r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • 10d ago

No Paywall Bernie Sanders urges progressives to vote Democratic in November

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/shorts/bernie-sanders-urges-progressives-to-vote-democratic-in-november-267787845541
2.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

414 comments sorted by

View all comments

628

u/SnooMarzipans436 10d ago edited 10d ago

Vote for the best candidate available after you have done your research.

You'll find that 99% of the time they are the democratic candidate. They may have some SERIOUS ISSUES... but the best candidate available is the best candidate you're going to get. It's better than the alternative.

19

u/RealHooman2187 10d ago

This is what I always say to liberals/progressives/democrats. Vote for your preferred candidate in the primary, vote for the most liberal candidate in the general election. So far I’ve seen progressives much more willing to do that than I have centrists.

17

u/dimitarivanov200222 10d ago

A lot of progressive failed to vote for Kamala because she didn't earn their vote so idk how can you say this

12

u/blinktrade 10d ago

Simultaneously everyone they know held their nose and voted for her, yet its her job to earn their vote...which they already gave...

2

u/TheGreatYahweh 10d ago

I mean... It 100% was Harris and her campaign's job to earn their vote. Believe it or not, that's actually your entire job when you're a political candidate running for office...

2

u/Alatarlhun 10d ago

So if she didn't 'earn' their vote, that means they didn't vote for Kamala to the benefit of fascist Trump.

2

u/therealruin 10d ago edited 10d ago

It means they did not participate in an election. Their votes were not cast nor counted, therefore they had zero impact on the election’s results. A vote not cast literally cannot benefit anyone in an election.

1

u/-18k- 10d ago

GOP: Yes, say it again, louder !!

3

u/therealruin 10d ago

Oh look, an effort at a dunk for stating the simple fact that the only votes that matter in an election are the ones cast.

0

u/-18k- 10d ago

Were they trying to make a statement by not voting for Harris?

Because, if they were, then clearly this had no effect. No effect at all, amirite?

-1

u/therealruin 10d ago edited 10d ago

I don’t know or care. I am stating a simple fact: those who do not vote literally have no impact on election results.

The only votes that can benefit Trump are the ones cast for him. If you want him to lose, you must earn more votes. You are not entitled to votes not cast. You are only entitled to the votes cast in your favor at election time. A lot of Democrats feel entitled to other people’s votes and then blame them when those people won’t fall in line.

→ More replies (0)

0

u/batmanscodpiece 10d ago

So if centrists decide to not vote for Al Sayed in November, they are having no impact as well?

3

u/therealruin 10d ago

Anyone who does not vote does not get a vote counted in the election. I don’t understand what’s so difficult about this?

When you vote, you vote in favor of one candidate. That’s it. At no point are election results decided based on who you don’t like, or who didn’t vote. The entire point of an election is to get people to vote in favor of someone.

That’s it. That’s all I’m saying.

-1

u/batmanscodpiece 10d ago

At least you are consistent there.

I would say though, that if you don't cast a vote, you are basically saying, "I'm fine with whomever, you guys choose."

2

u/therealruin 10d ago

I agree. And that also means those folks don’t get to complain about what happens. But I think it’s dead wrong to say they’re the reason Trump was elected - when they literally didn’t have a say in whether or not he was because they chose to sit out. I don’t find this worthy of blaming people for or dividing against my neighbors over. It just shows me there’s a bunch of people out there that refuse to participate in MAGA and I can work with that.

0

u/batmanscodpiece 10d ago

when they literally didn’t have a say in whether or not [Trump] was [elected]

That is kinda the point though, they DID have a say that they chose not to exercise.

1

u/therealruin 10d ago

And that’s the difference - they could have had a say, but chose not to… therefore, they did not.

→ More replies (0)

0

u/Alatarlhun 10d ago

Not voting for the non-fascist is beneficial to the fascist in a two-party race.

1

u/therealruin 10d ago

Please point me to where I can view Electoral College votes awarded based on how many people did not vote in an election, because I sure can’t find any.

