The partisan purity tests on the left are a big part of the reason why Republicans keep winning general elections.
Republican policies are bad for anyone who isn’t rich. Their party is literally promoting fascism at this point. But somehow the fact that a Democrat isn’t 100% what you want them to be means you should stay at home and not vote?
Be advised that the thing Republican voters are best at is falling in line. They will vote for a candidate they actively hate … as long as that candidate has an R next to their name on the ballot.
The time for purity tests is the primary. Vote for non-AIPAC, pro-trans candidates then. Cast your ballot for the person who best represents your interests. Actively campaign for them and convince everyone you meet to vote for them.
But in a general election, if you refuse to vote because you don’t like the Democrat (with whom you agree on 80% of issues), you’re ceding the choice of representative for your state or district to the people who will vote Republican no matter what. And I doubt you will agree with even half of that person’s votes.
You might feel like you’ve done something valuable and righteous, but all you’ve really done on a practical level is make it easier for the right-wing candidate to win a majority.
Even if you’re not enthusiastic about voting for the Democrat, you can feel good about voting against the Republican.
I haven’t been excited about voting for a lot of people in my life, but I am still quite proud of the fact that my vote helped a dead man beat John Ashcroft for a seat in the Senate.
Also, even for those who only care about 1 issue (whether Gaza or Trans rights or something else), it’s important to have some sense of nuance on that issue and not frame it in completely black-and-white terms. Chances are that a given AIPAC Democrat candidate is less hostile to Palestinians than their Republican opponent, or that an anti-trans Democrat on the wrong side of trans sports and bathroom issues is running against a Republican that wants trans folk jailed or killed. The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they are still better than the Republicans on every single issue.
The partisan purity tests on the left are a big part of the reason why Republicans keep winning general elections.
Republican policies are bad for anyone who isn’t rich. Their party is literally promoting fascism at this point. But somehow the fact that a Democrat isn’t 100% what you want them to be means you should stay at home and not vote?
Be advised that the thing Republican voters are best at is falling in line. They will vote for a candidate they actively hate … as long as that candidate has an R next to their name on the ballot.
The time for purity tests is the primary. Vote for non-AIPAC, pro-trans candidates then. Cast your ballot for the person who best represents your interests. Actively campaign for them and convince everyone you meet to vote for them.
But in a general election, if you refuse to vote because you don’t like the Democrat (with whom you agree on 80% of issues), you’re ceding the choice of representative for your state or district to the people who will vote Republican no matter what. And I doubt you will agree with even half of that person’s votes.
You might feel like you’ve done something valuable and righteous, but all you’ve really done on a practical level is make it easier for the right-wing candidate to win a majority.
Even if you’re not enthusiastic about voting for the Democrat, you can feel good about voting against the Republican.
I haven’t been excited about voting for a lot of people in my life, but I am still quite proud of the fact that my vote helped a dead man beat John Ashcroft for a seat in the Senate.
Also, even for those who only care about 1 issue (whether Gaza or Trans rights or something else), it’s important to have some sense of nuance on that issue and not frame it in completely black-and-white terms. Chances are that a given AIPAC Democrat candidate is less hostile to Palestinians than their Republican opponent, or that an anti-trans Democrat on the wrong side of trans sports and bathroom issues is running against a Republican that wants trans folk jailed or killed. The Democrats are far, far from perfect, but they are still better than the Republicans on every single issue.