• The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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    2 months ago

    Yeah for anyone really paying attention Project 2025 wasn’t the smoke, or even the fire. It’s just a picture of the fire that’s been burning since Barry Goldwater irrevocably shifted what the Republican party was and should be.That event shifted everything to the right because Democrats are still operating under the assumption that the two parties are left and right, and that the general populace sort of exists between the two. We see all those graphs about how only 40% of eligible American voters vote, and I think a lot of people read those charts wrong. Those aren’t voters who don’t give a shit, those are voters living in places where their jurisdiction is so skewed they don’t feel the need to vote, and people who look at the whole political system and see a massive shell game where everyone’s fighting to wield power, but no one’s really challenging if it’s good to live in such a top down administrative landscape where corporations are allowed to do whatever without accountability, and they don’t see much of anyone trying to do anything about that. Think about if you’re a DC or Hawaiian voter with deeply held social convictions and who’s running for office is a neo-fascist and a neo-liberal. How motivated are you to get to the polls when you know all your neighbors see the same thing you’re seeing. Your whole community is going to half heartedly show up for the neo-liberal, so you stay home, and then your jurisdiction goes 70% for the candidate you wanted. Sure, the margin could have been bigger if you showed up, but you’re broke and poor, and working those hours that day got you enough that you can celebrate with your kids tonight that the neo-fascist didn’t win. It’s been months since you had pizza. It would really make them happy watch the results roll in while you have a special treat.

    We need this election to be a total shit show for the republicans. Like totally painting the canvas with them kinds of beat down. And then, come January, when the Democrats take office, we need to show up in the streets and show them we don’t like them either. Our politicians are so beholden to financiers and so isolated from our needs that I don’t even think they realize we don’t like any of them. Think about this. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, according to her positions, and according to polls of Americans, is completely aligned with American interests. She wants to do what we ALL want to do. And how many people see her as an evil virus from Satan because that’s what Fox told them she was. How many people see her as a naive idealist who doesn’t understand the full picture because that’s what NBC and CBS told them she is. She’s painted as a radical leftist when really… She’s a centrist. She’s the exact middle of America.

    That’s the fucked up political reality we live in.

    • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      everything to the right because Democrats are still operating under the assumption that the two parties are left and right

      The Dems have had all 3 of the presidency, the house of representatives, and the Senate for 4 of the last 24 years. Or 6 of the last 32 years. Or 6 of the last 44 years. They are forced to go to the center to find voters. They have been on an epic losing streak because the left never shows up to vote.

      • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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        2 months ago

        I’m saying that the center isn’t where the voters are hiding. They’ve gotten dragged into the Republican vortex, and it’s working in the republicans favor. I do get what you’re saying though. The left in this current state of being does need to vote blue no matter who, but I think the dems are leaving votes out on the table by trying to appeal to a group of people who hasn’t existed for a long time: swing voters who might vote blue, or might vote red, they’re just not sure yet. They need to start asking “How do we get the voters who just… Aren’t”

        • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          As bizarre as we find it, swing voters do exist. And they are worth double because it’s a vote taken away from the other party and a vote for you. That’s who they go for because the left never shows up.

          • ripcord@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            You’re both right, but I’d love to see some actual data showing who is more right.

            Based on anecdotal evidence I would guess they are much more correct, and the segment you’re talking about exists but is pretty tiny.