cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18991756
In a double boost for Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday afternoon threw his backing behind the former president in the 2024 presidential election while Jill Stein unequivocally stated she will not drop out of the race.
But that vote goes right in the trash. Third parties can’t win in our system for practical purposes so the only effect is to take away votes from the side most like your own and risk empowering the party least like yours. Stein is basically supporting Trump.
A vote isn’t “trash” just because it doesn’t align with the two-party system; it’s a statement of principle and a push for broader representation.
Third parties may face challenges, but dismissing them only reinforces a broken system that limits real choice. Voting for the candidate who best represents my values is about advocating for change, not settling for the lesser of two evils.
The idea that Stein is supporting Trump is unfounded—she represents an alternative vision, not an endorsement of another party. Empowering third parties is a step toward a more diverse and representative democracy.
I’m not voting for Harris. Accept it.
It goes in the trash insofar as the net effect is the same as if you had stayed home. There will never be enough to make the third party president but enough people whose voting preference is Green -> Democrat - Trump may be tricked into voting green to Green resulting in a Trump victory. Essentially you are trading a tangible chance chance of electing Harris for a zero percent chance of electing Jill. A bad trade.
A third-party vote isn’t wasted; it’s a deliberate choice to support policies and candidates that align with my values, which is the essence of a functioning democracy.
The assumption that third-party voters would otherwise support a major party candidate oversimplifies the diverse reasons people vote the way they do.
Voting out of fear rather than conviction only perpetuates a system that fails to represent all voices; real change starts when people vote for what they truly believe in, not just what seems strategically safe.
It’s a deliberate misunderstanding of how our present system works. We are facing a party who may end democracy in America depriving your preferred party of relevance ever. If you take enough votes from Harris we get Trump. If you really want you party to have relevance you should vote Harris and promote 2 ideas.
Ranked choice voting at the state level so you can vote green without throwing your vote away.
National popular vote compact. It’s the idea of having the states pass state laws that give their electors to the person who gets the most votes. It’s already passed in the majority of states and it goes into effect when it has passed in enough states to represent a majority of electors. Achieving a majority would be very hard but it would be at least technically possible unlike getting the majority in the majority of states. As it stands a third party could get 58% of the individual voters and still lose.
Both these ideas are virtuous individually and support your ends.
Voting out of fear only perpetuates a broken system, while voting for a candidate who truly represents your values is a way to push for meaningful change. The real threat to democracy is a system that discourages diverse voices and forces voters into a false choice between the lesser of two evils.
I’m not voting for your candidate. And neither are many of my friends. That’s democracy.
I won’t vote for the Democratic Party until they commit to ending the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote AND stop filing lawsuits to keep third parties off the ballot. Until they make these changes, they won’t have my support.
If you are on a treadmill dragging you towards a machine that will mangle and grind your body into hamburger and on the other side is a button that will turn off the treadmill. You should run towards the button out of self preservation if you aren’t going to run out of fear.
Neither party can end the electoral college ever at the federal level. It requires the people who benefit from the EC to vote against the EC. You will never see Republican lawmakers nor Republican state legislators adopting that! The national popular vote compact can be passed not by 2/3 but by states worth 50% + 1 EC vote and can get the actual popular vote in through the back door.
https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/state-status
https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation
OR I can vote for who matches my values. And that’s Jill Stein.
She has no values she’s willing to increase the chance that our entire country crashes and burns and meets with fuckin Putin