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This "I'm a progressive but if Hillary is the nominee, I'm not voting" shit is stale

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Mael

Member
"I don't give a shit about minorities being targeted by the rhetoric of Trump and the stagnation of progress in this country should a Republican get into office."

This "fuck this system" romanticizing will be the country's undoing.

You're talking about a country that glorifies rebellious attitude like it's a good thing.
The right is all about the Confederacy.
the left is all about wallstreet or whatever.
The result is pretty much the same, the minorities are getting fucked over and no one really cares.

You aren't kidding. In our last local off-year local election, turnout was somewhere under 20%. With even a small bit of organizing, it isn't very difficult to move the margins a few percentage points. And then it isn't difficult to use this as leverage against officials once they're in office later on.

"We made you, and we can take you out!" :)

That's the Tea Party M.O, it work great to do their bidding in making the federal government grind to a halt.
 

studyguy

Member
Why should leftists vote if there are no leftist to vote for?

Because assuming you are liberal, those who are staunchly conservative are still willing to hit the polls hard as fuck while you sit on your laurels and complain nothing changes. All the while chipping away at the supposed rights you're so very much for.
 

Future

Member
Whoa, stop. When did I say I wouldn't vote for Hillary? The person I originally quoted was responding to the question, "Why do some 'liberals' seem to dislike Hilary?" Their answers were:



As if those are the only reasons a liberal can ever dislike Hillary. Even though I don't like her (and no, not because I'm an old misogynist or because I'm a young and ignorant Bernie Bro), I'll still end up voting for her because the alternative is fucking Trump. That doesn't mean that I have to like her though, and insinuating that I MUST be either an old misogynist or a young ignoramus because I'm not enamored with her is entirely unfair. It's bullshit partisan ad-hominem-ing, not to mention a false dichotomy. There are plenty of legitimate reasons not to like Hillary that have nothing to do with misogyny or youthful ignorance. Her voting records on war, her closeness to Wall Street and corporate lobbyists, the whole email deal, etc. To say that those are all moot and that I MUST just hate women or be stupid is facetious and slanderous. Come on, how you do not see that?

I'm just so tired of the "If you don't like Hillary, then you must necessarily be a misogynist" identity politics bullshit.

Dude I'm with to on this. This is the voice of reason.

There are plenty reasons to dislike Hillary. There are zero reasons to not vote for her if she is the nominee if you are even close to liberal
 
So you want a dictatorship?

The reason Hillary is the nominee is because the VOTERS picked her. We live in a democracy. The people decide who our leaders are. For better or worse.

This is an overly simplistic view of US politics.

Not voting transmits exactly 0 message.
Not true. A vote or a non-vote sends a message, but a weak one either way. A vote can be a message of support for a candidate, a message of support against another candidate, or it can be literally random choice with no real message. A non-vote can be a message of apathy or a message of non-confidence in the system in general, or displeasure with the available candidates.

And this isn't even an exhaustive list. If you want to "send a message" that is in any way clear, voting is a terrible way to do it. But to day it sends no message at all is not true.
 

fantomena

Member
Because assuming you are liberal, those who are staunchly conservative are still willing to hit the polls hard as fuck while you sit on your laurels and complain nothing changes. All the while chipping away at the supposed rights you're so very much for.

Im not liberal, Im a socialdemocrat, moderate socialist. Hillary is centrist-right for me, so my views does not allign with her, or at least, she is too weak on those views.
 

dramatis

Member
Where's this confidence coming from that Bernie 2.0 is a sure thing in 2024?
I wouldn't say it's a sure thing in 2024, but I would say it's a sure thing in the future. The question is whether or not Bernie 2.0 will be a good candidate that can actually win. Rather, not so much as there will be a Bernie 2.0 than that future candidates will be campaigning on and achieving policy further left.
As if those are the only reasons a liberal can ever dislike Hillary.
The problem is that it is nearly impossible to divide like/dislike of Hillary from sexism (I disagree with going as far as misogyny). The Hillary of today would not be the Hillary of today without the scars of sexism that has dogged her since she became First Lady. The present day perception of Hillary would not have existed without the extremity by which she was treated by the Republicans back in the day.

