@tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

you have it completely backwards

someone shows up to vote

the democrats represent those voter's interests

the left doesn't see their interests represented

so they vote even less

so their interests are represented even less

BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T VOTE

it *never* works that perfect candidate miraculously appears, then you vote

it *always* works that you vote, then the candidates show up to represent your interests:

because you fucking vote!

@tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

"This is a bullshit argument used to take blame away from the Democratic establishment"

the dem establishment is the way it is because too little on the left show the fuck up to vote

why do so many not see this radioactively obvious point

if you don't vote, no one gives a fuck what you think

"i'm not voting, that'll teach you" is completely fucking stupid

all that happens is govt doesn't care about you *to the same degree you obviously don't care*

@benroyce @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

if you want to talk about radioactively obvious points

if the democrats wanted to win based on votes they would have gone in full for protecting and restoring voting rights - which they actively chose not to do while having the power to do so considering most disenfranchised voters lean more towards them than their opponents

the democrat establishment does not do things merely to chase voters or to win

they do things that support their own agenda, which is... not progressive in many ways, but rather, mostly maintaining the status quo, especially their own wealth

often, it benefits the democrats more to lose because it allows them to shift further right while massively increasing their fundraising power and blaming the most disempowered for their losses

if the democrats were actually chasing votes, they'd run on platforms of things that are shown time and time again to be popular, not merely as "not the GOP"

@deilann @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

GOP works to deny voting rights

for the democrats to oppose that we need to show up and vote

the attitude of "dems don't do enough even though we hamstrung them by not giving them a majority"...

then not vote...

then voting rights decay more...

?!

the problem is not the establishment

the establishment is as it is precisely because of nonvoting assholes

not voting is not an *effect* of our problems

not voting is the *cause* of our problems

@benroyce @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

my point is even when the democrats have had the power to restore voting rights they have not done so

so even when people do show up to vote and the democrats have the presidency, the house, and the senate, nothing is still done on that front - and explicitly so, stating they will not work on it

so i'm unsure how it makes sense to blame "nonvoting assholes" when the party seems perfectly happy allowing voting rights to erode

@benroyce @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

this leads me to believe the goals of the democrats are something other than chasing voters - because if they wanted to chase voters, they have a very obvious route they've neglected to their own detriment

@deilann @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

i don't know how i can say it if you don't see it

i'll simply say it again:

when you see spineless weak dem leadership, this is a direct result of those who do not show up to vote

if the left showed up in a groundswell, candidates would leap over each other to represent those interests

if the left does not show up, the sucky leadership reflects that

nobody represents people who don't vote

i think you have cause and effect backwards

@benroyce @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

FWIW, i'm disenfranchised so have no representation regardless

@deilann @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

right, and to get you re-enfranchized, those who can vote need to show the fuck up

no one in a million years blames anyone who can't vote due to legality, financial situation, social situation, physical situation, etc

we blame the assholes who can easily vote, but choose not to out of various moronic half baked bullshit self-serving "reasons"

that only hurts themselves in the end, and they don't know or don't care

@benroyce @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

at the same time, though, we can also blame the democrats for knowingly taking positions and choosing candidates that are less popular with voters?

it's not simply one direction when the democrats are making choices that also actively drive voters away and not doing the work to keep voting rights safe

"we're not the bad guys" isn't a sustainable platform for keeping people voting. it's a platform that exhausts people and makes them feel trapped in a hostage situation.

like this is a bidirectional relationship

@deilann @tofugolem @rozeboosje @CptSuperlative

we have primaries in 2026

if the left show up in a groundswell we get good candidates

if, as usual, barely anyone shows up, what do you think is going to happen?

you need to stop blaming the centrist milquetoast spineless dems because the only reason they exist is because no one shows the fuck up to vote

@benroyce the problem I have with this argument, apart from you calling people morons and stuff, is that I've been voting for as long as I've been able and the choices have never been good. Is there evidence somewhere that suggests that more people voting = better candidates?

@nonehitwonder

in the primaries

the low amounts showing up to vote in the primaries is disgusting

and that is where we get good candidates

instead people go "well the candidates suck so i'm not voting"

and the candidates suck because the moron didn't show up in the primary

@benroyce okay gotcha. Not a fan of your methods, but I'm getting your point.

@nonehitwonder

i have no methods

i'm an angry hothead loudmouth rando on social media

i'm not some democratic strategist

but i know this is absolutely true:

people not voting is what got us here just as much as MAGA

and dem centrist spinelessness is an *effect* of people not voting, not a *cause* of it (although of course that can deepen in a feedback loop)

#primaries2026:

show the fuck up

get the candidates you want

@benroyce @nonehitwonder “dem centrist spinelessness is an *effect* of people not voting” Nah, betw their neoliberal ideology & interests of ultra-wealthy funding them, they’d rather lose than win like FDR did. So they have, over & over.

@benroyce @nonehitwonder Yes it’s self-defeating for the public to not vote for the lesser evil. But in the USAian spoiler effect/2-party system, the parties aren’t really parties in the parliamentary sense, in which people can vote how they like & then the MPs compromise to form a governing coalition. Here we make the voters compromise & endorse a governing coalition. Lotta everyday people refuse

@Simplicator @nonehitwonder

to fix the problem you cite, which i agree with, WE NEED TO VOTE

we can't go "well this has problems, so no voting"

so it never gets fixed

example:

ranked choice voting

which means you can vote your conscience instead of endless dreary strategy with our fucking stupid FPTP voting system

to get that, vote for dems and hammer them on it

we got it in a few places already

the GOP just wants to suppress your vote

@benroyce @Simplicator @nonehitwonder

I've been to 4 protests since election day, each ate up a day, left me exhausted. A dozen community meetings too.

Voting is the easiest "political action" I do. Probably also least material impact, but I don't get why we have to talk about it so much.

Get it done AND don't stop there.

If you can't do it for material reasons OK. Want to tell me about some ideological reason? I don't really have time for that. I do not care.