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A tweet from the George Takei Twitter account which states:
"A Democrat was in the White House when my family was sent to the internment camps in 1941. It was an egregious violation of our human and civil rights.
It would have been understandable if people like me said they’d never vote for a Democrat again, given what had been done to us.
But being a liberal, being a progressive, means being able to look past my own grievances and concerns and think of the greater good. It means working from within the Democratic party to make it better, even when it has betrayed its values.
I went on to campaign for Adlai Stevenson when I became an adult. I marched for civil rights and had the honor of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King. I fought for redress for my community and have spent my life ensuring that America understood that we could not betray our Constitution in such a way ever again.
Bill Clinton broke my heart when he signed DOMA into law. It was a slap in the face to the LGBTQ community. And I knew that we still had much work to do. But I voted for him again in 1996 despite my misgivings, because the alternative was far worse. And my obligation as a citizen was to help choose the best leader for it, not to check out by not voting out of anger or protest.
There is no leader who will make the decision you want her or him to make 100 percent of the time. Your vote is a tool of hope for a better world. Use it wisely, for it is precious. Use it for others, for they are in need of your support, too."
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The last paragraph I find particularly powerful and something more people really should take into account.
Apathy is acceptance. Apathy is death.
You say that like complicity isn’t also both of those things.
You need to understand that violent people will kill a pacifist. Quite easily.
Then maybe the Democrats should run candidates who treat Republicans as an existential threat rather than their friends across the aisle. Heck, they could start by refusing campaign donations from the rich assholes who fund both sides of the election.
Some Democrats do. You find them in the primaries. It’s how politicians like AOC got to where they are. But it starts with people like you paying attention in primaries.
I do, despite the fact that they rarely ever get past the primaries. The party establishment cares more about preserving the status quo for their financiers than faithfully representing their voting base. The threat to withhold my vote in the general election is the only leverage I have against the party, and I will apply it to the best of my ability.
Vote in the primaries, put in the work in the primaries. And if you don’t get it, vote not Hitler.
I refuse to promise my vote, and especially not a year in advance. “Safe” voters can be safely ignored since you’ll vote blue no matter who, it’s undecided voters control the outcome of the election.
If you want the party to suck less, then you need to start demanding better and back it up with the threat of withdrawing your support.
Remind them that they’re supposed to represent you, and what the consequences are if they fail to do so.
You’re halfway there. But not voting at all is giving a vote to the opposition. And they vote no matter who.