Moreover, inherently men and women alike have bias against well-performing women that well-performing men don't get. It's probably not active sexism, but an unconscious influence is possible. It's just hard to distinguish and easy for people to excuse.

Im not liberal, Im a socialdemocrat, moderate socialist. Hillary is centrist-right for me, so my views does not allign with her, or at least, she is too weak on those views.
I say this over and over to you, but you're very happy to extol Norway and whatnot, but you still haven't tried to learn anything about American politics or the American constituency. This is a gaming forum! (supposedly) Why doesn't anyone try to learn the systems, the mechanics, and assess the field?
 

Steel

Banned
Im not liberal, Im a socialdemocrat, moderate socialist.

I don't think you understand what liberal means. You'd be considered a liberal with that stance.

Liberal=progressive=leftist. We only use progressive instead of liberal now because pubs made liberal a bad word through advertising.
 

Future

Member
Hillary is not a leftist, if I was american I would vote Jill Stein.

Read my post. It doesn't matter what you think about Clinton herself. What you want is a liberal administration and a for once liberal Supreme Court. If you care about the Left at ALL yo vote Clinton, naturally

If all you care about is some silly point that you think you are trying to make that means nothing in the long run, then enjoy that passive vote for trump.

Note: I'm talking general election here. People should try to move Bernie or whoever forward during this period. But the second Clinton gets the nom, you switch directly in favor of her
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I feel like not voting at all sends a much stronger message than voting for one of two candidates that you don't like.

Not voting sends no message at all. It doesn't tell the party anything. Were you too lazy? Sick? Away? Forgot? Didn't like anyone? Couldn't get off from work? Who knows.

Absolutely correct. The only message not voting sends is "I am a political non-entity that you can ignore."
 
Bunch of "poors" suffering from "economic bitternes"


People would vote for skeletor to get away from some of the enlightened views on the net. Its not right though. But...
 
Why should leftists vote if there are no leftist to vote for?

I voted for Trudeau but would gladly swap him for Hillary if we could. She'd make a fantastic leader, she's way more experienced in public policy and in foreign relations, and would be a role model for women everywhere, and would do just as good a job at advancing progressive causes & adequately funding municipal infrastructure investment.

She's absolutely a leftist. The political climate of your country makes it difficult to steer the ship hard left but she's especially well experienced in dealing with obstruction from right wing lunatics and would do better than anyone bringing real implementations of progressive policy.
 

Crosseyes

Banned
As bad as things are it's not even close to bad enough to get to a revolution level. There are pockets where I could see things desperate enough for violence to be brought against the system, oppressed minorities using violent resistance against police for example, but overall America is not desperate enough to want the kind of change Bernie would try to bring.

We've seen great and amazing rapid change come from catastrophe like the great depression leading to the new deal but the next depression could just as easily lead to a Trump supporting dystopia winning out rather than anot her new deal becoming a reality.

I would love some extremist things like a forceful government crackdown on gun ownership but you work with what you have and what we have is Hillary v Trump.
 

esms

Member
Everyone not voting: if you want a different system and leaders, are you putting in the work to get that, or are you just expecting it to be given to you?

If you want a revolution, make one.

In all honesty, I've stopped caring about politics, outside of the obvious entertainment value here and there.
 

Darkangel

Member
Some people want to send a message to the Democrats that they need better left wing candidates in order to earn votes. If Hillary fails this year for that reason, then it could mean a more Bernie-like candidate in 2020. A short term loss for a long term political change.

That's what they think anyway...
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
This strikes me as a misunderstanding of the argument. Although, admittedly, the OP is a terrible standard bearer for it since it's just a pile of undifferentiated rage.

