Harris-Walz / Dems

[G.B.Blackrock]

So you all need to do your part: check your voter status. Help family, friends, and neighbours check theirs. Arrange rides on election day, help with advanced voting if it's an option.

And vote blue all the way down the ballot. Top to bottom, start to finish.

Then: once blue is voted in; start screaming at your reps about voter reform.

Here's my big problem with THAT....

I live in California.

Yes, I'm going to vote. There's no question whatsoever about that.

But it's not going to make a lick of difference vis-a-vis Trump.

All those other down-ballot votes? Yes, I'll do that. But if Trump wins, that doesn't matter nearly as much. It's a firewall, at best.

Trump is what really matters here, and there's very little I can do about it.

 

[Wheelimus]

Same. I'm in Indiana. I'll vote, but it won't change a damn thing when it comes to the Presidential election. Our electoral college votes will go to Trump. Wish it were the popular vote that mattered.

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

Seriously. We've often talked about how Wyoming get disproportionate representation vs. California, but that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how broken the system is.

See that picture? That's just LA County (where I live) in red. Every state in blue has a smaller population than this SINGLE COUNTY.

 

[Dekafox]

What's up with Ohio there I wonder? Illinois has Chicago, New York has New York, Texas and Florida are self-explanatory, Pennsylvania has Philadelphia. Is it just Cleveland?

 

[Ungnome]

Wyoming - 1 electoral vote per 192k
Vermont - 1 electoral vote per 214k
Alaska - 1 electoral vote per 257k
...
Florida - 1 electoral vote per 718k
Texas - 1 electoral vote per 729k
California - 1 electoral vote per 732k

Its beyond ridiculous that the average voter in Wyoming has almost 4x the say in the decision of who becomes president than a voter in California. Granted, both states are 'all or nothing' states when it comes to electors, which skews the numbers considerably. If electoral votes were simply split by district in every state like they are in Nebraska and Maine, gerrymandering aside, I doubt Trump would have won in 2016. Still it IS time to abolish the whole electoral college thing. It was a failed idea by rich landowners in the 18th century and needs to go.

 

[Ungnome]

What's up with Ohio there I wonder? Illinois has Chicago, New York has New York, Texas and Florida are self-explanatory, Pennsylvania has Philadelphia. Is it just Cleveland?

Ohio has several large cities, including Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo in addition to Cleveland.

 

[Dekafox]

Good point, I was thinking mostly in terms of mega cities given the other states highlighted, which is why Ohio wasn't clicking for me.

 

[wonko the sane?]

Here's my big problem with THAT....

I live in California.

Yes, I'm going to vote. There's no question whatsoever about that.

But it's not going to make a lick of difference vis-a-vis Trump.

All those other down-ballot votes? Yes, I'll do that. But if Trump wins, that doesn't matter nearly as much. It's a firewall, at best.

Trump is what really matters here, and there's very little I can do about it.

Yes there is. You vote. Blue up and down.

Even if you wind up with trump as president again: you can gimp him by stacking the other two branches with democrats, races that usually ignored in presidential years. Sure, you get trump term two: but instead of indescribable horror and a dictatorship: you get four years of nothing happening. Which, I might add, is something the ENTIRE WORLD will also happily take over america literally destroying the global economy and what little international peace we have.

And oh yeah: Trump still doesn't have the means to win. Mathematically: trump has already lost. Which is why him and his lickspittles are already setting themselves up for the "stolen" byline again. He's ******* underperforming in primary races where he's running uncontested! In every election, except that first one... (damnit.) republicans have always and consistently underperformed. He had razor thin margins the first ******* time, and this time he does not have apathetic democratic voters, and undecideds going "eh, what the hell". His core demographic has only shrunk. He can't win enough new people to overcome attrition.

Vote, just ******* vote. Trump. Will. Lose.

 

[wonko the sane?]

Here, just... watch this.

 

[Pale Rider]

wonko serves the best hopium.

 

[wonko the sane?]

wonko serves the best hopium.

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

Yes there is. You vote. Blue up and down.

Even if you wind up with trump as president again: you can gimp him by stacking the other two branches with democrats, races that usually ignored in presidential years. Sure, you get trump term two: but instead of indescribable horror and a dictatorship: you get four years of nothing happening. Which, I might add, is something the ENTIRE WORLD will also happily take over america literally destroying the global economy and what little international peace we have.

You seem to be missing my point.