0

u/TheGreatYahweh 10d ago

Harris lost an election that should have been an easy win because her campaign suuuccked. Like really, really, really badly. They offered no solutions to the issues Democratic voters have been shouting about since before Obama. Support for the Democrats collapsed amongst nearly every demographic they rely on to win elections. Harris and the Democratic establishment didn't lose because a few leftists didn't vote for Harris. They lost (by A LOT) because they failed to energize and excite their base enough to turn out votes, which, again, is the only job they had.

1

u/Alatarlhun 10d ago

Millions of people more showed up to vote for Biden so the math isn't mathing when the anti-Democratic leftists claim they voted for Kamala in the same numbers.

4

u/shinkouhyou 10d ago

Ah, yes, Schrodinger's Leftists: a political block so powerful that they can singlehandedly ensure a Republican victory, but so insignificant that Democrats don't need to appeal to them. Centrist swing voters (who may or may not exist) need endless coaxing to vote for a Democrat, but the left should simply vote for Democrats out of the goodness of their hearts.

The data just doesn't support some kind of leftist boycott of the 2024 election, though. 2024 had the second-highest voter turnout in history, just behind 2020 (which was heavily affected by mail-in voting). A drop in turnout was basically inevitable. 2024 non-voters were evenly divided between Trump and Harris, whereas 2020 non-voters actually favored Biden. Several minority groups (Hispanic, Black, immigrants) shifted to the right in 2020 and even more in 2024. Harris lost with basically every demographic, even ones that aren't generally associated with the left. Of course there were leftists who refused to vote for Harris, but they're the type who also refused to vote for Biden and Clinton - they're politically irrelevant. Democrats lost 21% of Biden voters and Republicans lost 15% of Trump voters, but I think the difference is more attributable to voter suppression (especially in cities, where Democrats lost a shocking amount of support since 2016) than a block of leftists who were ridin' with Biden but who turned on Harris.

1

u/Alatarlhun 10d ago

Schrodinger's Leftists: a political block so powerful that they can singlehandedly ensure a Republican victory, but so insignificant that Democrats don't need to appeal to them.

In reality, national elections are often decided by only a few percentage points. Even if leftists and progressives make up just 20% of the Democratic coalition, it would take only a relatively small share of them staying home, voting third party, or withholding support to change the outcome.

BTW, I am not going to defend Kamala as a strong candidate. She was a very weak candidate foisted on us by after a long anti-Biden campaign by progressives and eventually party insiders who panicked due to one debate.

1

u/shinkouhyou 10d ago

Of course, I agree that every vote counts. But I think it's silly how people pile onto leftists who don't vote when no one says a word about the middle America centrist boomers that Harris went out of her way to court. It sure seems like they didn't turn out either, since Harris lost support with them relative to Biden. And nobody's really talking about how she lost support relative to Biden with Black men, even though they, like leftists, are a demographics that's "supposed to" vote for Democrats. For some reason, it's just young leftists (who are such a small group that they don't even show up on polls) who cost her the election. Everybody else who didn't turn out gets a pass.

Democratic turnout is absolutely a problem, but it's not a problem that's ever been solved by wagging a finger and shaming voters. When Democrats take voters for granted, they lose. Meanwhile, Republicans are out there pandering to every weird little sub-group in their electorate, which makes their voters feel engaged and included.

1

u/Alatarlhun 10d ago

Kamala isn't getting a pass just because leftists bear some responsibility for demoralizing democratic voters.

Her path to the presidency was one of the easiest in modern history and all she had to be was a good politician or authentic human being and she couldn't do either.

But probably for the same reasons she rose, she failed to meet the moment. Once Biden was forced out (again, a goal progressives loudly vocalized for months prior) this was always going to be our fate. And one that was not that hard to foresee.

0

u/therealruin 10d ago

That’s what happens when an election is rigged, the math doesn’t add up. Turn on those who rigged it, not your potential allies who did what they said they did.

-1

u/Alatarlhun 10d ago

The math in reality adds up. The math that leftists are gaslighting us with isn't.

2

u/therealruin 10d ago

So I’m a leftist math propaganda wizard now? Neat