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Ranked choice voting so we stop having to pick terrible Democrats. Gaining prevalence in local elections!
We had that in Washington State but both parties worked to abolish it, saying that we were somehow too stupid to understand it.
I hate them both sooooo much.
Democrats can only maintain their position as controlled opposition if they control the party and can override primaries. If the people actually get a choice, then they become the people’s party and stand in opposition to the billionaire class.
We would have class war and eventually develop a strong state, similar to China, where billionaires get life sentences for bribery and can be fined and jailed for trying to undermine the state. China is so strict that it treats corrupt billionaires and government officials like we treat terrorists. There’s no legal maneuvering. They freeze your legal rights to conduct the investigation and trial, so that you cannot continue your corruption. China is a true state where leaders run the government, not businesses, whereas the United States is an oligarchy devolving into a system where private business owners run the government (fascism).
They do not want ranked choice voting because that would make them lose power
I just don't get the obsession with transgender people. What did they ever do other than just wanting to be left alone? Did a bunch of them bomb a bunch orphanages with burning puppies running out of the flaming building?
There is a large contingent of voters that are deeply religious and hate them. They are trying to appeal to those voters. America is still one of the most religious countries in the world.
There is a large contingent of voters that are deeply religious and hate them.
This is what I am asking about. Why? What is the bug up religious people's asses about transgender people.
Their argument usually is that God doesn't make mistakes and trying to change the gender you're born with is just flaunting him or something. It's not a rational argument, their book or their pastor says it's unnatural and they follow like the little sheep their are.
They're a pawn that bigots like to use to rile their base and distract from other issues. With enough enthusiasm, a concerted effort can make about anything the enemy to rally against. It's mostly fear mongering, but also has a serious detrimental effect to those being targeted.
Lyndon B. Johnson: “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”
Nonwhite, trans, gay, feminist, non-Christian, furry, etc -- substitute at will for the latest boogeyman.
Divide and conquer
They're an easy target because they're a small minority and it's easy to convince people who aren't educated in the subject that they're doing harm by letting men into women's spaces and making children change gender
Hey those puppies were Hamas /s
MLK supported getting less bad segregationists elected during the early stages of the civil rights movement because they were easier to work with, do we still have segregation today? If trans people in sports is the only contention and they agree on everything else, then that's progress. We can fight on the trans people in sports point next primary. Let's also not forget that Donald Trump is trying to end Democracy entirely and will oppress more than just trans people.
Voting shouldn’t be a sacrifice of that magnitude.
For a lot of single-issue voters, this kind of calculation is theoretical. For trans people right now, it is not. An anti-trans Democrat in office is a harm. A Republican who is openly, aggressively, legislatively hostile to trans existence is a different order of harm. Both things are true, and genuinely hard to reconcile.
Yeah, that's an awful choice. I can't think of a better option than the article presents — name the candidates and their shortcomings/wrongs.
If you're going to sacrifice your own safety and security, at least let it be for revolutionary direct action, not laying down for the slaughter.
Vote for the pro-trans Republican instead, obviously! /S
The time to oppose anti-trans Democrats is the primary. In the general election, it's too late: at that point your choice is an anti-trans Democrat or an anti-trans and otherwise fascist Republican.
Many of these Democrats such as Talarico waited until after the primary to start their anti-trans rhetoric. We would have already voted them out if they didn’t deceive us.
The only question that's valid to have about Talerico on this topic is "is Ken Paxton better, or is he even worse?" The answer is, "no, Ken Paxton is even worse." If Talerico doesn't win, Paxton WILL. End of.
For trans Texans, not voting for Talerico in order to keep Paxton out of office is objectively idiotic -- it's basically suicide by spite. That's just reality, and reality doesn't give a fuck if you like it or not.
And furthermore, politics is about building coalitions. No two candidates will ever agree on everything, and no candidate will ever represent every single one of your interests. You have to pick the best choice for you out of what you've got. If you think a Republican will represent your interests as a trans person more than a Democrat, then go for it.