I think a certain amount of disconnect here is just about what voting is and what it means. The argument most Hillary supporters are putting forward is based on a model of voting which is something like:

* All candidates put forward a policy platform
* All voters weigh their policy preferences and the perceived likelihood of each candidate achieving their policy goals and rank the policy platforms in order of preference (if you only have policy preferences that don't appear on any platform, you have to do something like rank the platforms based on which one is most likely to create future platforms that do contain your preferences)
* Voters then vote for the candidate with the policy platform they prefer the most or disprefer the least, factoring in success probability
* The candidate that is elected then governs more or less towards that policy platform

In this model your vote is primarily a small opportunity for you to control the policy outcomes of the country. Note that in this model any third-party vote or absent vote is more or less totally irrational because the third-party candidates have approximately zero probability of winning and enacting their policy goals.*

So most of their arguments are basically "if you prefer Bernie's policy platform to Hillary's, then your demonstrated preferences are such that you are likely to prefer Hillary's policy platform to Trump's; therefore doing anything other than voting for Hillary is irrational."

I think this is fine as far as it goes, minus the, you know, rage. But this is not necessarily the election model that a lot of people have, and I think that's creating disconnect.

For example, when I hear people say "why should I vote for a candidate I don't like" it suggests to me an election model that goes something like:

* Each candidate makes an appeal to voters to convince them that they are the best person to run the country
* Each voter chooses whichever candidate has convinced them, or no candidate if nobody has convinced them

In this model your vote is a personal stamp of approval rather than an exercise of your sovereign franchise.

This is probably a pretty common model among a lot of voters, and not an unreasonable one to have -- it sounds a lot like what you would expect a democracy to be. Obviously there are a lot of people who don't agree with it and think it is "not tactical." But arguments based on Hillary being the rational choice don't do a lot for people who are concerned with personal appeal. If you were convinced that Bernie Sanders would do a good job of running the country, and you are not convinced that Hillary Clinton would do a good job, then the argument that her policy platform is preferable to Donald's seems somewhat out of the blue.

There are a lot of other difficulties along these lines as well. For example, there are a few posters who have said something like "Donald Trump has said he will do policy X, but I don't believe him, I think he will do policy Y." These people seem to be applying more or less the rational policy preference model; however, their approach to identifying a candidate's platform is nonstandard for some reason. That is a totally different argument to have!

Anyway, that is more or less why I think these threads go so poorly (along with, like, the fact that this is a dumb point in time to be arguing with Sanders supporters that they should support Hillary). It's not necessarily about the candidates or the policy every time. Sometimes it's just about how we understand democracy and franchise to work.


* I said more or less! I think, for example, the argument that voting Green in California is a mechanism for convincing the Democratic Party to be more liberal is pretty solid and defensible.

I agree with you generally here.
As I have always explained in my posts, going Donal over Hillary is silly.

My main disagreement with the OP is the "fall in line now" argument. Some people think falling in line now is a good tactical move for the country. I disagree with that. I think folks should fight all the way till the election to make their voices heard. Push politicians to earn their vote. Win or lose on each issue, they have to vote rationally in November. That's it.

Bernie will be hella old in 2024.

You are discounting the possibility of Cyborg Bernie. By then, medical technology will have advanced enough for our first Jewish, non religious, social democrat, mostly non-human and oldest president.

Some people want to send a message to the Democrats that they need better left wing candidates in order to earn votes. If Hillary fails this year for that reason, then it could mean a more Bernie-like candidate in 2020. A short term loss for a long term political change.

That's what they think anyway...

Yes. Personally I disagree with this strategy because I think the GOP does permanent or very long term damage to the country whenever they are in power. But it is a strategy...
 
Not true. A vote or a non-vote sends a message, but a weak one either way. A vote can be a message of support for a candidate, a message of support against another candidate, or it can be literally random choice with no real message. A non-vote can be a message of apathy or a message of non-confidence in the system in general, or displeasure with the available candidates.

And this isn't even an exhaustive list. If you want to "send a message" that is in any way clear, voting is a terrible way to do it. But to day it sends no message at all is not true.

No, not voting quite literally is failing to transmit a message. The fact you followed up with so many cans indicates a message is not being sent.
 

Trouble

Banned
Some people want to send a message to the Democrats that they need better left wing candidates in order to earn votes. If Hillary fails this year for that reason, then it could mean a more Bernie-like candidate in 2020. A short term loss for a long term political change.

That's what they think anyway...

They think dumb. Losing the SCOTUS for a generation is a long term loss and way more important than losing the White House for 4 years.
 
