, lobby and then work their into the political machinery. This is how the civil rights activists in the 1960s did and modern progressives should learn from them; kinda like how the fascists also learned.
The civil rights movement didnt just organize grass-roots, they essentially held a gun to the head of the democratic party
They actively worked against the DNC in most cases, since they were famously reluctant to embrace it