this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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The structure of the US electoral system means that we're not going to get some third party to the left of the Democrats winning the Presidency any time soon.
Biden's about as good as we can get right now.
And so it goes in perpetuity.
How many degrees warmer does it have to get before we say enough and demand real leadership and accountability to the people above the dollar?
The strategy that works is winning primaries within the Democratic party. You can see that happen in NY for example, where the DSA candidates won several primaries in the state legislature, creating a meaningful shift in what kinds of laws passed.
Agreed! Primaries are the more likely strategy for success. DNC holding presidential primaries this time around?..
They are...but there aren't progressives running in them because they don't think they're in a position to win. Instead we get Robert Kennedy Jr. who is backed by Trump supporters to try and normalize fascist viewpoints and running in the Democratic primary against Biden in order to do that.
I'd concentrate on congressional primaries if you want to elect progressives right now.
Marianne Williamson is a progressive running for the DNC 2024 ticket.
Probably right up until one of those super hurricanes the size of North America wipes the USA right off the map.
If you still believe in voting you are driving us off the cliff. You are actively destroying our planet. Yes, you specifically are guilty too. Biden is not going to save anybody without civil resistance either. There is a lot better than Biden and if you don't want to argue for that then you are dooming the world to catastrophe. We have to get better than Biden, otherwise we might as well just lie down and give up right now.
The point is: Biden might be all we (or you, I'm German) get, but he is not enough. You MUST see that, right? If the US electoral system is incapable of avoiding climate catastrophe, are you really going to look back, satisfied you tried everything, or do you consider means outside of just voting every couple of years?
I worry that the only way to escape this nonsense two party system is for one party to lose enough that people start waking the fuck up that there are other, better options. Maybe if Trump / Desantis is electric then we'll stop boiling frogs and get legitimately good candidates in.
The two-party system exists in the US because of how elections are run. In particular, most states decide who wins an election by who gets the most votes in the general election. So when you have a third party in the mix, it serves as a spoiler, tipping the election to the people that it disagrees with the most. A few examples:
Example 1: D: 10 R: 9 I: 0
The Democrat wins
Example 2: D: 9 R: 9 I: 1
Tied election, with outcome decided by a coin flip or other game of chance
Example 3: D: 8 R: 9 I: 2
The Republican wins
The model which lets you change outcomes when elections are run like this is to take over a party from the inside. That means running candidates in the primaries in safe districts, and then backing them with money and volunteer hours.