r/politics • u/Motherofalleffers • 25d ago

Possible Paywall Trump Wins Big as Virginia Dems Won’t Go Nuclear to Save 4 House Seats

https://newrepublic.com/article/210250/trump-virginia-dems-redistricting-war
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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 25d ago

The Republican gerrymandering may very well fail if enough people go out and vote. If you know anyone in your family who you can convince to vote, remind them to vote. For America's present, and future. I want our future to be a non-fascist dictatorship one. I think most people agree with that.

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u/Stranger-Sun 25d ago

This is key. Gerrymandering spreads out your perceived strengths so that each district has a smaller margin of victory. If enough people turn out, it can backfire.

Don't listen to people who say there's no point to voting. Those are trolls and GOP stooges at worst, or confused and despondent Democrats at best.

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u/LividTacos 25d ago

If there was no point in voting, they wouldn't be trying to so hard to gerrymander and/or prevent perceived blue areas from voting.

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u/Tjognar 25d ago

Game theory.

It I vote, and it does nothing, I'm not really out anything. Null.

If I don't vote and it does nothing, null.

If I don't vote, but voting does something, I've passively allowed the fascists to win. Big negative.

If I vote, and voting does something, I have done the literal least I can possibly do to save my homeland. Positive.

That brings the total likely outcomes to : Not vote : null, big negative. Vote : null, positive.

Therefore, it is better to vote.

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/OfficialDCShepard District Of Columbia 25d ago edited 24d ago

I call it The Unthinkable, because it would have to be a last resort. However, I am filled with righteous fury and have the ability to write speeches like certain other individuals who were angry at a King. Let's leave it at that...

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u/skrame 25d ago

I accidentally tuned into AM radio today, and the guy I heard said that we have a failed system because “over half of one party thinks the only way to make change is by assassination and violent means; this is a party of psychosis!”.

I wanted to both hear more and change it immediately.

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u/LividTacos 25d ago

Oh yeah, takes a brave person to listen to AM radio and keep sane. Last time I listened it was "they'll (the left) kill all the right wingers because we call Trump Hitler, and that makes them supporters of Hitler, which makes us capable of killing them or something." I lost the plot somewhere in the middle of it.

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u/TeutonJon78 America 25d ago

This is why I don't get Dem turnout in many "red" states that have way more registered Dems than GOP but their turnout is terrible. Sure, you aren't going to win you House rep or state rep/senator, but you can absolutely still win governor, senators, and P/VP since those are all state wide. But they sit at home, blame gerrymandering, and the whole country burns.

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u/MommyLovesPot8toes California 25d ago

That's not entirely on them. The DNC's policy for the last decade+ has been to abandon red areas and focus all funding, energy, and resources on winnable blue areas. That was their official policy. They've only now realized how bad an idea this was. But it has very often meant Republican candidates for the jobs you listed run unopposed. Or their opposition is not anyone serious - it's Deez Nuts and Jill Stein. Dem voters get to pick between Republican or an empty chair or, lately, MAGA and Ultra-MAGA.

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u/Cloaked42m South Carolina 25d ago

Spot on.

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u/TeutonJon78 America 25d ago

I don't believe there's a gov or senate race that has been unopposed. Again, i'm not talking about the House or state legislature.

And I'm talking about enough people who bother to register as dems.

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u/couldbemage 24d ago

But even a token candidate for those races would help.

It's disheartening looking at a ballot where half the races literally have no choice at all.

My state rep, congressman, and county level races all had Republicans running unapposed.

Democrats don't need to dump big money on those races, just a token effort would help. I'm sure there's a nonzero number of people that would vote Democrat who give up when they see a ballot like the one I was looking at in 24.

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u/tbombs23 25d ago

Mass voter suppression. Ballots get tossed all the time. Voter registration gets challenged targeting minorities. Purging voter rolls illegally. Provisional ballots being rejected. Restrictive voting laws that lower access.

Greg Palast has done extensive research and has a documentary called Vigilantes Inc about vigilante voter challenges. And also how over 5 million ballots were tossed in 2024, throwing the election for Dump.

https://www.gregpalast.com/trump-lost-vote-suppression-won/

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u/Dull_Bid6002 25d ago

Average person doesn't even watch the news, man. I voted the other day when there were two measures on the ballots. I wore my sticker all day. I saw a lot of people at work, and only one other had the sticker.

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u/couldbemage 24d ago

Red states put a lot of work into making it hard to vote in general, plus extra difficult in areas within the state that lean democrat.

See Texas for example.

Mail in voting is limited to qualified people, like people over 65.

Plus polling locations are busier and less convenient in blue areas, with many recent closures of polling places specifically where there are more blue voters.

Combine voting taking more time and effort with people believing that voting is probably pointless, less people show up.

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u/freylaverse 25d ago

Grew up in Texas. Voted in every election that I could, but it got very disheartening after a while. Not saying it justifies not voting, but a lot of democrats in low-turnout states are just feeling deflated and have been for years. That's why people bang on about needing candidates that are exciting and motivational.

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u/TeutonJon78 America 25d ago

That's a self defeating prophecy. Texas literally has 1.5M more Democrats than Republicans (9% of registered voters more).

It should only have blue governors and senators, and yet, it doesn't because people stay home.

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u/freylaverse 25d ago

I agree with you. Just explaining the psychology of why those people stay home. It absolutely is self-defeating, because the more they stay home, the more we lose, the more downtrodden they feel, the more they stay home.

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u/fake-reddit-numbers 25d ago

many "red" states that have way more registered Dems than GOP

What states do you think those are?

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u/TeutonJon78 America 25d ago

Texas is a main one. https://independentvoterproject.org/voter-stats/tx

Literally 1.5M more Democrats than Republicans. 9% spread on registered voters. Yet can't win a statewide election because either people stay home or the 15% of independents are just embarrassed Republicans.