One of the best responses I've heard was from the Professional Left:
(Starting around the 26:30 mark)
Boils down to: Democrats can be educated, Republicans will destroy you. Quite possibly in the literal sense.
I like how its always a minorities job to vote against their own self interest "for the greater good" and not the job of a Democratic politician to not throw them under the bus. Especially with how seemingly extremely important this one demographic is if a significant portion of said demographic not voting will cause the candidate to lose.
Exactly. I'm frankly sick and fucking tired of cis people telling trans people how they know our needs so much better than we do. The hubris is astounding.
Doing nothing while bloodthirsty bigots march into power unopposed is still 'voting against self interest'. The consequences are simply far more immediate and far harder to counter.
Vote for lesser evil + organize, get loud and make being trans normal in red states. The American system is so screwed up with no ability to dissolve your legislatures before the 4 year cycle. If you live in a state of those races, it would be better to be ignored than your rights taken away. If you need anything go seek the support of a Democrat that is pro-trans from out of your state, with control of Congress they would be able to help you more if your state's legislators are useless but of the same caucus rather than of a caucus that is actively blocking efforts. Sorry if I sound flippant about it, but I would tell moderate voters the same about a progressive candidate.
If you're worried about the ratchet affect, the solution I don't think is to turn the screws further in the direction of the ratchet. The UK example is weird, the Labour Party's somewhat to blame but I don't fully lay it at their feet, because their justice system is biased in very old ways, negatively affecting people's rights to gender expresssion.
The USA has already tried in 2016 the "haha, let Republicans vote for Donald Trump, they'll see how bad it is when they vote for racism rather than a milquetoast candidate and they will disavow it forever after" method, that didn't work, only made things a lot worse, he got elected again. Even if you have the long game in mind, not voting appears to send, even if a Republican wins 49% to 47%, a signal that the people mandate that trans people should be hurt, rather than a more neutral signal. States that had been trending red turning blue signals nationally a change in the direction of trans acceptance, regardless of the willingness of the candidate to associate during the campaign with pro-trans advocates or not.
I mean no offense but you are sounding ignorant on these topics and assuming it’s a choice of nothing happening or things getting worse, when the reality is it is both sides making things worse in these few instances.
These Democrats are not simply ignoring us, they are taking away our rights. They are working with Republicans to pass laws to limit our freedoms, they are copying their talking points to demonize us, for all intents and purposes they are no different on trans issues as Republicans.
Likewise the UK justice previously had greater support for trans people but was changed under Labor to redefine what it meant so that it could exclude trans people. This was not some archaic law, but a political choice by Labor to actively harm trans people.
You're still not going to get more rights by voting red or abstaining. You have allies. Let us help instead of forcing us to dig everyone out of a hole made by right wing fundie Christians
Guess what happens in an election with FPTP where a candidate from one of two parties will win, and people vote their conscience or don't vote at all.
The worse of the two candidates wins.
If we're talking about US senators or representatives, there's a lot of value in having a majority in either or both houses, and the margins are pretty slim. Yes, you'll risk getting another Fetterman, but the House majority party gets to pick the Speaker, which allows for a huge amount of control over what comes to the floor at all.
believe it or not, also guillotine.
Might vote against their interests vs will pursue legislation that will legitimately harm them. Seems like an obvious lesser of two evils situation. Fixing the 2 party system is not the war of today. The war of today is preventing the takeover of fascism.
Democrats like Marcy Kaptur already have pursued legislation that legitimately harms us. Others like Talarico have signalled they will.
So what do you think the best course of action is?
The primaries have already happened. Nothing is going to change the candidates on the ballots unless someone drops out. As we've seen, this isn't an issue that generates a big enough response for that.
What’s a pro trans voter anyway? Anti biggotry would be more accurate
They MUST vote For them! Blue no MATTER who!
-People who voted for INDEPENDENT CUOMO Instead of Democrat Mamdani!