Look if the Democrats were interested in shifting to the left they would have done it by now. They know progressive policies are popular. They know progressive policies get people excited. They're not interested in being progressive. They're only interested in maintaining the status quo and if stepping on you is necessary to do that, they'll happily do it. Some of them will make a somber face on the news about it before gleefully stepping on you again.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 22 points 3 days ago

Redditors have no concept of what the democrats are: a controlled opposition party in a one-party capitalist empire.

[+] rumba@lemmy.zip -20 points 3 days ago (2 children)

know progressive policies get people excited. They’re not interested in being progressive. They’re only interested in maintaining the status quo and if stepping on you is necessary to do that, they’ll happily do it. Some of them will make a somber face on

All fine and dandy, but voting 3rd without the 3rd being actually viable is just voting 1st for the other side.

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.ml 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That's an idiotic hot take that gives the Democrats in power a lot of undeserved confidence in their seats and is exactly why Kamala failed to excite voters.

In a very small handful of very vulnerable seats, sure, that might be true. For literally every other race in the country, that's not only bullshit it's problematic.

"I don't have to try, x number of people will vote for me no matter what." That's not conjecture, it's literally part of the calculation campaign managers do for every single election. X voters will always vote for D/R candidate, and Y voters never will. If X is greater than half of the number of votes in the last election, campaign to your donors.

Democrats will not change their tune until they start seeing some risk. Safe and leans D seats need to start shifting away from them. They need to lose votes they once thought were guaranteed and a sizable portion of those votes need to be for non viable progressives.

[–] mattyroses@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 3 days ago

It literally is not.

What makes the third viable is voting for it. But that aside, making the Democrats lose with a clear auditable trail of votes to the left makes it clear they have to move left (and take the third party's positions) or be destroyed. This is how the party system in the US has always worked, from the Whigs to the FDR coalition. The modern GOP almost did this, but was so sidelined by the FDR coalition and failures of Nixon that their right wing didn't even have to leave under Reagan to take over.