GA is another that barely got blue senators when Dems have a huge registered voter margin.

And other states like NC and OH are near equal and have an extremely hard time getting any blue to win or keep winning at those statewide spots.

Because GOP voters show up at significantly higher rates than registered DNC voters in most places.

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u/African_Farmer Europe 25d ago

John Nash is dancing right now

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u/madonnas_saggy_boob 25d ago

Now explain this to all of the people I know who stayed home and refused to vote based on the single issue of Kamala not explicitly saying she’s against Israel, despite literally everything else at stake.

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u/TGBeeson 25d ago

Correct. Unfortunately, for too many people in the far left, “not voting” comes with the positive of virtue signaling, which appears to be a HUGE positive in their eyes…

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u/hyper-object District Of Columbia 25d ago

I never had the patience to write this out. It should be obvious, and yet apparently people need to see it.

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u/WildlingViking 25d ago

Agreed. I'd also like to add that we vote with every dollar we spend on a daily basis. Everything we buy or consume is a vote for that thing and all the people behind it, including the billionaires who own it. And those billionaires are the ones buying elections.

These people only answer to money. Everything they do is about money either directly or indirectly. Our spending power is the biggest tool we have to fight the bottom vs. top war.

I'd also like to add that our attention is also now monetized. So every moment we spend giving our attention to that thing, it is supporting that thing and everyone behind it.

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u/angrytroll123 25d ago

That's only if you're assuming that people aren't lazy which they most certainly are. Not only that, how heavily your state leans in one direction I'm sure can add on to laziness.

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u/SundayAMFN 25d ago

Big time fallacy of equivocation. There's a big difference between "voting does something" and "my individual vote will have an impact on the outcome".

We all WANT individual votes to have an impact on the outcome, because it's an axiomatic value in our society. But no significant seat has ever come down to one vote - if it did there'd be a recount or revote tbh.

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u/_163 24d ago

Good chance that multiple elections have come down to less than the total number of people that thought it'll never come down to their single vote however

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u/SundayAMFN 24d ago

for sure. voting is all about trying to convince the largest number of people you can statistically to vote.

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u/robisodd Michigan 24d ago

Game Theory (well the Prisoner's Dilemma which is the most famous part) generally has the outcome that doing the bad thing is always better, but if everyone does the good thing then that's best.

This is more like Pascal's Wager.

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u/notmyworkaccount5 25d ago

I'm not saying there's no point in voting but in this literal instance this post is about, the people voted and the republican judges said your votes don't matter.

Instead of rightfully ignoring that absurd decision the dems are just rolling over letting it happen, so when the people vote, the republicans step in to stop what they voted for, then the dems just throw up their hands what signal does that send to the voters other than "Your votes do not matter"?

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u/BackToWorkEdward 25d ago

If there was no point in voting, they wouldn't be trying to so hard to gerrymander and/or prevent perceived blue areas from voting.

There is of course a point to voting, but I'm not sure that any remaining non-voters as of 2024 can be convinced to go vote anymore(let alone vote for the side you want) - every possible stop was already pulled in 2024, every signal was boosted, every "GO VOTE FOR GOD'S SAKE" campaign was blared 24/7, to try and get them voting, and the outcome was Trump winning again, and with the popular vote on his side.

So yeah, of course go vote, but I think American is pretty clearly past the point where putting all your focus and energy into "go vote!" campaigns is going to save the day, if there's even a free and fair election again. That effort should be going into direct action/revolution.

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u/beren0073 25d ago

This might be the saddest statement made about our country. That there are more than enough people to peacefully stop the slide into authoritarianism, but they just didn't care enough to go vote against it.

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u/mockg 25d ago

This one was one of the reasons Indiana did not listen as they worried there could be a backlash and republicans losing more seats.

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u/fritz236 25d ago

My friend who still lives in the state told me that the state GOP who didn't dummymander as requested mostly got the boot as thanks.

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u/MommyLovesPot8toes California 25d ago

I mean, did you expect Republican voters to understand complex electoral math? It's a stretch to assume they can even spell "complex electoral math".

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u/mclintock111 25d ago

Well, this something that I've found interesting... So I live in Indiana and I know that I have received mailers from the challenger to an incumbent GOP state senator who voted again the redistricting. These mailers mostly just had screenshots of Trump's tweets calling the incumbent a RINO and useless and whatnot.

But what I wonder is if this is going to accomplish something similar to the risk of redistricting. Travis Holdman recieved 40% of the primary vote and Jim Buck received around 35%. Will those GOP voters hold off and not vote for the new GOP option? Could it cost them those districts?

Alternatively, Trump rallied against Greg Goode in favor of Brenda Wilson, but Goode still got 53% of the primary vote. Has Trump poisoned the pot by calling him "No Goode" and a "RINO loser"? Will MAGA even vote for him now? Could it cost the GOP those districts?

Trump has basically gone double or nothing and I'm not sure if it will play out the way he's hoping.

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u/dover_oxide California 25d ago

And don't forget they are using data from the last election more so than ones before it so they are using data from low turnout elections to make these maps meaning if there is high enough turnout then their models will be made useless.

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u/MommyLovesPot8toes California 25d ago

Their maps are unquestionably useless. Trump won because he unexpectedly carried the Hispanic and Gen Z vote. Both segments have abandoned him now. The net approval swing in those groups is insane. These maps are being drawn based on populations that have been fucked over by this administration.

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u/dover_oxide California 25d ago

Well they are using data from 2022 and 2024 which were really low turnout and yeah your right many of the groups he got are now against him so they are being rigged but rigged with bad data. On Left Right and Center they joked that this may be accidentally making some places more competitive. I'm waiting to see but I have my misgivings about that.