In an odd way, I'd argue that Hillary GE voters are more serious about seeing Bernie's vision eventually fulfilled than the Bernie-or-Bust crowd. At least they'd effectively be voting to keep his vision alive. For folks who like to emote a lot about conscience/purity/etc, I don't understand how they reconcile their stance with this reality.
What is this Bernie-Or-Bust crowd? Is it people who vote Green party?
 

Jams775

Member
In all honesty, are there better reasons to not vote Hillary if she gets the nomination. Why else would you not vote if the election was trump versus Clinton. If you don't value a democratic supreme court nominee, or a government that didn't both have a right president and right congress that can actively repeal progress towards a more liberal point of view..... Then yeah, pretty ignorant if you are a liberal. And I'd guess young too

The only thing I actually trust Clinton to do is not get people deported. I don't trust her to appoint anyone to any high up position unless they play the same shady bullshit political games she does. I don't trust her to stick her nose into other countries affairs while we have our own problems to deal with. I'm personally already screwed when either Clump becomes president. Hilary is just going to add more gotchas to an already long list with the ACA and make it harder for me to afford health insurance since I'm in a pickle at the moment. The only thing that would get me out of a pickle is if somebody came in and got rid of the gotcha's and eventually ACA all together so everyone could get the same insurance. She's going to do two things in regards to banks and the evironment... Jack and shit, and Jack ran off to Canada. Finally she's claiming to have debt free college by means of the same policies that are already in place that already screw people because all her "benefits" that are going to "help" college students assume parents pay for tuition and that their income is stable.

The list goes on for a bit... But there are far more reasons for me NOT to vote for her than there are reasons. But I probably will end up voting for her because unlike her I'm going to put my problems aside and make sure Muslims and Mexicans, etc don't get kicked out of the country for stupid reasons. But while she's not kicking people out, she's still going to be sending this country down and everyone is going to be worse off because they act liberal until they have to put their money where their mouth is then suddenly they don't want single payer health care, etc.
 

thiscoldblack

Unconfirmed Member
Why would I go out my way to a voting location to vote for a flip-flop like Hillary?

Sure, let's conform with Hillary because of Trump.
 

Mael

Member
Some people want to send a message to the Democrats that they need better left wing candidates in order to earn votes. If Hillary fails this year for that reason, then it could mean a more Bernie-like candidate in 2020. A short term loss for a long term political change.

That's what they think anyway...

If they wanted better left wing candidate you would think they would vote for them in local election...just saying.
 

grumble

Member
The reasons i am not excited for Hillary.

She is a war hawk.
She is "tough on crime"
She is not for Wall Street regulation that goes far enough.
She is pro death penalty.
She is not against war on drugs.
She is for trade policies that largely benefit multinational corporations

And most importantly by far. She works within an extremely corrupt political system where bribes are legal. You can even argue that her stances on the issues above are hugely influenced by these donations. She is in power BECAUSE of these relationships and donations. Pragmatism? Sure... Corruption? You betcha.

In conclusion , she is a moderate for preserving the status quo, where power remains in the hands of a few.

Do I think Trump is better? Uh nope.

That is fair and those are all good points. I can see why that would make her not a perfect candidate for many.

It just seems like if the population wants to shift the discussion away from the increasingly radicalized right wing then she is still worth voting for. Not only that, but democrats tend to be weak in the critical local elections and staying home throws that in the garbage too.
 
Everyone not voting: if you want a different system and leaders, are you putting in the work to get that, or are you just expecting it to be given to you?

If you want a revolution, make one.

I'm expecting that the mainstream Democratic voters simply will not ever be angry enough to demand substantive change until they've endured enough of the polar opposite. We endured 8 years of Bush to get to Obama and his most "liberal" proposition was a solution to healthcare that was a warmed-over Republican idea whose most attractive feature was compromised away. The slate of Republican candidates gets worse every cycle and, like clockwork, the Democrats put forth a centrist and tell progressives to fall in line and hope for next time.

The Democratic party perpetually whines about a lack of progressive action in Washington yet largely fails to support candidates that propose what they claim to want when it comes time to do something about it. At that point, they fall into their pattern, demand we fall in line or be guilty by abstaining, and wonder why they're not going to get what they claimed to want when it was convenient to do so.
 
