timemachineyeah

drives me up a wall living in a very very red district, like “no democrat is ever going to win any local election, let alone a real leftist” district, like “our school board members ran on who was the most anti-mask” red, like “I pass white supremacist signs on the way to buy weed” red

and being in the local leftist community and the guy who runs the anarchist book club and the lady who helps keep the warming shelters open and the people who marched on city hall when a local business was getting death threats for having a drag show are all members of a discord and we get on this discord and have frank discussions about how best to vote

the people who do the protests and the mutual aid and all the real work

going “okay, they’re both fascists, but this one lacks ambition and seems happy to just glide in the position” or “they both suck, but this one can be reasoned with if you frame it patriotically enough” like we don’t even have a democrat to vote for. we know what a vote is. we know what we hope accomplish with it. we know what it can do, and we know what it can’t.

and going from those discussions to here where people think that your vote is some kind of fucking??? enabling maneuver??? as if someone isn’t going to end up in that seat regardless of what you do???

we didn’t build this system, we just live in it. we’re just trying to survive. a vote isn’t a statement of your values, it’s not an endorsement, it’s not a marriage contract, it’s a strategic play you make to keep alive.

the biggest mistake I see leftists making is overestimating their own popularity. “well but everyone would be leftist if they just-” no, stop, 1) you can’t possibly know that 2) everyone will not just

  • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Here in Huntsville, AL, a Democrat recently won a representative position by a wide margin.

    It’s possible to turn a red city blue or keep a blue city in a red state. It just takes all people to show up to vote.

    And here’s the rub: Democrats far out number Republicans, so the more people that vote, the higher the percentage that Democrats can win by.

    • Synnr@sopuli.xyz
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      8 months ago

      Glad the city known for its phycists finally got a blue vote in!

    • Xanis@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It doesn’t just take that in situations where deep red is the only real color. Perhaps in smaller elections, I don’t know. What I do perceive is how divided we are as a Nation and as communities. I’m hoping we come together in agreement despite various valid arguments being made.

      I’m just also expecting us to continue slap fighting as the Right gains a stronger hold due to our own inability to take cohesive action. This tends to be an unpopular opinion. Yet I’ve noticed the same trend for the last twelve years. So I try and talk about it whenever I can.

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      did you guys get anything concrete out of this effort? is actual policy changing in a meaningful way? is this just about the blue guy winning?

      • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        It literally just happened, so that remains to be seen.

        What I do know is that the Republican representatives have been taking away freedoms and enacting bad policy for decades. So the change is welcome.

          • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Yeah, like literally every election campaign by every politician ever. Do you know how elections work? Or are you 12?

            • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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              8 months ago

              im old enough to not be that naive

              ive seen this happen over and over again with exactly the same results