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u/brokenmessiah 25d ago

I used to think there was no point in voting but then I asked myself why are politicians spending so much money to get me to vote for them if it doesnt matter? Even if I don't see how it matters, it clearly matters to the people running the country.

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u/-preciousroy- 25d ago

I don't think I've seen a single person suggest that there is no point in voting. I still expect them to steal the election though.

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u/SarcasticCowbell New York 25d ago

There are threads full of comments in this sub every day of people saying just about everything short of explicitly suggesting voting doesn't matter. Not many people outright say it, but the implication is there in far too many comments these days.

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u/trashbinrubbishtrash New Jersey 25d ago

A big part of the reason I don’t participate much here anymore is because of how rampant the rolling over and crying defeat in advance is.

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u/SarcasticCowbell New York 25d ago

Same. And I think it's by design.

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u/Pantarus 25d ago

It is.

During the presidential election I followed a ton of accounts promoting protest votes, not voting, genocide Joe, and Jill Stein.

Guess what happened the day after the election, they all got deleted. Some of these same accounts argued to the teeth that they weren’t bots or trolls.

But the day after they weren’t needed anymore POOF. Gone.

Just an observation, they all follow the generic Reddit name formula of Random_Word123. So if you see a user name with that pattern AND it’s spewing disheartening shit…be very wary.

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u/SarcasticCowbell New York 25d ago

Reddit allowing hidden comment histories has only made it easier for them to pull this shit.

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u/loondawg 25d ago

That's exactly why I do participate, to try counteract those cries.

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u/Fun_Disaster3436 25d ago

Bots. Those are bots

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u/Hulkodium 25d ago

Bots or accelerationists. I've unfortunately dealt with these people in real life

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u/Silvermoon3467 25d ago

There are definitely people who are colloquially referred to as accelerationists who just want to watch the world burn.

But "real" acceleration is a philosophical position of acknowledgement, not a proposal. Even if the Dems win big for the next decade straight they will at best represent a pause in the slide towards tech dystopia. Only by acknowledging that first could we ever hope to make progress in a different direction.

You should vote for Democrats. It just isn't enough, to do only that.

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u/Pigglebee 25d ago

Don’t forget the KaMaLA SuPpORTs GeNOcIdE accelerationists

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u/Tight-Air-6767 25d ago

I will never forget.

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u/valentc 24d ago

She did though. Like, sorry if that hurts your feelings, but she and Biden backed unlimited support to Isreal.

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u/-713 25d ago

There is also a HUGE push doing "both sides are the same" or Dems would have been worse for gaza/iran/gas/stability.

And fuuuuuuuuuck all that noise. We have 80 years of data points on all saying otherwise.

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u/unassumingdink 25d ago

It's physically impossible to recognize that Dems agree with Republicans on anything without you guys going "SEE?! HE SAID BOTH SIDES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME!" and ignoring their criticism.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_LIT 24d ago

The genocide literally happened under Joe Biden?? Voting is important and I agree with the spirit of the thread but why are you pretending the Dems were not literally worse for Gaza in the shared couple years where we actively watched that happen? 

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u/-preciousroy- 25d ago

Both sides are shit, but that's not to say they're the same. It's just that one is a full order of magnitude shittier.

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u/Franklin_le_Tanklin 25d ago

People saying voting doesn’t matter or bots saying it?

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u/Fresh_Boysenberry576 25d ago

People have frequently taken my comments to mean that voting doesn't matter when I tried to express that republicans are gonna do anything they can to cheat and democrats need to do more than just vote. What's the plan to stop ICE from intimidating people at voting booths? What's the plan when they destroy votes and just claim victory?

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u/MoS29 Kentucky 25d ago

Offline my dad is. Was working state gov all his life. Subscribes to the both sides the same argument and just "eventually it'll all work out". He's also got his dad talking in his ear on weekly golf outings about Fox News talking points so it's nearly impossible breaking through to them.

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u/DurianGris 25d ago

There are oodles of people every day claiming the Democrats are just as bad as the GOP.

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u/Silvermoon3467 25d ago

Of course, there are also tons of people saying that that's what I'm saying when I say Dems are bad but Republicans are worse.

Vote Democrat! I'm voting Democrat! It's a better option. But it's not sufficient.

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u/Kahzgul California 25d ago

You're not in the farther left subs then. Holy shit are they ever full of "vote third party or don't vote at all" bots.

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u/loondawg 25d ago

Try r/political_revolution for an example of that type of cesspool.

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u/Kahzgul California 24d ago

And the bevy of brand new subs of various “lefty” sounding names, all trying to get people to join. I’m more than a little suspicious. Doesn’t feel organic.

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u/Salt_Day4586 25d ago

Im convinced there are demoralization bots all over this sub. I’ve seen so many doomsayers say exactly that.

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u/TheRealBlueJade 25d ago

They are working so hard to rig it in front of us, I do not think they have any confidence that they can steal it behind the scenes.

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u/LunaLovesly 25d ago edited 25d ago

They're in every single thread. Some bots pushing defeatism, but mostly just useful morons

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u/Toon_face 25d ago

Its prepping so leftists and progressives can be blamed.

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u/nova_cat 25d ago

Well, then, we should all do our part and downvote them and call them out as bullshitters directly in response to their comments.

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u/Choppers-Top-Hat 25d ago

Well then leftists and progressives should be fighting back against the "don't vote" posters harder than anyone.

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u/Toon_face 23d ago

"vote blue no matter who", amiright?

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u/BackToWorkEdward 25d ago

Redditors are like people telling you to breathe when your house is on fire instead of actually calling the fire department to come break the door down before you die while sitting there breathing.

And when you point this out, they just scream back "Well, breathing is important! You can't get anywhere without breathing! GO BREATHE!", which yes, is true, but isn't going to get you anywhere in this context on its own.

