• mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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        10 months ago

        I mean, if it leads to the US rethinking its policy of “Israel can kill as many children as it wants and it’s all good,” I’ll allow it.

      • Reptorian@lemmy.zip
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        10 months ago

        I’m a Joe hater, and a voter of Joe Biden, and I agree with @mozz@mbin.grits.dev . I plan to vote for Joe Biden, but campaign against AIPAC-endorsed candidates in favor of democratic candidates willing to be critical about Israel without stepping over the line like “From the river to the sea” chant. Oct 7 happened, and abuses from Israel settlers happened.

  • DessertStorms@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    Your mistake is thinking elections are, or ever were, about what the voters want.

    In reality - the establishment decides how best to maintain their control, then create the illusion of choice (since both candidates who reach the point of running for president serve them, in very slightly different ways), then have the media bolster that illusion and get the public to fight with each other to make sure we don’t stop to realise we’re being played and point our justified rage and frustration where they actually belong (with the manipulators, not those they manipulate).

    • PlasterAnalyst@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      The media keeps reporting things that people engage with because those figures drive advertising. If people didn’t engage with ragebait, then people like Trump wouldn’t have a chance of being elected. The entire media strategy of any politician right now is to say or do the most wild shit possible so that they appear in the news. Come up with a 3 word slogan, and bam, instant support.

      • DessertStorms@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make in reference to my reply…

        Yes, the media want money, but they can’t make money without maintaining a system that has commodified everything, including information, for profit. The rage bait would exist whether trump would have won or not, it’s not like it’s gone anywhere. It doesn’t exist to serve trump, it exists to serve the status quo (hint: having the president/PM change from one party to another, when both serve capitalism and the ruling class, isn’t a change to the status quo).

        • PlasterAnalyst@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          It wouldn’t exist if people didn’t engage with it. That’s why he’s always in the news. It’s not some super scientific cabal manipulating everyone. It’s a basic algorithm driven by engagement. Political groups just spend a lot of money driving that engagement. If you don’t like Trump, stop engaging with content featuring him.

  • Naich@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    Short answer: no proportional representation. Long answer: lack of proportional representation. If you are going to have voting, at least let people vote for the candidate they want rather than the least worst option.

  • orclev@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    How we got here is really easy, we’ve arrived at the ground state of First Past The Post voting. Once you have two extremists facing off against each other it takes a massive effort to get a non-extremist into office as you can just cruise into an easy victory by running your own extremist against your opponents extremist. Each side effectively has a lock on their own party and it comes down to which extremist will be slightly less off-putting to the independents. In this case the extremist on one side has aspirations to be a dictator, while the other side is so utterly bland he makes milk look spicy. If Biden was any less progressive he’d literally be a Republican.

    That’s basically what Biden is banking on, that he’s so utterly boring and milquetoast that more independents will vote for him over the wannabe dictator of Trump while still getting enough Democrats to hold their nose and vote for him just to deny Trump the win.

    • takeda@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      You’re kind of contradicting yourself. On one hand you are saying two extremists then later about that Biden is right centre.

      I agree with the later part. At this moment we have one extremist and one right center guy. The reason Biden is running is to be still appealing to Republicans and independents to dissuade them from voting for trump.

      Though, so much effort was put by media to make him look like he is Karl Marx reincarnated.

      • 1stTime4MeInMCU@mander.xyz
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        10 months ago

        It is a little bit of a contradiction and I had a hard time following the logic. But your post made me think of something else. If you have one extremist candidate by definition you have two, because from the perspective of the followers of the atypical extremist candidate (a trump like figure) status quo will be an extreme for them

        • orclev@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Extremism needs to be judged by the standards of that party in this context. An extreme Democrat is either a radical socialist like Bernie Sanders, or utterly non-progressive like Biden. Likewise extremist for the GOP would be a fascist like Trump, or someone so far left as to almost qualify as a progressive.

          • takeda@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            I can’t help but notice that you couldn’t come up with leftist GOP extremist.

