this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2024

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485

A Majority of Voters Backing Biden Are Mostly Motivated by Stopping Trump — Poll (truthout.org)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 83 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I have never whole heartedly supported the Democratic candidate (because I'm far more left than any of them have ever been), but I've always voted for them, because they're far better than the other option. This time they're just so far better than the other option, not because they are any better, but because the other option is so astoundingly worse. So, I guess, welcome to the club.

But I will say, Biden has been more progressive than any other candidate in my lifetime. Again, that's not saying much, but hey, it's better than nothing. He's just killing himself by supporting Israel.

(Repost of my comment from the same article in another community.)

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The opinions of Biden seem to be all over the map, which is weird since he is the incumbent, and we all ought to know where he stands. There are lots of people (like you) who see the progressive things he has managed to get accomplished, even with a divided Congress in these past two years. Yet, there are others who perceive him as a right-of-center false choice.

He has always had trouble defining himself, which I think is part of the reason he was a perennial Presidential Primary loser. His stutter didn't help matters, nor his tendency to go off-script. But Trump's ascendancy gave him the perfect opportunity to create a definition, even if that definition is "Not Trump".

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago (54 children)

There is also a great deal of negative press out regarding Biden. Honestly if you look at policy and accomplishments he's done quite a lot of good things. It is an uphill battle of course with Congress and the Supreme Court being what they are. We are a big country and it takes constant action to push it to a more equitable place for the majority of us.

Frankly, I think Biden has done a lot to start that push. It will take a lot more though and we could backslide terribly if we don't keep pushing.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 5 months ago (95 children)

And that's okay.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 5 months ago (1 children)

As opposed to last time, when I voted for Biden to stop trump

[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (41 children)

As far as I'm concerned we only have one legitimate party at the moment and that's the one I'm going to vote for.
But, even though Biden isn't nearly as progressive as I'd like, he still beats the brakes off of any other democratic president we've had other than Jimmy Carter, so I wouldn't say he's doing a bad job per se.
If he were running against a "rational" Republican I'd still vote for him, so I wouldn't say I'm motivated solely by my hatred for Trump.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Not me. I’m motivated on making sure myself and all my loved ones get to continue to vote. Stopping Trump and voting for Biden just so happen to line up for that.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 months ago (4 children)

At this point, I would say nearly all of them are, but then again, at this point- that’s all the reason one needs.

This is a DIRE situation we are in. It needs to be taken seriously.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 months ago (5 children)

One day the USA will get a president that has more to offer than not being his opponent.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No they won't, their lesser evil bullshit will keep creating a progressively larger evil. So there will always be a boogeyman to sell.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 5 months ago

I know I am. I mean it it's not like I would vote for any Republican because I have yet to see one that lines up with my philosophy. And since we have a shitty to party system, I can't reasonably expect to be able to have a voice by voting for anybody else, so I have no choice but to compromise by voting for the lesser of two bastards. We seriously need ranked voting in this country so badly. It's not a perfect system, but it's so much better than what we're doing now.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago

Of course. He'd never win if not for the alternative being a fascist convicted of multiple kinds of fraud.

Hell, he almost didn't the first time around and that was WITHOUT being a willing participant in numerous crimes against humanity!

[–] [email protected] 25 points 5 months ago (18 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.

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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).

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago

I generally like Biden and I’m still more motivated by voting against trump. I’m amazed on a daily basis how many ignorant school shooter wannabes roam around here chanting fantasies without any basis in reality convincing themselves that they aren’t culpable if they don’t accept reality.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

Yes. Please do be motivated by stopping Trump!

And especially don't be demotivated to go voting because you don't like the alternative.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

this is every election since ive been old enough to vote in them

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago

I mean...no shit?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (15 children)

I honestly wonder what I'd do if a non-maga candidate replaced trump. Not vote for them, but I might vote for a third party at that point. Unless something changes, it wouldn't much matter; my voter registration is in a place that is very comfortably red so I'm not going to be able to change that.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Water is wet.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago

I'm just done "trusting" Republicans in general. Romney seems to be the only one left that has a moral compass (that doesn't just point to "Nazi Jesus"). Even then I don't believe he'd give a damn about the poorest among us as long as he could point to record stock prices and low unemployment.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (11 children)

Only the best current reason. When frump is out of the picture for good we can focus on other things

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

there hasn't been an election where it wasn't choosing the least bad person.

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

Well it worked the first time around...

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

"A majority of voters backing Biden are mostly motivated by the greatest threat America and the western world has ever faced."

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Thanks Democrats. Hopefully you risking everything to stroke this dudes ego doesn't give the Republicans control forever. Exact same shit as 2016. I have no choice but to vote for Biden. I wonder whom the democratic party will pick next, probably Mayor Pete, and it'll then be another vote for Pete to save democracy.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

Biden has done so much fucking shit for the average american (which is saying something thanks to the Do Nothing fascists)

First US president to join the union workers ON THE PICKET LINE In many ways we have handled this world-wide inflation shit better than any other in the G7 nations Unemployment numbers are at record lows, .01 lower than any other time in the past 10 years at one point in january and april of last year and since then has only risen around 0.3-4 points, removed healthcare related debt from credit scores

I could go on and on, but instead, others have already done so for me (and these aren't even super recent):

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-opinion-biden-accomplishment-data/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/oneyear/

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/02/joe-biden-30-policy-things-you-might-have-missed-00139046