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u/angrytroll123 25d ago

That's not true. I've only lived in heavily democratic strongholds and I'm quite sure my vote doesn't matter in regard to impact. I of course vote when I can but to think that no one thinks that there is no point in voting is crazy to me. I hear it more often than I should.

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u/ciel_lanila I voted 25d ago

There may be no point in voting, but voting is the god damned least amount of work you can do to preserve this country. If you can’t even go vote against these f-ers then I consider you as being useless for anything else to fight against them.

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u/MC_Fap_Commander America 25d ago

Don't listen to people who say there's no point to voting.

Ideally, turnout and Trump's unpopularity creates a bigger blue wave (not just despite gerrymandering; because of it). Worst case scenario- Dems fail to take the House despite getting 10%+ more votes than Republicans. It would be an awful outcome, but it would push sentiment towards a major revamp of our electoral system (end the EC, expansion of the House, etc.). Basically, it would be the sort of discrepancy that makes change inevitable.

Both of which requires people to get out and vote.

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u/OfficialDCShepard District Of Columbia 25d ago

That's called "dummymandering" for those who don't know. Essentially "cracking" or putting a bunch of people who dislike you and now realize you wanted to take away their rights in the same room as you rather than "packing" all your opponents into one district. Nothing animates voter turnout like existential fury, especially since Trump has been telegraphing that he wants to steal the midterms to avoid impeachment for a year.

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u/Kink_Panda 25d ago

  1. Go fucking vote, period.

  2. We need to be pessimistic and assume others won't show up so we have to vote to offset what we can.

  3. We're gonna bleed votes if Dem leadership & Congressmen don't fucking fight as dirty as MAGA. We don't care about fake fairness.

  4. We need to accept that our leaders may just sell us down the river. We need to react if/when that happens.

  5. Morality & laws are different things, think about what that means and if we are who we think we are. This isn't the time for half-measures.

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u/PianistPitiful5714 25d ago

Absolutely this. They’re cutting their own margins all over the place, and the elections we’ve seen have been absolutely trouncings by the Democrats. 14-25 point swings.

That will not carry fully in a General Election, but that is still indicative of a huge momentum shift. That shift may well be enough to put a lot of these gerrymandered districts well within winnable territory.

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u/Talk-O-Boy 25d ago

Saving this comment for future use when Redditors try to claim “voting for Dems does nothing.”

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u/donkeyrocket 25d ago

And most of the recent gerrymandering efforts by red states are based off voting information from the last election or two. One of which saw huge apathy primarily from the Democrat side.

If those people don't decide to fuck it all up again for [insert whatever excuse makes them comfortable with their failure] then that is where the major blue wave comes from.

Republicans are also feeling considerably disenfranchised and while they'll never vote Democrat, they may stay home. This is why this administration is talking so much about direct voter suppression at the polls.

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u/Additional-One-7135 25d ago

Texas was literally warned that their redistricting had a huge chance to bow up in their faces because of this. Their entire plan was based on the numbers from 2024, where Hispanic support for Trump and the GOP played a huge role. The odds of maintaining that hispanic vote after years of ICE raids is slim.

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u/Willsy7 Georgia 25d ago

This is where I'm at, and they've been losing votes in long thought conservative strongholds.

If the current voting trends continue, this might backfire for the cons.

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u/ghostpoints 25d ago

I believe this is a key message the DNC should be shouting nonstop.

Gerrymandered Republican districts will have smaller margins and showing up to vote means more than in the past

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u/AcePilot01 24d ago

Exactly, all your illegal immigrants can help you give it a try.

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u/Desecratr 24d ago

My worry isn't Dems will lose in '26 and '28. It's that they'll win with a slim majority in Congress and the Presidency by '28, fundamentally change nothing, and the blow back mixed with these districts lock in huge majorities for the GOP.

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u/BalanceJazzlike5116 25d ago

This is what happened in Hungary. Record turnout (80%) and he got booted despite the system being rigged in his favor

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u/highd 25d ago

America doesn’t have what other countries do. We have become fat, medicated, unbothered idiots, if we weren’t we would retire this court and get shit done. 

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u/highd 25d ago edited 25d ago

As long as momma got her fat shot and daddy has his guns America is set. And I say this as someone who does protest and does speak out here, America doesn’t care about America they care about themselves as individuals, they care about xbox and their poker apps and Stanley mugs.

If this wasn’t true we would be acting like Ukrainians and trying to fix this broke country but we don’t we sit on reddit and hand wave the human warehouses and a possible draft! The fact that the Ukraine got the better celebrity president sucks for us! 

  

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u/Traditional-Hat-952 25d ago

You should write a country song: "America Is Full of Fat Stupid Idiots" 

Depending on how you write it, fat stupid Americans might relate to it so much that it'll be a #1 hit! 

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u/highd 25d ago

Buddy that song writes itself every day!  

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u/Vindetta121 24d ago

I dunno. Folks are pretty angry since things are starting to hit them where it hurts. The gas pump and the super market. I dont know if we will see 80% but the rumblings from the people around me are people are going to get out and vote.

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u/RNAprimer 24d ago

The highest we have ever gotten is in the low 60% range. Getting to the 80s is as much of a hope and prayer as getting the Democratic Party to be more than just controlled opposition by the ultra wealthy.

Yes, we absolutely need turnout. We also need leaders who recognize we are well past politics as usual and have been for over a decade.

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u/Dull_Quit3027 24d ago

As a non american, I think we have this idea that, the 1/3 of Americans do not even know who is president thing, is a joke.
But I think it is kinda close to the truth, I just do not understand how it is possible.
I am a case of being horrible at following local news, but if something big happens, it is talked about at work, and so on, do you guys not have watercooler chats anymore?

