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this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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Leopards Ate My Face
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Third parties are not feasible (at all!) in the US electoral system. In fact, third parties are nothing more than legal voter suppression. Convince the gullible to vote for a third party rather than your opponent, well you just eliminated a vote for your opponent.
If you want something other than Democrat or Republican, first you have to change the system. To do that you have to organize and form a large enough block of voters that you can have influence over the system. If you're not doing that and just promoting third parties, all you're doing is aiding in voter suppression.
But that level of organization takes a lot of effort, and I can't blame anyone for not being able to devote the time and effort to do that. So failing a large scale organization effort, the best option is to vote for candidates in the Primary that are closer to your views, and simply vote to keep the worst option out of power in the general.
If you're voting for a third party you're not doing anything. If you're promoting a third party, you're effectively engaging in voter suppression.
I'm guessing you don't have favorable thoughts about direct action either? Voting doesn't DO ANYTHING, the electoral college does. So if you think of polling as a gauge of public sentiment... (and what the hell else is it?) Regardless, (I guess also implying you consider the U.S government to be corrupt as all hell, like anybody with eyes and ears and more than three brain cells would-) It's indisputably imperative the people hold fire to the feet of the establishment on both sides and make that distrust known at these polls, especially. But really now, voter suppression? Come the fuck on I'm not running for president, really weird you felt the need to write 4 paragraphs just to accuse me of that.
Sure the EC sucks, but it's not going away by voting for a third party which will get zero EC votes. You gotta have a real organized effort for something like that.
A much more significant factor than the EC is voter turnout. 2016 had the lowest voter turnout in decades. That's the election that Trump got voted into office.
With just a five percent increase in voter turnout among young people, the Republican party is done. Finished. Abortion rights enshrined in federal law, student debt cancelled, real spending to fight climate change, rights of trans people (like you!) no longer under threat.
The GOP knows this, so they make efforts to discourage young people from voting. "Both sides are then same, don't bother voting, if you do vote, vote for a third party." It's a strategy. A strategy that you're on the internet repeating, against your own self interests.
You're not running for president, but you've fallen for a scam being done by those that are. And you're propagating that scam. You're doing exactly what those that are working against your interests want you to do.