Gretchen Whitmer responds to calls by some Democrats to vote āuncommittedā in Michiganās primary on Tuesday
Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, pushed back on calls to not vote for Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, saying on Sunday that could help Trump get re-elected.
āItās important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote thatās not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,ā she said on Sunday during an interview on CNNās State of the Union. āA second Trump term would be devastating. Not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy. This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban.ā
Whitmer, who is a co-chair of Bidenās 2024 campaign, also said she wasnāt sure what to expect when it came to the protest vote.
Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who is the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, urged Democrats last week to vote āuncommittedā in Michiganās 27 February primary.
Objectively correct take.
You can validly hate Biden for the handling of Gaza. But not voting for him is just helping the Fascists win.
Swallow your pride. Do your duty at the ballot and then make the real changes by organising and protests.
No. Itās not on the voters to show up no matter what. Itās on the politicians to be someone we want to vote for. We already did āvote blue no matter who and pressure them for change later.ā And now weāre funding a genocide. Thatās over. Now itās pressure time.
Absolutely correct. āVote blue no matter whoā got us here. The idea failed.
More objectively correct take:
Thanks to the political-parties highjacking governing-the-country,
they can commit any crime or abomination, whatsoever, and you only can choose between them, because the rigged-system wonāt permit anyone to have any alternative to what the incumbent political-parties offer.
There: fixed it for you.
You know 3rd parties run all the time right? We even have multiple senators right now that are independents
Okay, so then, do your duty, vote for biden, then work to support ranked choice voting?
Why do you think the neoliberals running the DNC will let ranked choice happen?
FPTP is the only reason neoliberals and Republicans can get elected, while they control both parties, weāll never get rid of it.
To get ranked choice, progressives first have to replace neoliberals, and then win so many elections it doesnāt matter what Republicans want.
RCC isnāt the cure, itās what we do after we win. Because itās not going to happen until after we win.
For anyone confused or refuting this in their mind, look up the DNCās history on ranked choice and the efforts theyāve used to stop it. The only effective legislation passed in a few states was done by citizens with outside state help.
Any reason it canāt be done by referendums brought forward by the voters. Just need so rich Hollywood types to put up money and support.
Itās complicated and I could go into details about every nuanced situation for a few hours. A few highlights,
Alaska for some reason is my favorite example
So its slightly possible, with millions of dollars from outside state support, years to campaign, and catching the main political parties unaware of your movements.
Zionism can be equated to fascism. Biden has stated multiple times that he is a Zionist. Neo-liberal fascists are already in power and they are destroying the left. you are saying do your duty at the ballot by saying vote this way or you are wasting a vote (that doesnāt actually count anyway because the pop vote doesnāt decide the presidency). I will do my duty by not partaking in sham elections for a two party state that I donāt have any faith in whatsoever to deliver anything they promise. Because they have no obligation to fulfill anything they say they will do to get into office. That in itself is protest so I am doing the real changes, as you say.
They arenāt destroying the left, there just has never been a meaningful left in America.
Sure thatās why FDR never won in an absolute landslide.
Itās why none of the last successful Democrat presidency runs over the last 2+ decades have been based on progressive reform and no Democrat would run with a slogan like āChange we can believe inā with only one outlier being the most recent election based on a distinct aversion to fascism.
America has never created national parks, new deals for farmers, or held up a man who was against war during the Cold war.
Nah. Left just doesnāt exist.
national parks that still rob native peoples of their land? is that progressive to you? new deals for farmers, on stolen land? donāt act like america is anything to be proud of, even the leftest leaning presidents still upheld the empire.
Better than drilling on it. You canāt go back and undo history. Itās happened. Itās a shit take to just show it was someone elseās land. It always is. We are all living in someone elseās house and something elseās environment, so Iām and so forth.
Yes we can be better in the future and should aim for that but just screaming that itās all crap is really derivative of every history of everything.
Its a shit response to say that everybody has had land stolen. Especially when those peoples are still alive. So if we are to be better, then we need to acknowledge that there is still justice undone. And again these native peoples are still here, they arenāt gone. Native Hawaiians are actively being poisoned due to the US militaryās ignorance and neglect of their own infrastructure. Democrats arenāt talking about that are they? Hawaii was illegally annexed but Iām sure Democrats vacation there just as much as Republicans. They are still fighting for rights to their land and anyone in Congress or the White House would say they can go fuck themselves.
Yes Iām actually fully in agreement that native Hawaiians are being pushed into extinction but thatās part of the now that needs to be fixed. Actions have to be taken for the current issues and there may and very usually is history to navigate within because it does matter but you canāt just ask for history to change we need to figure out solutions for now.
And yeah rich people of all parties arenāt going to be particularly interested and itās obvious our government doesnāt work right. Your original point that national parks arenāt progressive is bad because even though stolen they are protected wild lands for hundreds of years. The new deal was a huge help to failing farms that are literally needed to feed people. We are facing inequality of massive magnitudes and climate change that is going to cause farming issues of the future, and climate refugees and economic refugees. We have to work with that now, looking at what the future we see from our choices with enough remembrance of the past but not clinging to it.
Unless you just want to be angry.
Edit: also my point is that eventually no matter what someone else will take your land whether they are your progeny or your replacement. Itās never your land or your stuff. Itās just temporary.
They arenāt progressive. You canāt forage on them, even if you are native. Its just for the white bourgois to enjoy. They are not protected for hundreds of years. Trump was able to sell some off to oil and natural gas. Biden didnāt reverse it or stop it from continuing. You frame me as a child throwing a tantrum. āUnless you just want to be angryā Fuck off. If you arenāt angry, then you arenāt actually affected by it. We should be angry.
As if this isnāt happening across the globe. American politics is not the only domain infested with the neolibs
Youāll just be forfeiting your vote. The same reasoning can be heard in any country come election time, but in truth youāre only making a gesture and its effects are contained in your mind. If you donāt vote, even though all you said is true, this election system is a sham, etc. youāre still helping Trump in the short term and the harm he will do to women, foreigners, anybody whoās not rich, and the american society at large. Gestures, symbols and statements are good, but not at this price. I live across the world but if I could vote in the american elections, I would, and Iām not even part of any of these endangered demographics. I suppose you arenāt either ?
I am an intersection of multiple demographics you mentioned and if you were any of them, you would know that biden and the democratic party has not done anything meaningful for any of them. Roe couldāve been codified, but he didnāt. biden couldāve expand the court and add new justices, but he didnāt. biden couldāve already secured a cease fire, but he hasnāt. biden spat on the rail workers asking for one week sick pay. said nope, fuck you. he also has done practically nothing about amazons union busting. biden didnāt give a shit about east palestine. flint michigan still doesnāt have clean water. he could be creating legislation to protect trans kids and adults, but doesnāt care. so what exactly is your argument about the oppressed demographics having better lives under democrats?
And furthermore, it is not just a gesture. Or at least its as much of a gesture as voting. Its effects are demonstrably not just ācontained in my mindā because it is having an obvious effect on you and judging by the 16 upvotes on the comment, perhaps I have inspired or emboldened people to be just as critical as I am being. But you will say we are stupid or foolish or whatever you need to say. I say the fool is the one that continues to perform the same behaviour with no results and then tries to convince people to not do anything different. Look how worried they are of losing their power that they have to tell people that if you donāt vote for us, its back to the trump. what a lovely threat from the people that supposedly care about us more than trump. i know they donāt, i know trump doesnāt care. they donāt answer to us and you know it.