            I think you were able to do it with Democrats was because Democrats are really everyone else who doesn’t identify themselves as Republicans. With the first past the post, those different parties have no option but to work together as one.

            • orclev@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              I couldn’t list the left of the GOP because I don’t honestly follow the GOP besides the nearly daily disgust at the things they do. There has to be a far left for the GOP, I’m just not sure who that is (probably because they aren’t making the headlines, just quietly doing what they can to hold back the rest of the monsters in their party). Whose the least offensive Republican you can think of? That’s probably the far left for them.

      • orclev@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Biden is extremist by the standards of progressives in that he’s basically not progressive. He’s not a moderate Democrat, he’s far right of the DNC, which puts him ever so slightly to the left of the GOP. The only viable candidate for the DNC given FPTP was either going to be far right or far left, and with the push by their core to make sure Bernie was out of the running far right it was.

        • blargerer@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          Biden is not far right of the DNC, that’s an asinine claim. If anything he’s towards the left of the DNC. The DNC is just right-center as a whole. (There are obvious exceptions in true progressives that are under the Dem banner because of fptp, but there are like 10 of them or something).

          • orclev@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            I think the confusion in this case is also a symptom of the problem. On the one hand you have the voters and on the other hand you have the politicians. By the standards of DNC voters, Biden is far right. His platform was basically undo Trump then don’t change anything after that. That’s not progressive and it’s not what DNC voters really wanted, but it was the best option they were given.

            On the other hand you have DNC politicians. By their standards Biden might be center of the pack, but only because most of them are clumped up over on the far right. There are very few actual moderate Democrats these days. There are a handful of extremists out on the far left like Bernie, a few moderates in the middle, in then the vast majority over on the far right that a couple decades ago would have been considered Republicans.

            Democrat voters haven’t really changed, but the politicians have shifted right as Republicans have moved ever further right. That’s why Democrat voters are unhappy with Biden, they’re looking for a moderate candidate, not as extreme as Bernie, but looking to make actual reforms. That’s why they loved Obama, he talked a big game on the campaign trail, and once in office was really good at spinning most of his compromises as wins (just look at Obamacare, literally a Republican healthcare plan that was somehow spun as the socialized healthcare Democrats had been pushing for).

        • Fahoobamagoo_n@sh.itjust.works
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          10 months ago

          Biden is not closer to the GOP than the DNC. Either you are idolizing the GOP in thinking Biden could represent their platform, or you misunderstand that the DNC is not so far left from Bidens platform. Bernie is literally a different party but ran on the democratic platform for the elections, but the DNC itself identifies with Biden and Clinton politics.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
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    10 months ago

    Biden because no party is going to deny a sitting President the opportunity to run again. It has to be their choice to not run (Johnson, '68).

    Trump because enough Republicans still believe 2020 was “stolen” from him.

    Iowa:
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/live-blog/iowa-election-2024-live-updates-rcna133678#rcrd30899

    “66% of caucusgoers think Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election, and 68% of those voters are backing Trump. Just 16% of those voters are picking DeSantis while an even smaller 6% share are caucusing for Haley.”

    New Hampshire:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/23/new-hampshire-voters-trump-trials-2020-election/

    "About half of those who voted in the New Hampshire Republican primary Tuesday believed the false claim that President Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 presidential election, according to preliminary exit polls, underscoring the persistence of Trump’s false claims within the GOP that the last presidential election was stolen from him.

    Of those voters who believed Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election, an overwhelming majority — nearly 9 in 10 — voted for Trump in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, while about 1 in 8 voted for former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, the only remaining major challenger to Trump for the Republican presidential nomination."

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    By voters giving Republicans the house, and the MAGA crowd power to push Trumps agenda.
    If voters hadn’t given the house to republicans, Trump would not be as powerful, and Biden would not have run for a second term.
    Biden is running to prevent Trump from winning, because he believes he still is the best candidate for that.

  • xc2215x@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Too many third party candidates instead of just one or two. Bernie Sanders not being able to run also not to mention.

