I have problems with people who abstained. The hard thing is, how do you change voter behavior?

    • bishbosh@lemm.ee
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      8 hours ago

      The adage for as long as I can remember has been, Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line.

      I desperately wish that liberals realize that reality is the arbiter, and no amount of wishing more folks would fall in line will work.

      • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        It’s an ironic saying because the support for Trump is based entirely on emotion. The Democrats are the ones making the decision based on pragmatism.

        • Jentu@lemmy.ml
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          1 hour ago

          So the correction would be that republicans fall in love and fall in line while democrats do neither?

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        8 hours ago

        That adage is pretty much the opposite of true. Republicans make demands of their politicians, and have no reservations about loudly denouncing them as “RINOs” if they don’t follow through. The biggest third party candidate in history was Ross Perot in '96, because Republican Bob Dole was seen as too moderate and mainstream. Part of the reason that the party establishment didn’t stop Trump from getting the nomination was because they knew there was a credible threat that he’d run third party, while the Democratic establishment resisted Sanders, because they knew he’d fall in line anyway.

        The reason the adage exists is, ironically, because democrats are more prone to shaming voters who step out of line. From what I’ve seen, in right-wing circles, complaining about RINOs and shitting on the Republican establishment will get much less pushback compared to the opposite. Those who try to lecture and vote-shame are more likely to lose credibility themselves than the person they’re criticizing.

        Of course, because the party has received the message and fallen in line, there’s less internal dissent, which is used to push the message that “Republican [voters] fall in line,” used to pressure Democratic voters to fall in line.