I won’t vote in the US election but I think Walz is quite a solid candidate. If I was a US citizen, I’d vote Democrat but the VP pick wouldn’t really make a difference there.
I’m just happy they didn’t double down and pick the IDF guy.
I feel like the Democratic party is, slowly and gradually as is its nature, learning its fucking lesson. If they went far enough to actually stop supporting genocide, that might be nice.
I don’t know anything about the guy. What are his strong points?
He’s good on climate, his kids are via IVF and he’s supported reproductive freedom in his state, he had a cat until old age took it and has a dog, he’s been married to the same woman for 30+years, he’s LGBTQ supportive, he got laws passed so MN provides breakfast, lunches, and tampons in schools,
I was going to settle for Biden, but I am excited to vote for Harris.
Ima vote for some sanity, so its Kamala and Walz.
I’m on the fence between Harris or to abstain. My opinion is that the Democrats are not listening to the people, and by holding hands with the international criminals in Israel, they are alienating progressives massively (no doubt her VP pick is an attempt to win them over). 76 years of pro-Israel policy, and what has it done?
When it comes to economy, Harris is a neoliberal, and rather conservative economically, which I disagree with.
I was already going to crawl over cut glass to vote for her/against Drumph. Walz doesn’t change anything for me, but if Internet comments are to be believed, picking him does make me slightly more optimistic about our chances come November.
Drumpf*
Harris has me profoundly optimistic. She’s the most qualified candidate I’ll have had the chance to vote for in my lifetime.
Walz is fine, I was keen on Buttigieg but I’ll happily vote for Walz and let Buttigieg keep his important current position.
My biggest hope is that Kamala will draw out some of the less extreme right leaning women, nobody needs to know that they’re voting for the better candidate and God knows women need allies with the ongoing barrage.
This election cycle is not about fear for me, Harris is an easy candidate to vote for!
lol no offense you sound like her hype man.
Why would you ask the question if someone who’s going to be enthusiastic about their answer is going to be confusing to you
IDK if you’ve noticed but a lot of people are excited about Harris, although maybe that’s just happiness because it’s not the guy who might have a sundown moment on stage or something
Same here. I wish Buttigieg were in the running. The man is intensely smart and passionate.
No way in fuckall would I ever vote Republican. Initially I was against the switchup, because I was concerned that - through legal means - they would block her becoming the DNC candidate but I’m cautiously optimistic right now.
Man, I’m so sick of voting for people that I consider the lesser problem just because they aren’t actually evil. I’d rather have him as the presidential candidate because he’s closer to my preferences, and has a history that’s more aligned with his current stances.
But it’s whatever, the money tied into the two party system combined with the alternative parties never fielding anyone worth a damn for me to vote for means I’m stuck voting democrat again.
I’m not one to abstain because that’s just pointless to me. If I’m going to put up with all the fucking campaign crap, all the people running their damn mouths about it, I’m at least going to get my voice counted. If I could hermit away from the bullshit, go totally off grid and never have to see another human I didn’t want to, I’d abstain. But I can’t. So yet again, the fptp system is shit that I have to wade in.
But, yeah, him being VP makes the shit sandwich we’re being served by the two party system a teeny, tiny bit less nasty to swallow. He at least has a history of trying to do what he says he intends to, and his efforts as governor align with the social issues the same way as mine for the most part.
This is like the fireman saying “But it’s whatever, these assholes with their cigarettes and fireworks combined with shoddy building materials and false alarms mean I’m stuck responding to the fire again. I’m not one to not respond at all, because that’s just pointless to me.”
I could bring up a half a trillion dollars on climate change, reduced income inequality, gains in wages for working people even outpacing pretty historic inflation in 2022, etc etc fa la la, reasons why the Biden/Harris ticket was actually substantially better than most of the horseshit that is the modern Democrats, but “oh great I guess we gotta vote against fascism, it feels like this shit keeps happening” as a demoralizing thing as opposed to “holy shit the system is fucked how do we make some actual progress because we have to fucking live here” honestly just seems so childish and I feel like people are aware of the difference between the options and the gravity involved here
If getting up and voting is all that offensive to you, I can’t imagine how you would react to the level of effort and risk it will take to actually make the system good, and fix the 2-party system problems you’re talking about. It involves a hell of a lot more than showing up one particular day and being willing to pick “not the end of the world” instead of “yes end of world.”
What is wrong with you? People being dissatisfied with politics is the very first step required to actually change anything. Yes, the current administration has done some good things, but none of it is nearly enough, and we should still be plenty mad about all of it.
Specific side note: you say reduce income inequality, but regular people are way worse off financially than their parents were and that’s not going away without some real change and we haven’t actually seen anything moving in that direction
People being dissatisfied with politics is the very first step required to actually change anything.
I don’t think there is a shortage of dissatisfaction with politics in this country. There might be some imaginary country where if everyone would just get disaffected and cynical enough, the problems would get dealt with, but I think most of America’s problem at this point is in the action piece.
