this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024
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politics

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 months ago (7 children)

Im not American but doesnt everyone usually vote to keep the worst out not the best one in?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago

Kinda... mostly because the best ones never become candidates. The parties push the candidates that serve the interests of the partys donors then try to convince the voters they actually care.

Most elections are a choice between two mediocre candidates.

With the current state of the Republican party, it's truly about getting more of them out of power. Unless you're a white Christofascist bootlicker.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (40 children)

I used to mainly vote third party as a protest vote for both sides to do better. Didn't matter the party, really.

I voted for Obama out of genuinely wanting him in office. I thought he was decent overall but he did disappoint me.

I voted for Biden purely to keep Trump out of office. Even so, I think Biden has largely been a better President than Obama was, though the Gaza/Israel thing is really testing that. I would love to have a more progressive choice, but any time I am disappointed in Biden, I just remind myself the alternative and I would crawl across a mile of broken glass to vote for him.

So I would anecdotally say this election is outside the norm.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

So I would anecdotally say this election is outside the norm.

If you mean "unique in 240 years of American history" I agree.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (5 children)

40% of voting-eligible Americans simply don’t vote at all.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

If you have a non proportional system where parties don't make coalitions, there's no other choice (unless you live in a region where a specific party always wins with a majority of the votes, then do what you want).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Wasn't the case with Obama, as one easy example

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Well, millennials voted for Obama because he genuinely inspired hope. Then we saw how he governed and it killed our entire generation's sense of hope.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Then you saw Biden being a better president than Obama because he was more experienced. Maybe the answer here is to pay more attention to what a politician does than what he says

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

LOL, if that were answer, then Biden would be judged on the anti-drug legislation he spearheaded in '84, '86, and '88 that gave us expanded sentences for possession, civil asset forfeiture, and the racist sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine. He'd also be judged on the 1994 crime bill he co-authored that led to the largest increase in mass incarceration in 40 years. Oh, and let's not forget the time he teamed up with Robert Byrd, a Senator and Klansman, to pass anti-bussing legislation. Point is, Biden has benefited a lot from people listening to what he says and forgetting what he's done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Biden has benefited a lot from people listening to what he says and forgetting what he’s done.

You mean forgetting that Biden has the lowest unemployment rate since the 1960's? Forgetting that he raised the minimum tax rate on corporations from 0% to 15%? Forgetting that that every few days there is a record stock market high? That nobody could have handled Covid or Ukraine better?

Biden is the victim of a lot of people forgetting what he's done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I don't think you understand my point. You made a comment about how I should judge politicians on their actions, not their words. So I pointed out that Biden's actions before his election included anti-bussing legislation, several racist drug bills, and the worst expansion of the prison-industrial complex in history. I'm glad you're happy with Biden's performance as President, but you clearly ignored a lot of what he did as a Senator and listened to what he said as a presidential candidate (or you really like racist drug policies and mass incarceration).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I couldn't care less what Biden did in the 1970's. It is ridiculous to call him "racist", as he was the running mate of the first black president.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Your original comment:

Maybe the answer here is to pay more attention to what a politician does than what he says.

Your current comment:

I couldn't care less what Biden did in the 1970's.

Maybe the answer here is to not leave condescending replies to other people's comments if you're just going to completely contradict yourself and negate your own point.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (4 children)

Dude what a politicians does NOW matters a hell of a lot more than what they did 50 years ago lol.

and negate your own point.

And Biden being the VP of the first black president 100% negates him being against forced busing in the 1970's. And everybody was against force busing in the 1970's. It was a stupid policy then.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Not true at all. Some of them are actively trying to get the worst one in.