In EVERY local election where I am, the Democratic victory is all-but assured, and has been for decades at this point.

At best, this is good advice for people who live elsewhere.

And oh yeah: Trump still doesn't have the means to win. Mathematically: trump has already lost. Which is why him and his lickspittles are already setting themselves up for the "stolen" byline again. He's ******* underperforming in primary races where he's running uncontested! In every election, except that first one... (damnit.) republicans have always and consistently underperformed. He had razor thin margins the first ******* time, and this time he does not have apathetic democratic voters, and undecideds going "eh, what the hell". His core demographic has only shrunk. He can't win enough new people to overcome attrition.

Vote, just ******* vote. Trump. Will. Lose.

There are a LOT of polls that disagree with you.

 

[Wheelimus]

Yeah, last polls I saw reported had Trump up 3 points nationally and 1 point in the battleground states. It's a toss-up.

 

[Pocket]

What Californians and other solid-blue-staters should do is vote for the most far-left candidates they can in the primaries. It's too late for that advice to be useful, mind you.

Oh, and Ohio is officially a red state at this point as far as I'm concerned. There's an election for Senate or something this year, and I swear it's either literally just two Republicans running against each other or they're trying their best to pretend to be. Either way it's a terrible sign.

 

[MrBlud]

Sherrod Brown is actually pretty progressive and solidly blue collar even if his current ads are a bit nativist for my taste.

My Brother actually worked for his Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno and the dude is (wholly unsurprisingly) absolute trash.

 

[wonko the sane?]

There are a LOT of polls that disagree with you.

The same polls that have been predicting a red wave since trumps midterms? The same polls that have routinely been WRONG?

Okay: please listen. Not just you G.B., everyone. The polls are WRONG. A large portion of the voting population are functionally not reachable for the sake of the pollsters, and are more and more relying on the ones whom ARE... and the ones whom are reachable are ageing boomers and hard core republicans. This has been a growing problem since people started switching to cell phones as primary communication, and gotten worse as the majority of the population switched to texting over phone calls.

The media is complicit because no one will pay attention to the election coverage if it's not a horse race, a nail biter, a life or death existential ******* crisis. Think about it: when was the last time mainstream media didn't say "This is the most important election"? They're finally right; a broken clock, after all.

The polls are wrong, they will continue to be wrong, and the democrats will continue to powerfully over-perform based on those polls. The polls are wrong. Don't believe their lies: look at the actual voter returns for real information.

Check your voter status. Help your mutuals do it too. Help everyone get to the polls. Vote democrat all the way down: and the rest will take of itself, because the polls. Are. Wrong. Just ******* vote.

 

[Rhinox]

So you all need to do your part: check your voter status. Help family, friends, and neighbours check theirs. Arrange rides on election day, help with advanced voting if it's an option.

And vote blue all the way down the ballot. Top to bottom, start to finish.

Then: once blue is voted in; start screaming at your reps about voter reform.

And here's the thing. I live in Kansas. My vote means exactly jack jive in the presidential election.

. . . . and after viewing the thread after this reply, I see I am late to the party. My bad.

 

[wonko the sane?]

And here's the thing. I live in Kansas. My vote means exactly jack jive in the presidential election.

So you're setting good habits for future elections? You're participating in your civic doody regardless of outcome?

And that attitude is why poor leaders get elected. Your vote DOES matter, even if it only matters in canceling out the vote of some psycho asshole. No one snowflake is to blame for the avalanche.

 

[Rhinox]

So you're setting good habits for future elections? You're participating in your civic doody regardless of outcome?

And that attitude is why poor leaders get elected. Your vote DOES matter, even if it only matters in canceling out the vote of some psycho asshole. No one snowflake is to blame for the avalanche.

No, it's not the attitude, it's the electoral college.
Again, we're not talking about the rest of the ticket, where things matter. In presidential elections our votes mean nothing if we're not in a battleground state. California will always go blue, Kansas will always go red, that's the way it goes and its not changing any time soon unless the electoral college is relegated to the dustbin where it belongs.

My vote doesn't cancel out anyone's when it comes to the president. It literally does not matter. I need to stress, it's not an attitude, it's not defeatist, it is the reality of a voting system where only a few states have any real say and mine isn't one of them.

 

[Pale Rider]

Sometimes it's enough just to narrow the gap and give them a scare. For example...

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...th-carolina-nancy-mace-sam-brown-donald-trump