Yes, the current administration has done some good things, but none of it is nearly enough, and we should still be plenty mad about all of it.
Plenty mad at the ones who are responsible, and invested in solutions that will move it in the right direction, yes. The reason I disagreed with the original poster is not that I don’t want to fix things, it is that their proposed solution is mostly disaffectation instead of anything that will be that solution.
Specific side note: you say reduce income inequality, but regular people are way worse off financially than their parents were and that’s not going away without some real change and we haven’t actually seen anything moving in that direction
Low-income wages went up 32% since 2019, as a result of a stronger NLRB backstopping a bunch of union gains and the results of spending a trillion dollars of increased corporate taxes on domestic manufacturing. Covid inflation ate up most but not all of that boost; if Biden hadn’t been handed an unfolding apocalypse with a lot of people still dependent on Covid assistance to live, I think it would have been a much more dramatic change, but it’s definitely not nothing. He also spent about 10 times what anyone else has spent on climate change, putting us on track for a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030.
Is any of that enough? Fuck no. But it’s also definitely not “haven’t actually seen anything.” You may not have seen anything, because I think a lot of Lemmy posters are employed in tech, and that sector has still been a shit show where people aren’t keeping up with inflation. But the working class is actually doing substantially better than they were even before Covid, even under historic inflation. That’s pretty fuckin unusual. And shitting on it (saying those working-class people don’t represent “regular people”), or saying that because we haven’t undone multiple generations of fuckery in the space of a couple of years, it doesn’t count, is not something I agree with.
Low-income wages went up 32% since 2019, as a result of a stronger NLRB backstopping a bunch of union gains and the results of spending a trillion dollars of increased corporate taxes on domestic manufacturing. Covid inflation ate up most but not all of that boost;
So people are still as poor as ever? Sorry but I’m not going to throw a party for the bare minimum 🙄. I’m going to keep complaining and so should everyone else.
No, working-class people are 12% richer (inflation adjusted) than they used to be, and that’s a pretty fuckin significant number given the obstacles of Covid and Republicans that were standing in the way. The numbers are, 32% gains, 20% inflation, equals 12% gain inflation adjusted.
“Keep complaining” in the sense of advocating for better, finding more people who will help you get those outcomes and trying to work out how to get them in charge, sounds great. “Keep complaining” in the sense of blaming the people who are fighting for you for not doing a better job, and implying that them trying to give you trillions of dollars and partially succeeding is basically the same as the people who want to end democracy (and also steal back that money and more), is stupid. In my opinion.
The person you were replying to originally said they were voting dem because they felt like they had to but that they weren’t excited to. That is a very reasonable stance being that we are living in the fucking gilded age. Maybe the poorest people are slightly better off but the richest people are still hoarding even more money/ control/ influence and the people you’re wanting to worship as saviors haven’t even remotely addressed it.
Where are we talking about addressing the ridiculous health care system that is entirely designed to extract money for rich people instead of prioritize outcomes. Where are we taking about addressing the increasingly expensive education system? (Forgiving student loans is a band aid that while helpful in the here and now does nothing to fix the real problems). I could go on and on. This is a country optimized for rich people and you are expecting people to celebrate crumbs from the table.
You really need to get off your high horse and understand that people really need to be given real reasons to feel optimistic about the future instead of saying “here are some numbers” while people can’t afford their rent and groceries.
The fuck are you on about? I’m not a fucking fireman, I’m a citizen that’s spent over thirty years dealing with this shitshow that is American politics.
I’m struggling not to just call you an asshole because you know nothing about the kind of actions I’ve taken in those thirty years, organizing, protesting, literally getting my ass beat in gay rights rallies.
So, yeah, I’m fucking exhausted watching a lifetime of civil rights being attacked and democrats fumbling the fucking ball every damn time things get hard. And that’s ignoring that I don’t even agree with the half of the democrat platform because they’re capitalist stooges perfectly willing to bend over for oligarchs come donation time.
Man, fuck you and your smug shit. Level of effort and risk, my hairy ass. You take a fucking boot the the spine covering up some kid at a rally and come talk to me about effort and risk.
Yeah. I’ve been at rallies and protests (antiwar for me). I haven’t done as much as I should have; I’m feeling pretty guilty about that now. Friends and family of mine have done more than I have, inside and outside of the political system.
I’ve also been friends with people who’ve tangled with the US system of immigration, whose heads might be on the block if Trump wins. That’s why I am strongly opposed to your “the shit sandwich we’re being served by the two party system” “don’t even agree with the half of the democrat platform because they’re capitalist stooges perfectly willing to bend over for oligarchs” stuff. One, it isn’t true, in this election (although in general I’ll agree about the Democrats). Biden was the first Democrat in decades who actually seemed to make some inclinations in favor of the American underclass. Two, the alternative right now is horrifyingly dangerous. That’s why I use the fireman analogy – like whether the building is clean or dirty or we need to bring it up to code is simply not relevant when it’s going to burn down with your and my family inside.
