If you're thinking about "voting your conscience" or "sending a message" to Democrats by voting for one of the third party candidates in November 2024, or even not voting at all, please consider the following possible to likely effects of doing this.
Next Thanksgiving could be very different if you don't. You ask why? Okay, here goes:
1. We've been here before--in both 2000 and 2016 the margin of votes cast for third party candidates in key states put a Republican in the White House despite the Democrat getting far more votes overall.
Effect: Instead of Al Gore and responsible, early action on climate change, we got George W. Bush and a war over oil. Literally millions died in Iraq and more millions will die in the coming decades as the climate change the two oil men unleashed continues to drive up temperatures (Bush and Cheney both were rich from oil). We also got the worst crash since the Great Depression in 2008-09 when Bush and Cheney literally transferred all but two FBI agents to the War on Terror from what had been scores of agents investigating fraud. Fraudulent mortgage lending led directly to that crash.
It also led directly to murder and torture in Guantanamo and other black sites. Look up Bush and torture.
The second example, in 2016, saw the greatest crash in American history as Trump deliberately botched the Covid pandemic, killing half a million Americans more than might have died if he'd been about as responsible as nearly every other elected leader in other countries. Trump also deliberately set up the Afghanistan disaster, betrayed allies in Syria and Iraq and Ukraine, killing and maiming hundreds of thousands in the subsequent slaughter of innocents. He's on the side of Saudi and Russian oil oligarchs, no matter what they do, up to and including multiple murders and war crimes. Look up these for Saudi Arabia in Yemen and Russia in Ukraine.
Biden has a conscience. There is no evidence Trump has one.
2. If Trump wins this time. Well, google "2025 Project".
Effect: You'll find extensive plans to end American democracy, end nearly all action on climate change and promote oil, gas and coal use, and turn over Ukraine and the rest of Europe to Putin (by pulling out of NATO). Russia will be free to promote more unrest in Africa and the Middle East, resulting in more deaths and disasters. And consider what Trump did to stir up more trouble in Israel and Palestine last time he was in control. He moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and strongly backed right wing Israeli plans to push Palestinians completely out of Palestine by building settlements.
Letting Trump back in will end any compromise with or support for Palestinians. Things are bad now; they would get worse if you choose unwisely.
And despite what Trump may say, reproductive freedom will be gone from all 50 states as will most voting rights and rights to protest as radical Republicans impose their beliefs and conspiracy theories on all of us. Check out what Project 2025 plans for military use on protestors. That's any protestors, even those protesting Israeli actions, much less oil pipelines and coal plants and abortion restrictions.
3. If you're older than 50, disabled or working in a hazardous job or driving regularly and thus subject to an auto accident that might disable you, your vote for someone else might reduce or even eliminate disability Social Security and reduce your Social Security payout.
Effect: Republicans "promised" not to reduce Social Security when Biden embarrassed them at his address to Congress, but they are planning to raise the age for full retirement even though American lifespans have dropped on average more than 3 years due largely to Trump's previous time in office. Disability payouts have long been a Republican target. Check out what they've done to Medicaid--with most Republican dominated states even refusing to extend it to those needing it, despite Democratic efforts to do so and subsidies Democrats provided.
And we know about Republican promises to respect Roe V Wade as "settled law". MAGA Republicans also desperately want to end Obamacare and your right to be protected under your parent's healthcare policies until age 26.
4. In contrast to Biden/Harris, who want to end most if not all student debt now, Republicans went to court to stop any and all relief for student debt.
Effect: If you believe education is a right, not a privilege, just check into what Republicans have been doing to the public education system from pre-Kindergarten to university level in every state where they got a majority. And if you are ever planning on having a family, consider the potential cost Republican policies would have on you.
Even if you live in a blue state now, Republicans have plans for you that the 2025 Project will put in place. Where they've won once fairly in a state, they subsequently gerrymandered and muscled their way to retain power even with less, or far less, than a majority. Check out Wisconsin or N. Carolina or Florida--all states that were close or which even now return more Democratic votes than Republican ones, yet still see huge Republican "majorities" in control at their capitols.
In sum, you're free to vote your conscience.
At least in this coming election if not the following ones, if we still even have elections after a Trump win. But you may be voting also to lose many of your freedoms, opportunities, and much of your future prosperity and happiness if you do so. And make no mistake; the threat is not from Democrats who have done more under Biden to promote American prosperity and freedom than you might realize. They've also done more to address climate change than any administration in US history, and that's had enormous effect on other countries who have followed suit. Democrats acted on gun violence when Republicans did not. And on infrastructure, healthcare, hunger, violence against women and much more.
And they have done all this with the smallest majorities in House and Senate ever seen.
They will do much more with a solid Democratic majority in House and Senate and with Biden in the White House. Two Republican leaning Senators, one a former Democrat and the other the last coal advocate among Democrats, are out this election. Gone. There's only one pro-oil Democrat in the House, from Texas.
That changes everything if Democrats can hold their majority in the Senate and get back the House. Vote accordingly.
Trust me, any reason you have for being angry against Democrats--Republicans are worse on it, if not far worse. Democrats respond to facts and arguments and protests. Republicans don't even want you to argue with them and they hate and suppress protests.
And don't even think about not voting. That's just as bad, if not worse, than voting for a third party this time. Every non-vote is taken by Republicans as silent agreement with what they do and plan to do. Google "silent majority" and see what Republicans have claimed about their "silent majority" in the past. The message Republicans say you're sending isn't what you think it is.
So yes, you might feel like you're voting for the lesser evil by voting for Democrats and Biden/Harris.
But less evil is not more evil.
Not voting or voting for a third party opens the door to much more evil. For yourself and others, now and in the future. You feel hopeless and disappointed now? Put Republicans in charge next November and you'll go from feeling hopeless and disappointed to feeling suicidal. That's what they want Democrats to feel like. Visit a MAGA app or website like X/Twitter and find out how they feel about liberals and progressives and every other issue you care about.
Brace yourself. Your belief that everyone's got some good in them is about to challenged. Look up Hannah Arendt. Bureaucrats can be the most evil of all, and the 2025 Project plans to purge the civil service of well meaning public servants and replace them with an army of eager Trumpists. Take the attitudes you find on the MAGA sites like X/Twitter and give them real power as Federal bureaucrats.
That should scare you, badly. It does me.
Closing your eyes to it, focusing on only yourself or your immediate family or job or your personal morality doesn't excuse inaction or ineffective action like throwing your vote away in the face of such potential evil and suffering if Republicans get their way.
Let your conscience consider that.
Meanwhile, Happy Thanksgiving. I sincerely hope it's not our last happy one.
That's up to you.
Uncle and cousin monkeybrainpolitics.
To DKos folks—if you don’t want to discuss politics at Thanksgiving, at least send your liberal and progressive relatives who are on the fence or actively supporting one of the non-Biden “alternatives” this note. If your relatives are MAGA folks, like some of mine are, you have my sympathy. But I don’t think either discussions at or after Thanksgiving are going to change much. I still hope my more idealistic younger relations are reachable, however.
How do you feel this Thanksgiving?