Muslim and Arab Americans say their support was critical to Biden’s winning Michigan in 2020. Some warn they won’t back him again over his blanket support for Israel.

  • spider@lemmy.nz
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    1 year ago

    Well, they do have third-party options, so technically it’s not an either/or.

    Edit: Downvoted, apparently for acknowledging that third parties exist. That’s f**ked up.

      • superguy@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Well, third-parties do have a place. If it’s a close election and you piss people off, you could lose due to their protest votes.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Maybe not quite the same, but I do believe the strong showing for Progressives in primaries last time around did influence the platform for the moderate that won the nomination for the Democrat party.

        That’s arguably similar to voting for a third party and it did make a difference

      • spider@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        …assuming their voters would’ve shown up to vote Democratic or Republican in the first place, if they had no other options.

    • Otkaz@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So many American voters believe that if they vote for someone who doesn’t win then they wasted their vote. I really don’t get it. Wasting your vote is voting for a candidate you do not support.

      • FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        If you are voting for someone who doesn’t win, that’s just the way it goes. Not everyone can win. However, in a first past the post system, if you are voting for someone with no chance of winning you are absolutely throwing away your vote. Until there is voting reform in America we all need to vote for the lesser of two evils. Preferably ones who are open to changing the system.

        • Otkaz@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Nope, this isn’t true. If a candidate can get at least 5% of the popular vote for the presidency, they will secure federal funding for their party in the next election cycle. Access to the debates, visibility, and legitimacy—factors that could make people who think like you consider it as a viable option—are all key aspects of how a party gets started. If everyone who didn’t vote instead voted third party, well, the third party would probably win. However, ‘everyone’ is a big stretch, so let’s consider people who want to vote but dislike the two major choices. They can get the ball rolling towards becoming an actual option.

          Source: https://transition.fec.gov/info/chtwo.htm

          • FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Were votes for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein worth it in the 2016 election? Neither candidate secured 5% of the vote. So nobody got funding and the nation got Trump as president.

            In my opinion those votes were thrown away. They will continue to be thrown away until we get rid of first past the post voting.

            • Otkaz@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You still don’t get it. Unfortunately most voters think like you and that’s why we are stuck.

              • FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Yes if EVERYONE was able to vote 3rd party knowing there was a chance it would help we could be out of this situation. First past the post doesn’t encourage that though. Until we adopt a system of voting that encourages people to actually vote with their heart instead of holding their noses, we will be stuck

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              for the amount of free salt from democrats, alone, my vote for jill stein was definitely worth it. can you nominate hilary again, please?!

      • spider@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        …or, to quote the late Eugene V. Debs:

        It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t want and get it.