Vote for the change you want to see.

The Republican party got remade because trumpists showed up and outvoted the party elites. No reason it can’t happen for the Left except for laziness and apathy.

If all the progressives furious about the state of affairs now had shown up for Sanders in 2016, I doubt we’d be in this hellish timeline. Sadly, he needed the young progressive vote to show up.

  • distantsounds@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Bernie was doing well in 2016 until the DNC kneecapped him.

    Get money out elections if you want change, but neither party is willing to. The oligarchy works for itself

    • Lauchs@lemmy.worldOP
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      Did the DNC stop anyone from voting? There was nothing to stop us from outvoting the establishment. “Oh no, the moderators liked Clinton!” The RNC tried way harder with trump and failed.

      Are we not as capable as goddamn republicans?

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        Do you understand how superdelegates work? they’re not assigned by vote.

        As well, the Bernie campaign was blocked from accessing the voter rolls because they reported a bug to the DNC that allowed them to view stuff the clinton campaign was doing. They did not exploit it, they just reported it.

        Also, did you read that hacked/leaked memo where the DNC chair admitted to intentionally sabotaging Bernie’s campaign? no one has ever contested the contents of that memo. in fact the DNC chair resigned over it. (and you’re an idiot if you think Hilary wasn’t pressuring the DNC chair to do just that. Hilary always has someone else to throw under her campaign bus.)

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
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          You do realize the super delegates never came into play right? I mean I’m sure they would have if they needed them to but it never got that far.

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            1 month ago

            They were actively endorsing Hilary.

            Yes, they came into play, even if they didn’t yet cast their vote.

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              That’s their right as americans. Anyone can endorse anyone they want. That’s called freedom of speech.

              I don’t see how that would have any effect on anything however though. Or how it’s in any way untoward. If you’re suggesting that one of these super delegates supposed endorsement of Hillary Clinton pushed leftists to vote for her though I’d love to see how you justify that argument.

              • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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                That’s their right as americans. Anyone can endorse anyone they want. That’s called freedom of speech.

                As a private person, yes. As a representative of the DNC… only if the DNC allows you to. Same as how you’re not allowed to say “[I am an X for Y employer] and we support Mickey Mouse for President” without consequence (probably getting fired, unless you’re specifically authorized to announce it,).

                As for how it affects primaries, you remember all the backlash people got for saying Biden was a bad candidate? All the calls for “party loyalty”? Same thing. That’s how it affects things.

                • njm1314@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  Delegates are in no way employed by a party. The entire point of delegates is to endorse a candidate. So these hypothetical super delegates and their supposed endorsement in no way is equal to a direct employee of the party endorsing a candidate.

                  That’s how what affects things? You’re saying that leftist didn’t vote for Bernie Sanders because liberals said that would be bad for the party? Well they’re pretty shitty leftists then aren’t they? Why is it so God damn easy for leftists not to vote? I mean the wind changes and suddenly they decide that voting is pointless. I have trouble believing you actually believe this. I have trouble believing any at leftist is so easily cowed as to not vote for their best interest because a capitalist says they shouldn’t.

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          1 month ago

          Maybe you don’t?

          Sanders didn’t win a majority of the votes so whether the super delegates would’ve over-ridden the votes is fairly irrelevant.

          You can argue it wasn’t a completely balanced playing field but there was nothing stopping us from winning the votes except for our refusal to show up rather than bitch online.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Iowa was a hair thin win for clinton, New Hampshire was an overwhelming win for Bernie.

            And that’s when they the DNC started fucking with the Bernie campaign. The superdelegates piling in was making it further impossible for Bernie to win.

            The DNC should just stop pretending it actually cares what it’s base thinks. it’s not like they’re legally obligated to run a primary anyway.

            Also. you do know that candidates in the primary rely on equal access to the voter rolls precisely to reach potential voters and turn out the vote, right? that database was what they DNC cut Bernie off of.

            what makes you think I didn’t vote for Bernie?

            “it wasn’t a level playing field, but you could have still won!” is such a bitchdick move, it’s hilarious. we will never know what Bernie could have done had they not interfered in the primary. Similarly we won’t know just how far the DNC would have gone to prevent a Bernie win.

            they did enough to break Bernie’s momentum and then Hilary fucking lost the main election. in part because she was an arrogant fool and ignored Michigan.

            people like you. You’re the people that practically gave trump the win on a silver platter.

            • Lauchs@lemmy.worldOP
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              The superdelegates weren’t bound to Clinton. If Sanders had kept winning the vote they’d be hard pressed to over-ride the people.

              I’m not saying you didn’t vote for Bernie, I’m saying not enough people did. This blaming superdelegates is nonsense. Democracy is dificult, people die just to make a protest vote but somehow the fact that Clinton had a lead in uncommitted delegates is too much of a burden? Give me a break. If you want a revolution but can’t actually get the majority of leftist voters to the polls, well, that’s on us.

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            1 month ago

            People like you are the reason Democrats can’t unite fyi, reducing problems of people who did exactly what you’re saying and got shat on once again

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        1 month ago

        This response is ironic considering your post.

        Failure to acknowledge how the DNC and super delegates operated in 2016 is a great way to ensure the rightward ratchet.

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          The super delegates do not change the fact that Clinton got 3,5 million more votes in the primaries than Sanders did. Or, to put it another way, Sanders got 43% of the vote compared to Clinton’s 55%. Those are voters, not pledged delegates.

          Blaming superdelegates is a great way to make sure we don’t change a damn thing. (Also, the DNC changed the role of super delegates afterwards to make them less powerful.)

          • distantsounds@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Everything you listed here is putting the cart before the horse.

