As Noah Berlatsky reports, Green Party voters have long pretended that they really believe their candidate can win.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@DoomsdaysCW I suspect many of us know that the Israel-Gaza issue is the ostensible reason the Greens are attacking Harris. I'm not persuaded that they wouldn't be attacking her even if that issue weren't front and center. I've seen for months now on social media feeds of people leaning in the direction of the Greens attacking Harris for being a centrist Democrat, for ignoring (as they see it) climate change, and on and on. This is about a politics of purism that is designed to tear things up.

[phaedral@mastodon.social]

@wdlindsy @DoomsdaysCW Remember when notorious berniecrat Dammit-Janet said a Trump win would bring the revolution? Freekin' morons.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@MaierAmsden I understand people drawing hard lines about issues they consider non-negotiable. "Pro-life" people have done that for years. I also think that in the context of a two-party system in which undermining or attacking one party inevitably helps the other, that kind of puristic politics serves badly the moral concerns of those who claim to be voting on grounds of moral purism. Whether there should be a different system is beside the point here.
/1

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@MaierAmsden I personally am in favor of some system beyond a two-party system. But a two-party system is what we have, like it or not. Tearing away at the Democrats while claiming to serve progressive ends is obviously nonsensical. It's dishonest. Politics is not a matter of choosing the best of all worlds. It's a matter of choosing between imperfect options and imperfect people. If Greens want to choose Trump by voting Green, they need to be honest about the fact that they're doing that.
/2

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@mloxton You're saying that about the Greens, right? I'm not totally sure I'm reading you aright.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@msbellows Yes.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@thetechtutor I think many people are thinking along those lines, for sure.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@templetongate Couldn't have said it better. I'm with you on that point 100%.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@GrayRabbit Good for those family members.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@jupito @tntneedham I think that calling the American system a parliamentary system shows misunderstanding of the system we have. Many of us in the Democratic party would like to see more than the two options presented to us now by a two-party system. But given the strictures of what we have, we're not going to get that kind of system change except by working within the system as it now exists, to change it from within.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@murodegrizeco I agree. And the same holds true this year.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@phaedral @DoomsdaysCW Susan Sarandon, do you mean? Yes, moronic, and some of us just seem unwilling to learn and are poised to make the same mistake all over again.

[janisf@mstdn.social]

@wdlindsy Remember when Antidisestablishmentarianism was the longest word in the dictionary?

The government has let a whole lot of people down. if we want to win over Stien voters, we need to own that.

[mastodonmigration@mastodon.online]

@MaierAmsden @Stone1glo @wdlindsy

Away troll...whoosh...blocked

[pagan_activist@beige.party]

@msbellows @wdlindsy

Thank Goddess I was a Clinton voter and not a Stein voter in NC in 2016.
Of course my very confused Republican husband voted for Stein. He hated Clinton but hated Trump more.

I saw the numbers for Pa Clinton vs. Stein 2016 and was nearly ill.

Those are some stark freaking numbers.

Holy shit.

Not giving any energy to anything negative. La-la-la-la-la.

[compassionnow@mastodon.social]

@wdlindsy The burgeoning Global Brigade of Angry People transcends all kinds of traditional divisions in religion, race, politics, nationality and pretty much everything else you can think of. Nothing means anything anymore except vengeance against … something. Meanwhile, the billionaires sit back and laugh, knowing it won’t be them.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@CompassionNow What a great comment. I'm boosting it. Thank you!

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@Pagan_Activist @msbellows Thank you. You're right on the mark with that analysis.

[wdlindsy@toad.social]

@janisf I have a different analysis. If we expect to turn back the tide of fascism, we need to stop tearing away at each other and bashing the Democrats, while ignoring the REAL problem and danger, which is the Republicans. Otherwise, we might as well admit we're doing the Republicans' work fopr them.

[janisf@mstdn.social]

@wdlindsy Young people. You can't just bash them on the head with everything that's going wrong and blame them. Not only is it inaccurate, it's effectively abusive.

WE need to win THEM. Not the other way 'round.

What are we getting wrong about young voters?, with Cathy Cohen (Ep. 143)

GenForward survey examines Gen Z’s and millennials’ views on the issues, candidates in the 2024 election

University of Chicago News (news.uchicago.edu)