So, Kyle Kulinski went into the ways that the democratic party are subtlely shutting down the marianne williamson campaign. it involves things like not letting her meet high schoolers and not giving them voting data that they paid for. And honestly? This is the kind of crap that makes me NOT wanna vote for the democrats. Because this is what they do. They shut down all opposition to their preferred candidates in the primary, and then they basically hold the system hostage in the general.
And look, this time I really AM leaning toward Biden. Again, three reasons. 1) Trump/Desantis are a threat to democracy. 2) Biden hasnt done a bad job. 3) The alternatives aren't particularly good enough where i really WANT to protest vote. Like even if Biden aint my first choice, he aint far behind the first choices if we were in a vacuum where trump wasn't a factor.
Ya know, in 2016, I didnt particularly like Stein either. Hillary wasn't a great candidate, but neither was stein. And I actually did debate on here which one I should support. 2020 was a bit different where at the time I felt hawkins was, at least on paper, more aligned with me, but still, he wasn't THAT much more aligned with me in retrospect. And this time, I really dont wanna protest vote. Half the time when i protest vote im holding my nose anyway. But, this behavior alienates me so hard it makes me want to out of spite.
The fact is, while trump is a legit threat to democracy, when the dems are doing is also very anti democratic too. I realize their offenses against democracy are less than trump's, which is one of the only reasons Im still seriously considering the democrats this time, but I really dont like this behavior of them shutting down alternatives. I really think we should have a competitive primary. Many people dont want biden to run again, it's just, he's the guy, he's forced on us, the alternatives arent great, and we're kinda stuck. But that doesn't mean we LIKE him.
But if the dems are just gonna put their thumbs on the scale ts does weaken the argument for Biden, because it does kind of become a "both sides are bad" situation. Even if Biden has done some things i like, the dems are clearly trying to suppress candidates and policy that go even MORE in my direction, and their own iterations of policies are watered down vs what the left wants, for better or for worse. Sometimes this works in my favor like with climate change, but then I'm more left wing on other issues like universal healthcare and free college. In net, I would prefer a leftie over Biden. And in some ways supporting biden is generally speaking a compromise. But when the party Im compromising with is sabotaging what I actually want, it doesn't feel very good to compromise, does it?
The fact is, long term, I do believe that if we actually want full throated implementations of things, and not watered down compromises, we need to take on the democrats, one way or another. I dont really think this is the year I wanna do it, but seeing the dems act this way does tempt me. I want to remind people, what really drives my hatred of the dems isn't so much republican propaganda or blah blah blah, it's the dems own actions. And when they systemically put their thumbs on the scale, it reminds me that they own us, that they arent really working with their voters in good faith, and they're bullying them into submission. And long term, I do think that the left needs to stand up to them and refuse to support them. I just dont think we should be doing that when an open authoritarian is running in the main opposition party.
So, yeah, let's just say im deeply frustrated by this turn of events, and the political system in general. Sometimes I do wanna just go all doomer and be like ya know what, F it, green it is. But yeah, I just don't think I can do that this time. So maybe the dems win for now, but in 2028, yeah, we're gonna have a fight on our hands. I can feel it. And we might end up repeating 2016 again. The dems will ask when us progressives will learn, but I have to throw the question back at them, when will THEY learn they gotta stop doing the bare minimum and taking voters for granted? Serious question by the way. Because their political strategy leaves them vulnerable to losing due to their voter base becoming apathetic. Hell, even if i DID vote blue this time, biden still might lose. Because I really dont think he has much enthusiasm behind him, and election cycles generally come down to who is more fired up and willing to turn out. The GOP seems to drive insane amounts of enthusiasm, but the democrats, they seem a lot less consistent. Because let's face it, most of us dont really like biden in the first place. We saw major turnout in 2020 because people wanted trump out, and in 2022 it seemed to be a repudiation of trumpism and taking away abortion rights and stuff. But in 2024, anything can happen. I really dont think it's wise for the dems to even pick a fight with their base this year, lest they want to repeat the folly of 2016. So no, it's not when WE will learn, it's when THEY will learn. Because they seem to forget that at the end of the day, they're not entitled to votes, and elections are when voters hold politicians accountable. So if the democrats lose due to low enthusiasm, whose fault is that? THEIRS. I really don't think the democrats realize just how much they're screwing up by doing this stuff. They really do have a habit of taking potential staunch supporters and alienating them. it's baffling how bad they are at politics quite frankly.
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