    • lefaucet@slrpnk.net
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      10 months ago

      What drives me nuts is Bernie would win big.

      He talks about things people care about and makes sense. He was a huge hit at his town-hall meeting on FOX news a few years ago.

      If he and Clinton had teamed up in 2016 I think dems would have won the electoral college, not just the popular vote.

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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        10 months ago

        For years after his campaign, he was the most popular politician in the US. He is still more popular than any politician who’s active on the national stage. Above both Biden and Trump.

        Clinton more or less identified the issue with him: No one likes him, he doesn’t want to work with anybody. “Anybody” meaning the money-men who are determined the wreck the country. And so, he’s unacceptable.

      • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        Even MAGA folks at least respect Bernie. I got that a lot in 2016. They knew I wasn’t a Republican, which made them suspicious of me until they found out I supported Bernie, at which point they’d actually say something nice about him.

        • NABDad@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          My dad is a hard-right fascist who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, will vote for him again, and hates all Democrats with a passion.

          Before it settled into Trump vs Hillary he said if it ended up Trump vs Sanders he would vote for Sanders.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Why is it the most popular mention seems to be older than the 2 oldest presidents of all time, that people are arguing are both to old daily.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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    10 months ago

    People want Trump for the same reason they hate Biden.

    They are simply unwilling to admit what their candidate has done since Biden took office.

  • ctkatz
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    10 months ago

    biden is the nominee because it is historically political suicide for a party to primary their incumbent. and in this case since the other viable nominee is trump, primarying biden feels like small d democratic suicide for the country. smart people who don’t like biden (for whatever reason, I include myself in that group) will get behind a biden candidacy enthusiastically just to. keep trump out.

    trump is the nominee because the republican party as currently constructed is no longer a political party but a cult. a cult of white male grievances that not only seeks to opress anyone not white and male but also has adapted old testament principles where the only ones who had any status at all were males. and the thing is, trump doesn’t believe in anything they do (except the racism and misogyny). he just accepts those people because they love him, he gives them permission to act as they do because he does. and the adolation from the people is the thing that drives narcissists. and the one thing those people want more than anything else is power for the sake of controlling other people. they want trump because trump wants their idolation and trump will give them everything just to be cheered. and yes I meant idolation.

    if the people don’t like this cycle’s choices, they should have voted in their party’s primaries. this year or 4 years ago.

  • Australis13@fedia.io
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    10 months ago

    The thing is, though, I think most (or at least enough) voters actually do want this. Trump is clearly the preferred Republican candidate and that’s been obvious for some time. On the Democrats side, Biden is the lead candidate and likewise, it has been obvious that he was likely to be it for months. Ergo, it’s a Biden-Trump rematch.

    Obviously nobody is happy about this, but it’s hardly surprising.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    10 months ago

    Dems don’t listen to constituents. They pay us lip service. That’s why I’m a Leftist. Dems are center-right (essentially what Nixon was).

  • Meuzzin@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Because a whole generation of Americans found a source of information that agrees with their dated belief systems. Regardless if they’re completely wrong. Thanks Meta!

  • books@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Unfortunately the Republicans actually late listening to their voters where Democrats are not.

    Granted it’s because Biden is an incumbent…

    • GodlessCommie@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I assume you meant hate listening.

      How does 70% of Dems wanting a ceasefire, and Biden refusing, translate to listening to voters? Voters wanted fundamental changes to police with defending, Biden’s solution, more funding and cop cities in Atlanta and Baltimore, to be trained by IDF no less. The only people the DNC and the RNC listen to are the wealthy. The working class has no say, influence, or voice in politics.

      • books@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Nah, sorry. I was on my phone.

        Republicans are actually listening to their voters and picking the candidate they want to run. Granted, he’s a shit candidate and shouldn’t be allowed to run, but thats a different issue.

        Biden wanted another term, so the DNC machine got on it and is pushing it down our throats despite the majority of dems not wanting it, because what are we gonna do? vote for trump? No, but they might have turn out problem circa 2016.