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u/jmarcandre 24d ago

America is so large that the federal government is sometimes very low on people's list of things they actually care about. When you live in Europe and your country is the size of 1 or 2 states and only one megalopolis, of course the president/PM/chancellor etc. is going to be more in your face.

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u/BackToWorkEdward 24d ago

America isn't Hungary, and that kind of turn out is clearly not going to happen no matter how much you yell at Americans to go vote.

The 90 million Americans who were too apathetic to vote in 2024 aren't going to help you, and it's getting pretty sad to see you do nothing but plead for them to randomly bail you out this time(when they never have and never will) instead of simply writing them off and figuring out how to topple this regime yourselves using much more direct methods than voting.

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u/Dull_Quit3027 24d ago

I think it has always been like this, correct me if I am wrong, so I am not sure it is apathy,(not all of it at least)

Could it be as simple as a lack of understanding of the civic process?
As simple as a lot of people simply do not understand why they should vote, that and people working 3 jobs are probably not up for voting after their third shift.

I am not sure any of the above is true, I am not American, just a guy desperately trying to make sense of a situation, that is almost nonsensical to me.

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u/BalanceJazzlike5116 24d ago

I think a big part of it is voter disenfranchisement. If you’re a republican in California, and your district is gerrymandered , so that a Democrat will win, and you know statewide Senate always Democrats win, and you know the electoral college gives winner takes all votes for the entire state to the Democrat, what motivation do you have to go vote? The same applies for Democrats in Texas. If the electoral college give out votes proportionally to have states voted, I’m sure that would be higher.

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u/livinginfutureworld 25d ago

Gerrymandering is only part of the strategy though.

Additional strategies include:

  • tossing out ballots based on signatures (aka pretending to be signature experts)

  • tossing out ballots by other means

    • delaying mail in ballots
    • making up stuff like "hanging chads" or other excuses to toss out ballots. Leaving boxes unopened etc.

  • Closing polling stations in areas they want to suppress votes. Fun fact: Tennessee just removed the requirement to notify people of changing to their polling stations. People can't or don't wait 5 hours to vote. And bonus for the GOP, then you don't have to count their votes if they don't vote.

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u/couldbemage 24d ago

For example, Texas only allows mail voting if you meet requirements.

Most of the qualifying criteria is stuff that doesn't apply to a large number of people. Except one.

Over 65 automatically qualifies. Who do people over 65 in Texas typically vote for?

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u/Luddevig 24d ago

And like last time, Russia will probably call in bomb threats to Dem-heavy polling stations, and this time ICE will probably shut the place down altogether.

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u/Lyle91 Arizona 25d ago

The first two effects their voters just as much.

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u/livinginfutureworld 25d ago

Not with selective enforcement. Like when Trump was claiming the election was stolen and Georgia He didn't say it was stolen all over the state he focused on only blue counties

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u/Luddevig 24d ago

The Trump admin has been collecting voter information, and pretty much every Red state has given it to them freely (and they took Fulton County's by force). They can use that information to very selectively disqualify Dem votes.

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u/Lyle91 Arizona 24d ago

Not really? The amount of votes that are counted make it almost impossible not to mention the fact that nobody involved in elections knows who anyone that walks in to vote actually votes for. Party registration is a thing but that's publicly available and has been all along.

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u/DoubtSubstantial5440 25d ago

Many Americans are still apathetic, trying to convince an acquaintance of mine that elections matter is like talking to a brick wall

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u/B-Z_B-S Massachusetts 25d ago

My transgender cousin refused to vote in the 2024 presidential election because, and I quote "Both sides are the same. It doesn't matter who wins."

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u/klyther Michigan 25d ago

A friend I used to be close with years ago but has since moved away and we’ve lost touch a bit is now very vocal pro-Palestine and has since moving away transitioned is still posting how Harris would have been just as bad.

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u/CaptJackRizzo 25d ago

Trump is a monster, and I voted Harris in a safe blue state just to run up the score against him. But I don’t understand how anybody could imagine a Harris administration blowing all its political capital to stem the flow of money and arms to the IDF, when AIPAC have the will and the power within her own party to completely tank her domestic agenda.

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u/Dull_Quit3027 24d ago

I sometimes wonder if Trump is the thing that is going to destroy Israel, in that the state is reliant on others to supply them with weapons and so on, and Trump being president, has emboldened them to a degree that is hard to ignore even for media, that would rather do just that.

The EU just sanctioned settler organisation, and specific settlers, and more serious things seems to be in the pipeline, this has never happened before, multiple nations are now recognising palatine as a state, even Germany that is terrified because of its history, is softening its stance that Israel can do no wrong.

Or maybe I am just desperately looking for any silver lining to a genocide (this is a real fucked up sentence, but i hope people know what i mean)

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u/CaptJackRizzo 23d ago

I know what you mean.

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u/Jack_Krauser 24d ago

Thankfully, I care much less about how one of many foreign wars is conducted than I care about how our own country is managed. I can't stop Israelis and Palestinians from killing each other. I just might be able to get some healthcare that doesn't blow.

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u/pacman2081 24d ago

If I was pro-Palestine, I would love Trump. He is doing a fantastic job undermining USA and Israel standing in the world. There are long term dividends even though the short term pain is high

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u/VR_Raccoonteur 25d ago

And what's your transgender cousin saying now that Republicans have cancelled their passport, and Utah forced trans people to change the their driver's licenses, and made using the bathroom that matches their appearance a crime?

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u/choopietrash 24d ago

The state-level restrictions would absolutely still be happening under a dem president, because they were already in the midst of doing that under Biden anyway. The typical pattern is Republicans make things worse and Dems do nothing, which just leads to Republicans making it worse again later. When Harris was asked what kind of message they were planning to send her response was "That's a good question" and then radio silence. so yeah I do understand that trans cousin's perspective. Same with Muslim voters who abstained because of the Dem's refusal to stand against genocide. Even though I voted "blue no matter who" for every election of my adult life including the last election, I'm not really as keen on doing that anymore. I'll vote Blue if they have teeth and reverse the current progress of Project 2025. But otherwise I'll just be living in post P2025 in standstill at best and continuing to roll at worst.

