• Zak@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    It’s bizarre the Republican base is so firmly behind Trump. A normal Republican would probably win given Biden’s unpopularity, but the prospect of another Trump presidency is enough to get people to vote for anything with a D on it.

    • Wrench@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Eh. The entire republican party is rotted to the core. Everyone continuing to fall in line after Jan 6th demonstrated that beyond any doubt.

      If you were to rewind the clock 20 years, and regular republican could probably beat Biden. But it’s not just the president. It’s the entire party. And I hope enough people would understand that enough to not vote a “normal” republican in.

      But the fact that it seems close to half the voters in this country actually want blatant corruption, abuse of powers, and straight facism. It’s mind blowing.

      • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        I think it’s a bit unfair to say they’re voting in corruption knowingly.

        People in America are desperate for change. For over 50 years productivity has continued to rise while material living conditions have stagnated or gotten worse. Us Americans can be pretty dumb sometimes, but even we can recognize those facts. The media and Washington’s insistence on gaslighting us that things have never been better really doesn’t help matters.

        Trump is rightly recognized as a political outsider, although he’s a fake populist and will never deliver meaningfully on what he promises. The true travesty is that the entire establishment is dead set on ensuring no leftist outsider ever makes it to the ballot. If there’s one thing everyone in power can agree upon, it’s that left wing policies that would tend to the basic needs of the people are the true enemy.

        And so, what are we the people to do?

        • Wrench@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Campaign for local progressives, build up your influence from the ground up.

          Right now, you are a fringe vote that the DNC does not take seriously because you don’t have enough representatives to control more of the party.

          • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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            8 months ago

            Except polling data clearly shows that the progressive policies are massively popular with the American people, so to call progressives fringe is inaccurate. The issue at hand is not that progressives are a fringe group, it’s that progressive policies are considered a threat to the privileged owner class and so the left is demonized at every opportunity by the media outlets owned by those same elites.

            This isn’t to say your suggestions are wrong - I do what I can within the confines of the 2 party system. But my point is the system is broken. I’m more focused on getting money (legalized bribes) out of politics, and getting rid of First Past the Post in favor of ranked choice voting. Just these two things would massively change the American political landscape, and quality of representation, for the better.

            • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Yes, but the change Trump is offering is the next level of oppression. Desperate for water these people drink sand.

              • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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                8 months ago

                Yes, agreed. Still, we will need to understand their motivations to lead them back to water

                • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Their motivation is they are ready to drink Valium, chloral hydrate, cyanide, and Phenergan for trump.

        • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Trump is also a fake political outsider. He’s known and schmoozed with every single American president since Nixon. Toyed with presidential runs a number of times. And that’s just barely scratching the surface.

          Name a group representative of the wealthy and powerful. And Trump has tried to be a part of it. But also roundly rejected by it. Because no matter how evil the group generally is, they are still smart enough to want nothing to do with him.

          • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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            8 months ago

            True, he’s so desperate to be accepted by the elite. But too dumb to ever truly make it. Quite the useful idiot, however

    • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It really revealed every ounce of corruption in this country. All is found in shadows.

    • go_go_gadget@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      What’s funny to me is how moderate Republicans have demonstrated they’re willing to vote for a far right candidate. For leftists and progressives it just underscores how little moderates have bothered to compromise for decades.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      honestly, I… I wouldn’t be surprised to find out both sides really are the same, and trump was put up there explicitly to force everyone into voting for Biden and his ilk. You know, maintain the illusion of choice.

      (I don’t really believe that. I’m just saying… you know…? )

      • Zak@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I wouldn’t be surprised to find out both sides really are the same

        Until 2016, I did see the two major political parties in the USA as two sides of the same broken coin. Trump brought out something ugly I thought we’d left in the past.

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          there is something to be said about centrist democrats being perfectly willing to share power with republicans, but yeah, Trump is a whole 'nother level of evil. It’s like not just saying the quiet part out loud, but more like screaming the quiet part of what the intrusive-voice-in-your-head says. if that makes sense.

          part of the reason we’ll likely never move beyond the 2 party system is because it’s better to share power than it is to risk losing it all.