If you were spending this much energy on saying “holy shit we gotta fix the system now more than ever”, then sure, I’d be right there with you. You can let me know the protest and we can go and get our asses kicked together. If your energy is “ew ugh Democrats I hate this both parties amirite,” then please excuse me if I explain in my own smug shit fashion why that is 1,000% objectively wrong as applied to this election. I am saying that because I do care about the very same vulnerable people you are trying to mobilize to make the point, somehow, in the opposite direction.
I will not be voting, except for local candidates. I encourage the capitalist fascists and all their supporters in the DNC and the GOP to go neck rope.
Dementia Don sends his thanks.
I prefer to call him Toddler Tonguing Trump, but you do you.
They could have run the actual orange fruit and I would have voted for that over the orange cry baby.
We need more than 2 parties. fml.
Only way to get to more than 2 parties is to vote for the one party that doesn’t want a dictatorship, sadly.
Believe me, even with more parties, politicians would manage to monopolize the attention of voters by assimilating smaller parties into “coalitions”. Take for example my country Venezuela, there are supposed to be about 30 parties, but half of them were consumed by the PSUV (the ruling party) and the other half are barely creating an opposition coalition, bringing us closer to bipartisanship.
30 is way too many. Ideally, you want about 4-5 parties in order to maintain a healthy democracy without getting bogged down.
Either way, the two party duopoly of the US ain’t it.
Not voting, because not my candidate.
(for context i dont live in US)
(for context i dont live in US)
The only valid reason to disengage from US politics lol
It being a phony charade is another important one.
… so its treason then? Worst American ever… /s
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I will be voting Green regardless. As far as I’m concerned Harris was the 2nd or 3rd most conservative candidate in the 2020 Democrat primaries out of ±14 candidates. She was only in front of Bloomberg and maybe Biden on the spectrum. Her replacing Biden was always a very real possibility for anyone that actually understands U.S. government & politics as well as the whole ‘aging-process.’
-I don’t expect to win but I’d rather vote for who I want and lose than vote for who I don’t want and win.
You can’t lose a vote you aren’t even in the running for. That’s like writing in Charlie Brown and then saying you lost the vote. You didn’t; you just didn’t cast a meaningful vote for President. You’re changing nothing. You’re not moving the Overton window even a hair to the left. You’re just sitting on the sidelines.
But you know if you give zero shits about the presidency and just want to vote in local races, that’s fair, I suppose.
Voting isn’t only about winning. It’s also about making your voice heard. In hard Blue or Red states an individual vote won’t likely make a difference. If a 3rd party got enough of the vote Republicans and Democrats would be scrambling over each other to make their party platform more palatable to that 3rd party.
More power to them, beats not voting.
Cry more.
What on earth would lead you to believe I’m crying? You’re irrelevant by your own account. I’ll worry way more about people who actually give a damn.
I don’t expect to win but I’d rather vote for who I want and lose than vote for who I don’t want and win.
What about people who don’t have that luxury, who may literally not make it to the end of a second Trump administration with their life undestroyed by it? Hispanic immigrants are the most obvious candidates, although honestly it could expand to encompass quite a few people.
Why are you not worried about Trump ending the democratic machinery that you might use to vote in a Green candidate in the future? Trump seems like just as big a disaster for third-party democracy as he does for two-party democracy.
Do you agree with Stein about disbanding NATO? Is that one of those things you would rather vote for and lose than etc etc? I actually think most of her platform looks excellent if it could be pulled off, but that one is a little bit of a random red flag in the mixture.
If the only real choice is between a “fascist” that will end Democracy and somebody who doesn’t represent me, then you can’t really argue that we live in a Democracy and then there is nothing to defend.
If it’s your fellow people you are concerned about protecting, then I’d advise you to check your candidate’s policy because the Green’s Policy has a way stronger humanitarian bend to it. -In fact, I’d also like to direct you to the Democrats recently proposed Immigration bill if you’re worried about protecting the Hispanic and immigrant population
I’m Indifferent to Nato considering it’s such a huge financial sacrifice the people of our country are making to perpetuate a military industrial machine that kills hundreds of thousands while also disproportionately protecting countries that are not our own. perhaps those countries should take the mantle and pay to support themselves as the ‘World Police.’ If we cut our military budget by 50% we still have the second largest military in the world. -We still don’t have a publicly funded Healthcare option and I’m suppose to care about sustaining NATO? No, that’s not a high priority to me.
Interesting
How about Navalny? Also what’s your take on the Venezuelan election?
I’m not asking that implying that the answer will be any particular type of way, just curious what you think about those issues.
Outlook not so good for Navalny long-term, regardless. Perhaps Germany, UK, France should spend more of their own budget to wind up military production to help their own neighbor. We need to stay The f*** out of Central & South American Politics full-stop.
I was cautiously optimistic about Harris before, now I’m regular optimistic. Walz seems like a good dude who will appeal to working class voters, having been a schoolteacher and a union member, and able to be folksy with a genuine-ness that DJT and JD couchfucker couldn’t muster in a dozen lifetimes.
