cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14778555

@MaxBlumenthal

“Democracy is on the ballot”

@DrJillStein

BREAKING: Jill Stein and her Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager, Jason Call and Kelly Merrill-Cayer, have been arrested at Washington University in St. Louis while supporting a protest against WashU’s ties to the war on Gaza. Video from @KallieECox

Direct video link: https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1784410882627227648/pu/vid/avc1/1280x720/0RbEXrPU8hvKoqwU.mp4

Source: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1784440127734812900

  • AlDenteEnglish
    46·
    8 months ago

    Why do you claim that is unidirectional? Why not:

    “There are two viable candidates, Biden and Trump. Taking votes away from Trump only helps Biden. So not voting, voting Stein, Kennedy, West, all of that only helps Biden.”

    E: I only inversed this claim to highlight how ridiculous it sounds. I don’t believe either statement is true. Do you truely not believe that someone would be deciding between Trump and Kennedy, without any consideration for Biden?

    • lennybird@lemmy.worldEnglish
      62·
      8 months ago

      Because people who vote Stein at least in theory should be ideologically-aligned with Democrats than Republicans. If you’re voting Stein because you are on the left side of the spectrum, then you need to educate yourself that this is a wasted spoil vote that only enables the Republican party candidate who is further from your goals to get in power. Green party candidates are often bankrolled by Republicans. Guess why.

      Ideally, we’d want life-long Republicans to not vote or vote Kennedy or West while we want Stein voters to vote Biden.

      Moreover within this community that is predominantly left-leaning, the message is: not-voting or voting third-party helps Trump. If I was in a conservative community, sure I’d be pushing for apathy and voting third party.

      Now you know what right-wing operatives and online troll farms do.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.world
      42·
      8 months ago

      Sure… the difference is the Trump block is monolithic. Nothing is going to convince a Trump voter to switch their support, or stay home.

      The Democratic side has always been subject to fragmentation in a way that the Republican side has not.

      So the risk is peeling off Biden voters for Kennedy, Stein, or West, or simply saying “I’m not voting.”

      If your intent is to maximize the most beneficial outcome, vote Biden.

      If you want to change how elections work, get your state to go 100% vote by mail to increase turn out, and ranked choice balloting to kill first past the post elections.

      Voting for a 3rd party or Independent only splits the vote and guarantees a Trump win.