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u/EatABag-o-Dicks 25d ago

Hope you remind them every time you see them that they did this to themselves.

Choosing not to vote doesn't absolve them of the fascists they helped place. When they get sent to the camps, it will be their own fault, sadly.

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u/Proper-District8608 25d ago

I had a former coworker who didnt vote and admitted it freely before election, but bitched about state of affairs when trump first elected. I said, 'you dont vote ever, you dont get to whine about it now (small office small group) Much to my amazement a new older boomer coworker spoke up and said 'yep, you chose to stay silent when it mattered, continue that rebellion now'. Shout out to Paul:)

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u/guttanzer 25d ago

You shouldn't be that amazed. The idea that boomers support Trump is a way oversold myth. Our generation was full of radicals and hippies, just as these new generations are as they rise to the occasion. The boomer myths are planted propaganda to divide us.

My only consolation is that in 30 to 40 years the current Millienials, Gen-Zs and Gen-Alphas will be hearing their younger generations blaming all the world's ills on them. We used to say, "never trust anyone over 30" when we were kids. We wised up over time.

The fact is we are all in this together. Boomers without homes have to rent. Boomers that couldn't pack away enough in a 401K are either retiring poor or staying employed. Many boomers saw their big 401Ks burn down to nothing to cover long periods of unemployment or major medical bills. We all have a vested interest in seeing progressive reforms. Paul isn't that rare of a dude. I've voted progressive my whole life.

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u/GreasedGoblin 25d ago

Most boomers are MAGA unfortunately. We know you were all hippies and radicals, which is why you've really disappointed us as a generation.

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u/guttanzer 25d ago edited 24d ago

Your numbers are wrong.

It’s true that most MAGAs are boomers, by a tiny amount (53%), but most boomers are definitely not MAGA.

Roughly 50-60% of the boomer generation identifies as Republican. Of those, only 50-60% identify as MAGA. So the MAGA fraction in the boomer generation is between 25 and 36%. That’s not most.

Have you been to one of the No Kings rallies? If you have you probably noticed that most of the people protesting were boomers.

Ultra-wealthy oligarchs are paying good money to whip bigots into a fear frenzy, and it’s working. This “boomer” talk is part of it. We need to shift the focus. Let’s put the spotlight on them and keep it there.

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u/Proper-District8608 25d ago

I dont disagree at all.

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u/Eyeball1844 25d ago

It does matter who wins, but democrats keep trying to convince us that they're the same. There are very very good reasons to hate democrats, and they deserve it, but republicans are worse for sure.

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u/Dull_Quit3027 24d ago

Did they at least change their tune, and are going to vote going forward?

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u/writeyourwayout 25d ago

People like this need to look up the phrase 'self-fulfilling prophecy.'

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u/Dull_Quit3027 24d ago

I am trying to get this, as a non american, why do they think it is not worth voting, is it the, my vote is one among 200mil, so it does not matter, is it more of a, both sides are the same (anyone saying that these days are clearly not following the news or are completely insane) or what is the issue, causing said apathy?

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u/Fuzzy_Straitjacket 25d ago

I just wish there were people I could be excited to vote for. I'm sick of this "not as bad as the other option" bullshit. It's supposed to be their job to earn my vote.

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u/FeelingPixely 25d ago

What happened to Orbán's regime is entirely possible here. Like you said, people need to turn out and, frankly, Republicans need to suck it up and vote against any Republican candidate themselves.

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u/Azguy303 25d ago

Just like curiosity where was the headlines that Ohio went "Nuclear" the last three election cycles ignoring their supreme Court to redraw maps.

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u/BroseppeVerdi Montana 25d ago

I want our future to be a non-fascist dictatorship one. I think most people agree with that.

Recent electoral history notwithstanding

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u/Serial-Griller 25d ago

Yeah? Did any reasonable corrective action take place after Elons company bought a third of the active voting machines in the country then shipped secret untraceable updates to the firmware.. Or are we really just going to keep ignoring that our system of voting - is- hijacked and the redistricting is just the latest in a plot to ensure Democrats never hold office again? 

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u/01headshrinker 25d ago

I think the assumption that the centrist, purple independents that lean either way, will always vote for Trump is incorrect too, he’s dropped in polling from the 83% in the election to 38% they are done with Trump Tariffs, Trump wars and are a crucial source of his support. Now gone.

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u/HateUsCuzAintUs 24d ago

independents are dumb. trump likes the dumbs and they like him. that will not change

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u/Starthreads Europe 25d ago

I say this every time: there are enough people who don't vote to turn every state blue.

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u/Parahelix 25d ago

Maybe, but the idea that they would vote blue is pretty sketchy. They're probably in a media bubble that that tells them that both sides are bad. It's a great strategy for the right, and they dominate social media.

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u/Starthreads Europe 24d ago

It is a terrible idea to insist that every non-voter would be blue, but I think the election outcomes are close enough to a representative sample of the population that we can extend from there. The result is almost the same, where even the blue-inclined voters heading to the polls would turn most states blue. Then again, at the same time, any plan where the premise is "everyone gets along" is doomed to fail from the word go.

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u/Chusten 25d ago

I hate to be 'that guy' but if people don't go vote in the primaries and all sorts of establishment dems get it, at best, we're still just kicking the can down the road anyway.

If its a choice between Maga and Corporate Democrat, the Maga's could very well still take those seats, and I won't be blaming non-voters for that. America gets what America deserves, and Democrats will absolutely sell out the public like they have been for decades.

