• @ryathal
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    136 months ago

    Even as someone far more right than the average lemmy user, an 80 year old and an almost 80 year old being the only two options is absurd.

    • PugJesus
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      -56 months ago

      Absurd, yes, but an absurdity that is endorsed, unfortunately, by the voters.

        • PugJesus
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          -56 months ago

          Yes, really. Fuck’s sake. What, you think Trump is using his entire net worth of negative 500 million to bribe a massive group of actors sworn to secrecy and change all the GOP primary outcomes in his favor?

          • @[email protected]
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            6 months ago

            No. I wasn’t even referring to primaries.

            But it’s not a system propped up by the voters when the system is specifically designed to favor two options and make voting a third option hard or undesirable despite said third option being better representative of your values.

            I hardly doubt a majority of people would like eother Biden or Trump, they just vote the one who they don’t want to lose to the other.

            • PugJesus
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              -46 months ago

              What third option is better representative of the majority or even a plurality of the views of the American people?

              • @[email protected]
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                6 months ago

                Having more than 2 parties in itself is more representative.

                Believe it or not in healthy democracies no party represents more than half the population and governments are formed via coalitions, that’s because people are very diverse in opinions and beliefs and you can’t group them all in one or two parties.

                • PugJesus
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                  -36 months ago

                  Okay, that doesn’t really address the issue of a presidential election, which generally come down to two candidates even in non-two-party systems. Who has wider support than Biden and Trump at this moment in time? Who do the voters wish they could flock to?

                  • @[email protected]
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                    6 months ago

                    Ever heard of STV? Or the fact the president isn’t omnipotent? Or the possibility that the president could be elected by the elected Parliament instead?

                    Having more than 2 parties means that even if the president is from one of the big parties it still has to rely on other parties to stay in his position and therefore more people are actually represented compared to when someone votes someone simply because they like the other options a bit less.

                    Also I’d take a guess and say Bernie would probably have a good shot. And in a healthy democracy you’d have more than two mere options to consider. It’s a viciois cycke that of the two party system, Biden and Trump’s chances at winning aren’t just higher because they’re liked it’s moreso because you only really hear about them and they’re presented like the only options available.