No it shouldn't. Obviously don't vote for Trump which is a given but throwing away a boye on Biden doesn't correct the problem
You're not going to crack open the duopoly by snapping your fingers. That's a decades long process that involves a lot of state and local groundwork. Abstaining in the Presidential basically accomplishes nothing. Trying to send some message to Dems or Republicans by sitting it out and luring them in your direction is a natural instinct, and something I used to subscribe to, but it's fruitless. The feedback mechanism is broken and you will not overcome it or fix it by sitting home or voting 3rd party. In the meantime, while we work on the plumbing with open primaries and ranked choice, voting for the guy who promises not to start a ****ing civil war in the event he loses is the proper course of action.
If voting for someone other than Biden, even if it isn't Trump, causes Trump to win, then it's a huge problem. Biden is slower than he was. Biden is still able to appoint a team that will get things done, and won't enable militarily aggressive authoritarian adversaries. Biden is still able to follow the rules of democratic elections.
I'd suggest you look at it from an administration level, too. I don't love Kamala Harris, but I have no doubt that four more years of the Biden/Harris administration is better than anything Trump can offer again. There won't be any more adults in the room with Trump like there were in his first term.
Throwing away your vote in the general election on a candidate that will get less than 10% of the vote and increases the chances that trump wins makes the problem way worse. The time for correcting the "problem" is the primary. In the primary you can vote for the best person to represent you from among a broad list of possible candidates. In the general election, there will only be two candidates.
I agree with you as in no circumstances do I want Trump I'm power. I'm still not going to vote Biden. If my vote is wasted so be it but I'm not compromising myself to vote for someone I don't any respect for
I understand that and I'm 100% with you on keeping Trump out of office. I just can't vote for Biden even agreeing on Trump. Biden is terrible too and I basically feel I'm voting for Harris which is almost as bad as a vote for Trump
The problem is this is the truth of the situation whether you wish it to be or not. Our system sucks and makes fools and liars of us all. Protesting in the general accomplishes nothing but advertise your displeasure/disaffection. It affects zero change. Eventually you will come to this conclusion, as we all do. The time to fix the lesser of two evils problem is not every four years in November. It's every day *other* than that.
If trump wins... you will be able to spend the next four years thinking about how your uncompromising self helped him win.
And I understand that. Our system is completely broken and as you said it makes us look like fools. My conclusion is not to vote for either. I would have never voted for Trump regardless and I just can't support a Biden/Harris ticket. Of Trump ends up in power I can at least look myself in the mirror knowing I didn't vote for that *******. Hopefully he's In jail before yhe election
The issue is that all we have is the illusion of choice. no matter what side you on Biden versus Trump is no choice If you a Trumper. . . .you see it as no choice If you a Bidener . . .. you see it as no choice There is nothing between these extremes Rocket River
If trump wins, whether or not you pulled the lever next to trump's name, or some third party candidate, the end result will be the same. trump will continue his assault of our democratic ways and rule of law, and your preferred third-party candidate will go back into the dustbin of history (in the same chapter as john anderson, ross perot, and other forgettable footnotes). And you can make yourself feel "better" by saying "at least *I* didn't vote for him." Of course, its more likely you want him to win...
But I'm not helping Trump win. I'm not casting a vote for him. If it happens then that tells us all how broken our society is.
After Jan 6 I would vote for Biden purely out of self preservation. The idea of enabling a dangerous psychopath like Trump is a non starter. Normally I give liberals a lot of crap for being alarmists and hypochondriacs, but in this case they were proven right. If you **** around with aspiring dictators you just might find out.
You just fabricate things to fit your narrative. I hate Trump. Hope he's in jail before the election. As I said before people who don't agree with you are automatically Trump people. It's so ignorant
And that's fair. Most of the idiots who participated in Jan 6th are on jail ĺmore hopefully). I just can't cast a vote for Biden/ Harris. If we end up with Trump then I agree as a collective whole we've failed
And again after a pretty solid post you double back on me wanting Trump to win which completely erases anything we've discussed. I can't fathom that you think you speak for me. I'm not trying to make myself feel better. I feel terrible about the two candidates. It's embarrassing. My hope is we produce someone better
Again, it will be a two person race in the general election. And likely the candidate that wins will do so with a small fraction of the vote. Every vote for some "protest" third-party candidate is just as important to trump winning as votes for him. That's why maga supports rfk and dean phillips. You can fool yourself in believing otherwise, but that is on you. I suspect afterwards you will try to shirk blame by saying it was the people that voted for Biden's fault, but only because like most republicans, you never take responsibility for your actions.