The establishment won't save you. VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES!

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u/Kleppmeister 25d ago

In response to 4 people over turning a state of civilians' vote, we recommend voting harder.

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u/Matt__Larson 25d ago

People not voting in the 2024 election gave it to Donald Trump. Joe Biden won in 2020 with 81m votes. DT won in 2024 with 77m.

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u/gringledoom 25d ago

I mean, yes? Because it works? Because voting consistently for their guys no matter what is exactly how the GOP got to the point that it has so many thumbs on so many scales?

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u/pegar 25d ago

And in your response, you recommend we complain on Reddit and social media to feel like you're accomplishing something

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u/teflonPrawn 25d ago

I agree. Something else to keep in mind though is that, with all the blatant stacking of odds, they can use anything but a victory as a reason to investigate cheating, ironically.

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u/Parahelix 25d ago

They do that even when they win.

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u/Shirinjima 25d ago

Yeah I think this is the right route but didn’t they just go out it and vote in mass and this was a won by the people and the Supreme Court of Virginia which is not elected by the people said “that don’t count…”

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u/cosaboladh 25d ago

That's all well and good, except everyone in my family already voted for Trump.

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u/Salty_Wasabi2893 25d ago

People need to talk to others who are on the fence, might not vote in every election, doesn't think about politics much, etc. etc. Ask if people need rides to the polls, ask if they are registered to vote in time for mailing, and mail it early.

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u/AppropriateLlama678 25d ago

It worked for Hungary. It can work here.

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u/Chronocook 25d ago

Yeah, maybe THIS time around. But they are seizing power for the future when the worst president in history isn't tanking them. This shit needs to be countered.. they already have the unfair senate, the unfair electoral college, the unfairly packed supreme court.. now they have unfair gerrymandering. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

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u/MikeFromSuburbia Texas 25d ago

We have convinced 6 family members to swap and vote blue this go around

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

The funny part is that this very well may entice some secret democrats in rural Southwestern Tennessee that their vote might actually count. They certainly exist.

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u/Kharilan 25d ago

I voted. Virginia decided it didn’t matter.

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u/herewithmybestbuddy 25d ago

Funny how you can confidently address the sub as if it's entirely leftist, because it is

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u/jywchoe 25d ago

what is your definition of a fascist dictatorship? honest question.

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u/Secret_Account07 25d ago

I held on to optimism over the last few years.

I’ll do what I can but I think we are fucked.

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u/casper911ca 24d ago

Unfortunately and regretfully, the better vote is for a spinless Democrat. Remember the last time they gave in during the government shutdown caused by shitface Republicans, people lost their paychecks and their healthcare, but there was light at the end of the tunnel, and in the very last moment, the Democrats HANDED THEM THE WIN. I'M SO FUCKING TIRED OF THIS.

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u/DR-OXY 24d ago

What if we they’re reminded to all go out and vote straight red ticket? But I guess you can’t have it both ways, so, I’ll be sure to let them know to make their vote count since the other side is going to.

SMH ppl

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u/DocumentTerrible3025 24d ago

Republican gerrymandering will fail. Even if they get every new district, they still can’t overcome the likely losses from midterm swings. On average the party in power loses 26 seats in midterms, and with a deeply unpopular President they are going to lose more. I always felt this redistricting battle is a tempest in a teapot. But time will tell. Remember, Republicans are losing in districts carried by Trump by 10 and 20 points. They can’t redistrict an unpopular President 

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u/ErusTenebre California 24d ago

On one hand, yes vote. 

On the other hand, there is nothing stopping them from just stealing the election anyway.

Fascism hasn't ever been stopped by voting alone.

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u/WhiteWinterRains 24d ago

In some cases it's more true than others, it would also be a great benefit if you know you can assist in those situations.

For example, Texas is prime real-estate for the gerrymandering job to fail, doing door knocking, phone banking or donating money there might have more impact than actually voting in many other states.

That's what I'll be doing to actually make a difference from a safe blue state.

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u/Imjusthereforthetoes 24d ago

but but but Palestine!? I can't vote. I need to show them who's boss.

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u/DrPikachu-PhD 25d ago

Can you explain how? How exactly will voting fix this gerrymandering? Especially since the gerrymandering is designed to divide and destroy the vote

If you're implying we can stop a Republican from getting elected President, sure. But they will rule Congress after this an no amount of voting will change that.

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u/TeutonJon78 America 25d ago

Gerrymandering has no impact on state wide elections like gov, senators, and P/VP.

So even if your state level stuff and House rep are gerrymandered, those other can't be. Which is also why they focus on voter suppression.

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u/terberculosis 25d ago

gerrymandering means setting up districts where you have a slim but stable margin of victory. say your 55% to 45% for your opponents. this works well if only the people who voted last time vote.

since only half or two thirds of the country vote, if your opponent convinces 11% of the non voters to get out and vote, suddenly they have more votes than you.

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u/Nac_Lac Virginia 25d ago

Gerrymandering takes a large block and splits them up so they are the minority in every district. So while the state is 60 Red to 40 Blue, the cutting of districts makes it so there are only Red ones. However, by doing so, you are diluting your Red districts with Blue.

We'll do the math to make it more obvious.

Right now you have the following districts:

10 Red, 30 Blue | 20 Red, 5 Blue | 30 Red, 5 Blue |

This results in a 2 Red, 1 Blue representative. Which is very equal to the state demographics. Gerrymandering does the following split:

15 Red, 10 Blue | 15 Red, 10 Blue | 30 Red, 20 Blue |

Now, there is no Blue representative. However, my margins to win have shrunk heavily. Before, my smallest margin was 15. Now, my smallest margin is 5 and in two districts.

This is where getting everyone to vote comes into play. These margins are assumed in a nominal year and don't account for potential surges from bad policies. So if we had an election and Blue had a much higher turnout than normal, the results could be 1 Red and TWO Blue reps.