            Bernie was doing well until the DNC put all of its backing into Clinton and even ran negative ads against Bernie.

            Get money out of elections if you want change. If you’re just looking to bash people to the left, carry on as you are.

            • Lauchs@lemmy.worldOP
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              “Oh no, the bad guys ran ads against us!”

              If we can’t overcome horrific barriers like that, how on Earth do you expect wr achieve anything meaningful? Literally all we had to do was get people to show up and vote.

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              No, the cart always has to be voters. Actually showing up to the polls has to be the cart. Anything before that is nonsense. Leftist will never ever ever have any power in this nation unless they show the fuck up. A lot of leftists don’t want to show up they just want to sit back and complain.

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                  1 month ago

                  You saw what happened? You saw more votes go to the other candidate? Because that’s what happened.

              • ltxrtquq@lemmy.ml
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                I’m not actually trying to argue one way or the other, but

                No, the cart always has to be voters. Actually showing up to the polls has to be the cart. Anything before that is nonsense.

                You’re literally putting the cart before everything else, including the horse. Work on your metaphors a little.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    Not the best argument in 2024 given the circumstance but yes, in 2020, the “we need someone to beat Trump” crowd scoffed on the idea of Warren (my pick) or Bernie. But with the current system it kind of makes less sense too since Biden mostly won support in states he had no shot winning, so by the time it was even CAs turn there was no hope.

    At least in 2008 I felt like it worked. Obama was a thousand times better than Clinton.

    • Lauchs@lemmy.worldOP
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      Totally fair point about 2024. Though I would suggest that given Sanders’ outspoken opposition to what’s happening in Gaza, we might have a very different situation in the middle East had progressives voted in sufficient numbers in 2020. (Which in of itself would be a good thing but when I see complaints about Harris also being bad for Palestineans, this is my first thought.)

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        I doubt it would have made a difference. DWS would have ratfucked it for Hilary even if Bernie got more votes. Nobody ever remembers the unpledged delegates which are about 20% of the total and don’t have to follow the will of the voters.

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          Meh, I’d be pretty stunned if Bernie had won more votes and then the super delegates turned around and gave it to Clinton.

          Given that we didn’t get anywhere near that, it’s a moot point. Let’s get the majority of votes in a damn primary before we start complaining about what the super delegates might or might not do.

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        Yeah, I know exactly why you memed it and I’m only poking fun since 2024 was primary-less. I’m not sure if anyone would have approached Gaza differently (save for some of the crazier options, like Tulsi Gabbard) because even Bernie might find himself in a bind on this one.

        At this point I almost fell like we just need more people to get into politics. More AOCs rising the ranks, but even getting smarter people running the DNC. Too bad most of the poli-sci people I’ve met in school were dense as hell.

        Edit: oh dear, 2020 was more depressing primary than I remember. Biden won such Democratic strongholds as… Oklahoma. Texas. Arkansas. Alabama. etc etc. I get that the minority blue in those states should get some say, but they are who you can thank for Biden. I mean, Florida handed him 162 delegates to Bernie’s 57. Ugh.

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    Yeah, it’s boring and hard. That’s just life. Now get out and vote or get used to living in a christofascist hell.

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    You would vote in the Republic primaries…
    Don’t try to stretch the Overton window. You need to move the right side of the window left.

    This is how black people in the south managed the Democratic party; by voting for the least racist Democrats in the primaries, no matter who won the general election they were better off.

    It’s basically ad hoc ranked choice and it prevents extremist candidates from winning.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      This is how black people in the south managed the Democratic party; by voting for the least racist Democrats in the primaries

      The black voter enjoyed a heavy Republican bias for nearly a century, and suffered much of the same treatment (GOP treated them as a captured constituency, Dixiecrats suppressed their turnout with fraud, incarceration, and terrorism).

      By Kennedy, the northern Dems were embracing civil rights not as an electoral strategy but a labor organizing strategy. The vote was largely split, with black voters biasing by party in individual regions rather than as a national block.

      It wasn’t into Clinton - when Southern Strategy Repubs had fully purged their party of black voters - that the trend was fully reversed. That wasn’t a decision by the NAACP or the median black voter. It was a Nixonian gambit. Black voters were viewed as a handicap. Appealing to fascism was how you obtained a majority in American politics.

      Reagan, the Bushs, and then Trump seemed to further this theory. You’ll get two white voters for every black voter you lose, by being the most racist candidate in the ticket.

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    1 month ago

    But… but… but that would mean… making an actual effort! Playing the long game! BO-RING!!!
    bOtH pArTiEs ArE tHe SaMe LoL aMiRiTe

  • tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world
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    I agree with the comic, just a kinda funny election year to post it.

    Biden ran virtually unopposed in the primaries this year, despite his low approval numbers. And while you’d have to go back to the 19th century to find an incumbent denied the nomination, there have been serious challengers like Ted Kennedy to Jimmy Carter in more recent history. Seems the problem is also with lack of serious challengers, as well as lack of participation in the process from those looking for more significant change.

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      Yeah, odd without a primary. But think back to 2020. Bernie ran again and is strenuously opposed to what’s happening in Gaza. If we’d shown up to vote in the 2020 primaries, I wonder/pray/doubt we’d be inches away from a trump presidency.

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    You know the GOP elites weren’t really outvoted. A lot of them are comfortably still in office. A bunch of others just retired and handed them the keys. The biggest gift Trump gave the GOP is his ability to be a lightning rod of controversy and dominate the news cycle.

    He is the best cover and distraction from their dogshit policies they could ever have dreamed of.

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    As a leftist who’s been voting in Democratic primaries for the last 24 years: Outside of some extreme enclaves in major cities there aren’t enough of us to make a difference that way.