I had "so many cans" in the vote section too. I guess voting sends no message either.

Non-participation is a valid choice in a democratic process.

That's fine, I didn't say voting sends a message did I? Someone pretended that them not voting sends a bigger message. I am saying that is patently false.
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
The only thing I actually trust Clinton to do is not get people deported. I don't trust her to appoint anyone to any high up position unless they play the same shady bullshit political games she does. I don't trust her to stick her nose into other countries affairs while we have our own problems to deal with. I'm personally already screwed when either Clump becomes president. Hilary is just going to add more gotchas to an already long list with the ACA and make it harder for me to afford health insurance since I'm in a pickle at the moment. The only thing that would get me out of a pickle is if somebody came in and got rid of the gotcha's and eventually ACA all together so everyone could get the same insurance. She's going to do two things in regards to banks and the evironment... Jack and shit, and Jack ran off to Canada. Finally she's claiming to have debt free college by means of the same policies that are already in place that already screw people because all her "benefits" that are going to "help" college students assume parents pay for tuition and that their income is stable.

The list goes on for a bit... But there are far more reasons for me NOT to vote for her than there are reasons. But I probably will end up voting for her because unlike her I'm going to put my problems aside and make sure Muslims and Mexicans, etc don't get kicked out of the country for stupid reasons. But while she's not kicking people out, she's still going to be sending this country down and everyone is going to be worse off because they act liberal until they have to put their money where their mouth is then suddenly they don't want single payer health care, etc.

On the bolded, why?
Obama has not been particularly good.
 
I'm glad all the people in here not voting live in the vacuum where there isnt a hyper-nationalistic, xenophobic, and racist circus leader attempting to seize the presidency. Really, I am so happy you are privileged to exist there; how about you go post in that forum then?
 
I feel like not voting at all sends a much stronger message than voting for one of two candidates that you don't like.
It actually does nothing, statistically and ideologically.

If you want change, create it. I think Americans have been subservient to authoritarianism for so long that we've forgotten it doesn't even have to be this way. We can literally create the nation we want, just as previous Americans did when they founded the country and at every major milestone in our history. Revolution is possible, but the work has to be done.
 

linkboy

Member
I feel like not voting at all sends a much stronger message than voting for one of two candidates that you don't like.

Had people gotten out and voted in 2010, instead of sitting back at home because it wasn't a presidential election, we wouldn't have a conservative majority in the Senate.
 

Future

Member
The only thing I actually trust Clinton to do is not get people deported. I don't trust her to appoint anyone to any high up position unless they play the same shady bullshit political games she does. I don't trust her to stick her nose into other countries affairs while we have our own problems to deal with. I'm personally already screwed when either Clump becomes president. Hilary is just going to add more gotchas to an already long list with the ACA and make it harder for me to afford health insurance since I'm in a pickle at the moment. The only thing that would get me out of a pickle is if somebody came in and got rid of the gotcha's and eventually ACA all together so everyone could get the same insurance. She's going to do two things in regards to banks and the evironment... Jack and shit, and Jack ran off to Canada. Finally she's claiming to have debt free college by means of the same policies that are already in place that already screw people because all her "benefits" that are going to "help" college students assume parents pay for tuition and that their income is stable.

The list goes on for a bit... But there are far more reasons for me NOT to vote for her than there are reasons. But I probably will end up voting for her because unlike her I'm going to put my problems aside and make sure Muslims and Mexicans, etc don't get kicked out of the country for stupid reasons. But while she's not kicking people out, she's still going to be sending this country down and everyone is going to be worse off because they act liberal until they have to put their money where their mouth is then suddenly they don't want single payer health care, etc.

Everything you are complaining about would be worse under trump

That's kind of the point of this post. Many people have found their dream candidate in Bernie. naturally what gives Bernie appeal, causes hatred for Hillary since she seems the more typical politician. But that shouldn't blind people to what voting for Hillary means if she wins the nomination. Unlike trump she is NOT going to repeal obamacare, she is NOT Going to defund planned parenthood, she is NOT going to appoint a right wing Supreme Court justice, she is NOT going to pass bills that destroy progress that immediately get supported by a right wing congress.
 