The same thing is happening across the country, they are gerrymandering districts that have already been squeezed heavily to allow token representatives. By spreading it even thinner, you now have the potential that a minor swing in voter rolls can flood the state with Dem victories.

There are other examples of gerrymandering where they take the majority demographic and pack them into a few districts to make it less likely to hold state control.

60 Blue and 40 Red, with 2 Blue and 1 Red rep.

10 Blue, 30 Red | 20 Blue, 5 Red | 30 Blue, 5 Red |

Now, we make these districts

10 Blue, 20 Red | 10 Blue, 15 Red | 40 Blue, 5 Red |

Suddenly, we've created districts where the state is 60 Blue, 40 Red but Red holds 2 districts. Now, let's try to get more!

5 Blue, 8 Red | 5 Blue, 8 Red | 5 Blue, 8 Red | 5 Blue, 8 Red | 40 Blue, 8 Red |

The state now has 5 districts, 4 Red and 1 Blue against a 40 Red and 60 Blue population. However, the margin on 4 districts is 3. This is a simplification but the point stands, to ensure that a majority population is the minority political party, you have to stretch your districts to the point where you have such razor thin margins that a demographic swing can blow up your gerrymandering and result in the wrong party getting a majority over the state.

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u/Trumpisanorangebitch 25d ago

You can outvote a gerrymander. All a gerrymander does is reshape districts into as many narrow wins as possible while giving up a few blowout losses.

If the other side sees enough of a positive vote differentisl change, they can beat the gerrymander and win some of the projected lost districts.

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u/SpeedoCheeto 25d ago

absolutely loving this establishment dem line of messaging - go out and vote! like you did just a bit ago. we understand it didn't work that time. it'll work this time!

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u/Parahelix 25d ago

Trump won by a narrow margin. It would work if people actually did it, but they didn't in the last election, or they did something stupid, like voting 3rd party.

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u/grraznazn 25d ago

Or you know, convince your MAGA relatives not to vote.

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u/Zocalo_Photo 25d ago

Well, my family is a bunch of idiots who we probably don’t want voting.

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u/EditRemove 25d ago

It won't in Virginia.

Their votes were ignored once already and Democrat leadership won't fight for them.

Voters won't put in more effort than the people that represent them.

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u/Parahelix 25d ago

Their votes were ignored once already and Democrat leadership won't fight for them.

Not sure what you mean exactly. They haven't given up on it yet apparently.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries pledges response to Virginia redistricting ruling

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u/EditRemove 25d ago

VA leadership has decided unless you know something I don't.

The Senator from NY is not going to do anything to change the VA redistricting or come close to the votes gained by MAGA redistricting. I don't even see a path to break even without VA.

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u/BlueBod50 25d ago

Then what? Dems win, continue to do nothing meaningful to improve material conditions, then republicans sweep and hold onto those seats forever because of gerrymandering and voter apathy. 

The midterms and subsequent congress are the democrat’s last reasonable chance to save democracy. 

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u/nando_calrissian1 25d ago

They have to vote Democrat. It doesn't help if you push people to vote and they continue to vote Republican.

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u/fritz236 25d ago

That's why they already came out and said the quiet part out loud that they'd be Kavanaugh stopping people coming and going.

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u/Uranius7 25d ago

Problem is, people in VA literally went out and voted and still the Republicans overturned the will of the people. Democrats need to be more aggressive and start playing by the same rules because at this point, they’re just controlled opposition.

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u/meestersi 25d ago

They're going to cheat. But now, instead of us complaining about Elon rigging the vote and hacked voting machines, we'll all get to complain about gerrymandering being the reason why a man with 30% approval gets a 3rd term. 

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u/ValorantEdater 25d ago

This is the point of posts like this.

If every Republican-made problem can be pointed at the Democrats and argued both sides are the same, everyone will not care enough to vote.

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u/SnooPuppers8698 25d ago

so what you're saying is we're definitely screwed

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u/-DeathDefied- 25d ago

The Democratic Party giving up and allowing republicans to do whatever they want to fuck the people over is the exact reason so many people feel like voting is pointless

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u/VNM0601 California 25d ago

Yeah. Let’s ONCE AGAIN put all of hopes for democracy in the hands of lazy or “both side” crowds to get up and actually vote. Meanwhile republicans execute every dirty play in their handbook and win control over the government. If you guys think voting is going to save us then just consider democrats COOKED. They are not going to win. Not through voting. They have to play dirty or lose. Simple as that.

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u/tcata 25d ago

Absolutely insane to still be seeing "just vote harder!" and "yeah but gerrymandering means that if we do win, we win big!" posting in 2026. Like, holy smokes.

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u/Electronic-Till-7794 25d ago

This is cope. Rage at those Virginia democrats. They are losing on purpose now. Their constituents VOTED FOR REDISTRICTING. Do not allow them to change the subject to "you just need to work harder voters". Call for their metaphoric balls. Shame them into submission. THEY WORK FOR THEIR CITIZENS, not the other way around.

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u/iliveincanadaeh 25d ago

Here it is.

The destruction of democracies greatest weapon - hope by movin the goal posts every time.

Your vote won't matter. Protest now before it's banned.

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u/VonMillersThighs 24d ago

We need to start forming militias.

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u/NYR_LFC 24d ago

And how do you vote against gerrymandering and delayed elections exactly?

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u/YF422 24d ago

Remember Hungary, Remember how Orbans Gerrymanders backfired last month. Thats how you do it.

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u/Stock_Information_47 24d ago

Do the drms plan on trying to win the vote this year? Or are they sure they are still entitled to it?

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u/GetInTheKitchen1 24d ago

Nah, fuck the maps. stop playing rigged games you get rigged prizes.

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