2
So you don’t like Trump or Harris – here’s why it’s still best to vote for one of them
(theconversation.com)
this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
2 points (100.0% liked)
politics
19102 readers
2631 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
And remember: a "protest" third party vote is a vote for Trump.
If neither Harris nor Trump gets 270 electoral votes....
-- What if no candidate wins 270 electoral votes?
Wait... you can actually have someone NOT get 270 votes?
Oh... duh... 3rd parties taking some. You think it'd just be whoever has the most electoral college votes then... Alas, needlessly complicating things.
Lol, yeah. The article I linked is from earlier this year and about Biden/Trump/Kennedy, but the gist of it still applies.
They could tie at 269.
Yeah. It has been that way since the founding of the country. The winner not only must have the most votes, they must get half of the available EVs, rounding up. This was learned early on in the history of the US, when four Democratic-Republicans ran for President, and nobody got the required number of votes. This happened in 1824, barely half a century after the US was founded. It resulted in Andrew Jackson (Trump's role model, BTW), getting 99 EVs, John Q. Adams winning 84 EVs, William H. Crawford (who had a stroke) winning 41 EVs, and Henry Clay winning 37 EVs. Per the 12th Amendment of the US constitution, nobody had a straight majority here, so the top three vote getters (disqualifying Henry Clay) advanced to the House of Representatives. Clay's supporters in Congress threw their weight behind John Q. Adams, giving him a straight majority over the top candidate, Andrew Jackson, and Adams gave Clay a spot in his cabinet. Capping this shitstorm off was Andrew "Sore Loser" Jackson throwing a fit, calling it a 'corrupt bargain', in a very Trumpian temper tantrum.
IMO, what happened in 1828 (and again in 1837 with the VP) is an important history lesson for voters thinking of voting Third Party. Unless you can somehow convince 50% + 1 people to pick your Third Party candidate in 270 EV worth of states, your best bet is to get that candidate to run for a local election and become a vocal proponent for fixing the US electoral system. Because you'd hate to have 269 EV go for Harris, 81 go to a mix of Left-Wing Third Party candidates, and 188 go to Trump, then have the election thrown to the House, where the Trumpian states give Trump the win despite the Left-wing candidates winning in a landslide were those EVs have gone to a single person. And even that's an unrealistic scenario. Only two people who have not had an R or D behind their name have gotten EVs in my lifetime, and both of them were from faithless electors, NOT from winning an EV. You're not going to win the Presidency with 1% of the vote. But you WILL throw your state over to the bad guy if your 1% share makes the difference between Harris winning and Trump winning.
There are a lot of reasons why you shoulnd't vote for third party for US Presidential Elections. The EC is just one of them.
This government really is held together with hopes and dreams, isn’t it?
Ah my favourite AJJ quote: "Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping"
It always was. Sometimes that's stronger than other times.
At least it’s the newly elected House that starts its session in January, right?
anakin.jpg
Yes, but unfortunately they vote by state not individually
A protest vote to a third party is actually a protest vote to whoever you prefer less. You're essentially just removing yourself as a voter and making it more likely the person you like less is elected... we often say "third party is a vote for Trump" since most of lemmy is sane - but for a staunch conservative a vote for a third party is a vote for Harris.
I'd encourage everyone to vote regardless of your leaning - having low voter turnout allows more shitty shenanigans.
Yep, we also say that because there are a lot of astroturf accounts pushing Stein and De La Cruz on Lemmy that are hyper-critical of Harris but suspiciously never want to talk about what a shitbag Trump is.
They don't push them. They just push back against Democrats that invent lies about Stein. It seems most Democrats can't handle truths about Harris praising and committing to funding war criminals like Netanyahu & Dick Cheney.
You men Shill Stein? What lies are being told about Shill Stein? In what way is Shill Stein being besmirched, and how can I add to it?
You've got a ring around your lips from kissing the genocidal candidate's ass.
Sounds a lot like MAGAspeak to me.
So being against genocide of Palestinians and Arabic people is now considered MAGAspeak to Democrats?
No. Accusing anyone that disagrees with you (reference: gEnOciDe sUpPoRtEr)of something that’s demonstrably false is considered MAGAspeak.
News flash:
EVERYONE is against genocide bud. You don’t belong to a special grassroots movement of people that keyed in on something that everyone else can’t understand. So drop the smug pseudo-intellectual rhetoric.
No one is buying it. And the evidence lies in the ratios. You’re all being downvoted into dust on a platform that supposedly support your ideology.
I'm sorry. Somehow sending billions of dollars and 2000 pound bombs to a country that is actively engaged in genocide doesn't send the message that you're against genocide. When Kamala loses because she refused to say she'd stop funding genocide, then you'll blame everyone but the genocide supporter.
Cool. Your boy Trump will do FAR worse. But that’s the plan, isn’t it?
I’ll be so glad when you all vanish in November.
No one is vanishing. Trump isn't my boy. The world isn't either Trump supporters or Harris supporters.
Whatever makes you feel absolved of any responsibility and gets you through the day.
I honestly couldn’t care less.
Harris can change her stance on Israel whenever she likes.
And you can vote for her if you’d like as well. You see…. Harris understands shit that you don’t. She has an excuse.
You don’t.
But we both know if it wasn’t your gEnoCiDe accusations, it’d be something else that would stop you. So it’s a pretty moot point.
It isn't accusations it is a ruling by the International Court of Justice and a finding by a large majority of the UN. What excuse does Harris have? Donors isn't an excuse.
I’m pretty sure the UN didn’t accuse Harris of being a genocide supporter. That’s just ignorant leftist that think their smug bullshit is being taken seriously by anyone that knows better.
I can’t take anything you say seriously, so I’m done discussing this with you..
Enjoy your last word.
we can handle them just fine because the fact of the matter is trump would be way worse for Palestine. There's a reason Netanyahu prefers Trump.
Yeah, also, Conservatives are more 'fall in line' voters, so there's less vote splitting on the Right than on the Left. Libertarians do appeal to the people opposed to both eyes in the boardroom and eyes in the bedroom on both the Left and the Right, but for the most part, the GQP follows the 'Vote for the Conservative in the Primary and the Republican in the General' more than we follow its inverse (replace Conservative with Liberal and Republican with Democrat). And for Republicans afraid of a Trump presidency, come join us and vote for Harris. Then maybe go work on de-Trumping your party after they lose with you helping us. ;)