Ophelion

Member
Reading through this thread, it seems like generally speaking two points of view are being presented: Individualism Vs Community.

Some are saying that infringing on personal beliefs to vote for someone that doesn't align with those beliefs as strongly is a betrayal of their own ideals and by inches kills any chance that they'll ever see something more closely aligned with their ideals coming to prominence.

On the other hand, some seem more concerned with a bigger picture of how their vote will affect the country as a whole. These people see the potential damage that could be done to our country as a community as reason enough to vote against madness and even if that means a vote for someone who isn't everything they want.

This is excepting people that have just always been staunchly for Hillary, of course. They're just having a good time.

Anyway, I have this to say about all this: I wish we had more of a parliamentary system, something that was more favorable to more than two political parties. I'd love to have a more nuanced gradient of political representation. I'd love it if the two major parties at a national level were composed of rational, well-intended people who simply differed on policy. I'd love it if everywhere in this country was ready to take the steps necessary to move forward into a state that is closer to a Democratic Socialist ideal, rather than just pockets of progressivism across the country being ready now when there is so, so much work to do still everywhere else before the majority of Americans can honestly say, "Yes, we're ready."

I'm sorry, but the facts are we're not there. We're past the post, which means we're two party. One of those parties is currently being eaten up with fanaticism and demagoguery at the national level. A large portion of the country is way more worried about survival right now than they are about loftier ideals. Those are just facts. You guys are not wrong that a more aggressively progressive platform is the future for this country. To make room for a future where Americans are ready to embrace that, liberals have to keep defeating the conservative monolith by a death of a thousand cuts.

You don't think we're progressives? Fine. Think that. But know that you have a seat at our table. You have a chance of getting some of what you want and, in time, maybe all of what you want. That's something I look forward to. The only other group that has even a snowball's chance in hell of taking power will not give you the same offer. They will set you back ever further and they will rig the system against your ideals far beyond anything that currently frustrates you. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, man. Seriously. We may disagree about some finer points of policy, but in a much larger sense, we want to help you succeed.

If Hillary becomes the nominee, you're going to want to support her. Not for her sake at all. Screw Hillary Clinton, whatever. She's a doorway to the only future timeline where you have a continued chance to take power though. That's just how it is right now.
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
Basically all of politics is telling people how to vote.

I think it is better to make arguments than to say "fall in line", which is what the OP was.
Politics is give and take. I'd rather see Hillary supporters (and Bernie supporters too) push Hillary to earn as many votes on the left as possible with her ideas and policies.

She is good at compromise and pragmatism right? Well that means going left as much as going right. She has CLEARLY been already moved a bit left during the primary because of Bernie. They can keep this pressure all the way till November.
 

Steel

Banned
so if I vote Green does that mean I'm a horrible citizen now that hates women or is too young and naïve or any of the other implications thrown around in this thread?

It makes you significantly better than people who would not vote at all or vote for Trump, which is 29% of Bernie supporters. At least you can effect local and state elections in a positive way.

But it also gives you no right to complain if Trump is elected president.
 
No, it just means that your voice doesn't get heard. When you don't vote, no one actually hears you, at all. That message you talk about sending doesn't send at all, because no one is actually paying attention to you when you don't do anything.

Either get your ass in that booth and be counted, or sit down and eat whatever dinner you get served, because you sure as hell didn't say what you wanted.

Why would it matter when you are going to get served a dinner that you don't like regardless of who wins? If I had the option between two candidates that I don't like, I would rather not vote at all instead of giving a fake vote. Unless of course write-in votes are still a thing. Or just return the ballot empty.


This "fuck this system" romanticizing will be the country's undoing.

I'm from Canada, so don't worry about me contributing to that. Whenever we have an election in Canada and I am faced with a bunch of candidates that I do not like, I just default to voting for the Green Party and call it a day.
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
Hillary is not a leftist, if I was american I would vote Jill Stein.

I am curious how many people with similar thoughts and comments on this forum aren't from the united states. Without saying so and using terms like "left" can really fuck up a conversation about US politics.

to be honest, it gets tiring.
 
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