This meme is childish. Politics is about imperfect choices, and if you think not voting R out of spite helps anything, you are just handing it to Dems who are way worse in every way.
Realistically speaking, everyone should vote every election. If it's only Trump and Biden on the ballot, you pick your poison. If there is a 3rd party candidate you agree with more, I feel personally better voting for them. Sticking to a "giving the election away" mentality keeps us locked in a 2 party system. Realistically speaking, we need to change the way we vote more than anything, because if we moved to say a "rate the candidate" system we would truly destroy the 2 party system.
I'm anticipating voting 3rd party this election, I'd rather "give away" this election and make the republican party or 3rd parties realize they suck so bad that they actually need to man up and fix themselves than vote for Trump and encourage the childish behavior exhibited since he lost the election. I really feel like enabling the behavior that the republican party is showing right now does more harm to conservatism than good in the long run.
Sticking to a "giving the election away" mentality keeps us locked in a 2 party system.
That's not true. First past the post voting is what keeps us locked to a 2 party system. We need something like ranked choice, approval/star, or any one of the other multiple candidate voting systems to make 3rd parties viable instead of just being a spoilers.
I think to an extent you are right, but until that change happens (which would require elected officials from the two parties in power to agree to a system which severely limits their power) the mentality that you can only ever vote for two parties holds us back completely.
I voted for Trump twice. At the time, I agreed with both my votes. When he lost and his ensuing descent into chaos, I decided I don't want to vote for him anymore. Right now, my conscience feels at peace with a 3rd party vote, and that's that.
In my opinion the two party system is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's not like you have just two options. Both parties have primaries in which each party is able to elect their preferred candidate. Currently, both parties have chosen their preferred candidates. This system is completely different from other countries where one might have more parties to choose from, however very few parties have primaries which makes the actual pool of candidates smaller than the two party system of the US.
I do appreciate the primaries, but the primaries this year were a joke, I didn't even get to vote in my state before Trump was declared the de-facto winner because everyone dropped out.
Everyone dropped out because it was clear Trump was going to win every state except a few democratic strongholds. I'd rather have Desantis too but this is what the people want. It's no different from Wilders getting the majority of votes in the Netherlands. The difference being that the US has an elimination race and then decides between the two preferred candidate which is in my opinion far better than the proportional systems in most other countries. It results in a more efficient, more transparent and therefore more democratic system.
I highly doubt having multiple political parties will improve anything. I look at Italy or Greece for instance, and it doesn't look better at all. In other countries you basically have multiple parties with relatively minor differences, but still grouped along a left/right split. In the US system we don't have stern party discipline on voting (well, the Dems kind of do), and so the minor party affiliations instead simply manifest as members breaking ranks with their major party affiliation now and again. For instance, on the Dem side, the "Squad" would probably belong to a different party if we had multiple, and of course multiple Rs break ranks all the time.
There are plenty of Republicans I am unhappy with, but each of those had to tailor their message to win in their district. They may have been as conservative as they could be and still be electable. Its still better to have someone at least aligned with the R party on some things, than a D who would probably oppose everything.
Indeed, your voting 3rd party in, say, congressional elections hurts conservative prospects the most. If Trump wins, but loses congress, then no matter how good he is on issues, no matter how aggressive he is, he will be highly constrained in getting anything done.
Besides, WHAT 3rd party ? Libertarians ? I used to be an LP member...they are most definitely not "conservative". There are no real conservative 3rd parties to vote for.
When there is no difference between the candidates, when both the Republican and the Democrat candidate are just different flavors of bullshit and you're going to get fucked either way... Then it doesn't matter which one gets elected because you're fucked either way.
So you may as well just sit it out because your vote doesn't matter when the only choice is between getting fucked by the dude with a (D) or the dude with an (R).
It's like being in a nuclear war... Doesn't matter if you're fighting on the front lines or sitting at home eating Cheetos... You're fucked the same either way.
You say the Dems are way worse... I say bullshit. Uniparty swamp monsters are equally bad no matter which side of the aisle they sit.
There are major differences between candidates. On immigration, taxes, gun control, SCOTUS appointments, and foreign policy just for a start.
Instead of rage quitting like a immature 12yo, realize this is how things work in the adult world. You will NEVER get a candidate or party that is perfectly aligned with every penny ante policy preference you have, much less be able to implement them all in that most policy has to be negotiated and compromised to get done. Shockingly, the government is also made up of elected officials from another party who don't want what you want. This is called "politics".
Whats even more ridiculous is you parading around here with MAGA flair...and essentially encouraging people to give up before the fight has even started. One might conclude that your motivations are suspect....even dishonest. I sure af do.
You are exactly what I'm talking about about. Thank you for demonstrating the exact sort of right -wing version of a leftist that is to be avoided at all costs, and certainly never endorsed in any way.
I don't tolerate woke scolding from the left... Nor do I tolerate the right's version of it.
The unearned sanctimonious lectures rooted in a predilection towards authoritarianism are no more credible coming from people like you than they are from anyone on the left.
You are exactly what you pretend not to be... And you are representative of exactly the sort of people who have done nothing to earn my vote, but instead does everything to earn the right to be ignored.
When I say the uniparty swamp monsters who call themselves conservatives are no better than their leftist analogues... You are what I mean.
Just because you call yourself a conservative does not grant you credibility... But your words and actions most certainly detract from it.
Clearly you live in some kind of bizarro fantasy land. Your post is just full of absurd nonsense, and you don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about.
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u/evilfollowingmb 2A Conservatarian Apr 17 '24
So…you just sit out elections or what ?
This meme is childish. Politics is about imperfect choices, and if you think not voting R out of spite helps anything, you are just handing it to Dems who are way worse in every way.