Some people out there seem to be confused, but I always vote in every local and every national election for every office and every ballot initiative since I was 18 years old. Some of my greatest civil rights heroes have fought and died so that we can all vote and I honor their memory in the ballot box every single time. 

To some of us, especially those of us like myself who have been scheduling secretaries for US senators, it often seems like a morally reprehensible choice between compromised corporate Democrats and fascist-minded Republicans. Where I live in California, I have the luxury of voting my conscience for president for third-party candidates that better align with my ideas of justice and equality. 

But in any and every contested race, as my mom Mary Morello always said, we have to fight the fascist every which way we can, recognizing that even if there's but an inch of difference between two candidates, there are a lot of vulnerable people who could be greatly harmed in that inch. So vote your ass off, but don't just exercise your right to vote. Exercise your right to fight for, organize for, struggle for, and manifest the kind of world you'd like to really see without compromise and without apologies before, during, and after election day. And let's stop the fascists every which way we can. Power the people.

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[+] -7 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Except he claimed he didn't vote for Kamala vs Trump. Therefore allowing and be in agreement with the outcome. Any outcome.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    He's in California. He could make his voice heard by voting 3rd party, because it was a given that all electoral votes from Cali would go to Harris. Thus, voting 3rd parry sends a signal without endangering vulnerable people by helping Trump.

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  • [–] -2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    There's a reason the GOP cancer is slowly spreading in California. If enough people vote third party or don't vote it could eventually flip red with enough propaganda and money.

    Protest voting doesn't work with first past the post system.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 day ago

    And if California get's anywhere close to vote parity, he, like many others, will then start to vote democrat. But right now, there is absolutely no danger of a purple California, so why not vote his conscience?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (7 children)

    He's in a blue state. If we didn't have our asinine and backward EC, it'd be a different story.

    I'm absolutely exhausted with snowflakes being so very precious and that think they need a specially curated and artisanal candidate to cater to them, most especially to their purity tests, and if they hear one wrong note, they'll stamp their feet, cross their arms, and do absolutely nothing to help. Stay home, vote for some absurdist clown-show bullshit like the Green Party. Even maybe vote for Republicans.

    You know, "to send a message". Because everyone needs to listen to THEM, and of course, everyone is going to be able to look at this ridiculous childish behavior and respond according to what these types want, because obviously mind-reading is possible. 🙄

    Talk about narcissistic bullshit of the highest fucking order. Hell, we all can remember being late teens/early 20s, but most people grow out of this kind of selfishness.

    But I think he's pointing out he's in a safe district and so basically his vote for Kamala would not even matter.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 day ago (6 children)

    He may be in a blue state, but it would be foolish to think his influence didn't extend beyond the state. People like to forget there are more Republicans in California than Texas and more Democrats in Texas than New York.

    If enough people think like that more parts of California will flip Red. It's already spreading before this line of thinking is in play.

    And Purity tests? I don't know where you got that with my comment. If anything I was harking on Morello and his dumb purity test. Only thing his stupid purity test carries influence around the country and can lead to more people not voting like idiots.

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  • [–] 1 point 23 hours ago (4 children)

    Sorry, I'm not talking about you and purity tests.

    I'm sick of it in general where there is a certain kind of "leftist" / contrarian "independent" that loves to act like they need to be catered to and they often have a purity test or two. They especially love performatively standing on the sidelines and proclaiming how they are so moral because of that. I have the honor of having a few of them in my life (and seeing lots online) and boy, are they precious about it.

    Favorite catchphrase: "elections are decided by independents!"

    I'm just saying that I don't think Morello is being like that...

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  • [–] 0 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

    I’m sick of it in general where there is a certain kind of “leftist” / contrarian “independent” that loves to act like they need to be catered to and they often have a purity test or two.

    What kind of privileged-ass take is this? I'm sorry, but if you can't understand why some groups need to have hard red lines about who they'll vote for, then you're a moron. For example, the hard red line for the Muslim community was, "don't support a genocide against Muslims." We're not talking about minor preferences here. People attach red lines to their votes on things that are absolutely essential, sometimes for their very lives.

    I'm sorry, but I as a trans person will never vote for a transphobic Democrat, even in the general election. You can fuck right off with the tired "lesser evil" bullshit. I'm thinking 10 elections ahead, not just the one right in front of us. And Democrats turning transphobe represents a much greater direct threat to my life than Republicans winning a Senate seat in Ohio.

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  • [–] 0 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

    That's great. The options, after the primaries, basically boil down to these two types of scenarios:

    1. A candidate that will genocide the hardest and gleefully and sell off Gaza to the likes of Jared to create beachfront property, while attacking opposition within this very country - meaning deportation/prison/stripping citizenship. The other candidate may only tepidly go along with things (but maybe not actually) due to military-industrial inertia.

    2. A candidate that very well may start throwing trans in prison, or worse. Versus a candidate that may be rather squishy and need convincing/pushing on things like sports and what treatments are available to children, etc.

    I happen to have trans in my life that I agonize about every day, given the dangers under this administration and conservatives in general. I have basically two real choices. Withholding my vote on some Democrat I deem to be less than perfect will only advance the fascist agenda and it will endanger those I care about.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago

    He explicitly says he's in favor of voting Democrat, even corporate Democrat in EVERY contested race. If people listen to him, they will vote accordingly. If people don't actually listen to him, it doesn't matter what he says.

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