• kescusay@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Of course I vote in local elections. But you’re absolutely wrong that voting in presidential elections means “fuck all.” It’s in fact literally the only way we have any say in who is president. Every single state in the country delivers its electoral votes based on the votes of the people in that state. If you vote 3rd-party, enough people in your state have to also vote 3rd party for your vote to mean anything at all. But as long as they’re the dominant parties, if you vote for the Democrat or Republican, then your vote counts.

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      Hillary won the popular vote, but trump took the electoral college votes… your vote means fuck all.

      • kescusay@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Missed my point. No one’s disputing the fact that the electoral college sucks. But not voting for the Democrat 100% guarantees the Republican wins.

        Each state apportions its electors using that state’s popular vote. It’s stupid, and gives backwards, rural voters more electoral power than they should have, but that doesn’t mean you have none at all.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          No it does not. I wouldn’t vote for the Democrats anyways. So how again does my non vote exactly vote magically for the Republicans.

          • kescusay@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Well, like I said earlier, you’re removing your own voice from politics because you have the luxury of ideological purity. I don’t. I have kids who actually have to live in this world. I can’t let outright evil scumbags who want my kids dead win just because their most viable opponents aren’t perfect.

            But you’re apparently fine with that.

              • kescusay@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Are you kidding me? The Republican party as a whole wants LGBTQ+ kids - like both of mine - shoved back in the closet, which means suicide for lots of them, especially trans kids who are denied gender-affirming health care.

                Trans kids like my son.

                I can’t afford to pretend to moral superiority by throwing my vote away on candidates who will never win. I have to vote for the ones who can win and won’t be a danger to my kids.

                • SupraMario@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  Fair enough, I just don’t see the Dems doing much for LGBTQ+ rights. Hell they didn’t support same sex marriage until term 2 Obama. And you know Biden doesn’t.

                  What we really need is RCV, so we can actually get better candidates

                  • kescusay@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    1 year ago

                    The official party platform has support for LGBTQ+ rights in it now,1 it was Biden who convinced Obama to get on board with it,2 and in states where Republicans are leading crusades to dehumanize LGBTQ+ people, it’s Democrats who are suing to stop them.

                    Have you considered the possibility you’re wrong about the Democrats?

                    I do agree with you that we need ranked choice voting. But until we have it, I don’t really have the choice to vote for a third-party candidate who cannot win. I have to use my vote in the system we have now to support the candidate who can.


                    1: You can read it for yourself here: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2020-democratic-party-platform. Search for “LGBTQ”. There’s an entire section on protecting healthcare services for LGBTQ+ people.

                    2: I love the absurd (in retrospect) tone of the articles at the time, like this one. It was all, “Biden is creating a problem for Obama by supporting gay marriage.” Biden was ahead of his time by recognizing it was not only the right thing to do, but also a political winner, as the majority of the country had gotten over its hangups.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          Wow…no it does not. How you come to the conclusion that a vote for anyone but a dem magically allows the repub to win is just false.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          I know exactly how it works. I was replying on why your vote doesn’t matter much with the electoral college in place. It’s designed to give rural states as much a voice as larger city style states. But ok tell me again how Hillary winning the popular vote got her elected.