Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently made headlines for calling perennial Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein “predatory” and “not serious.” AOC is right.

Giving voters more choices is a good thing for democracy. But third-party politics isn’t performance art. It’s hard work — which Stein is not doing. As AOC observed: “[When] all you do is show up once every four years to speak to people who are justifiably pissed off, but you’re just showing up once every four years to do that, you’re not serious.”

To be clear: AOC was not critiquing third parties as a whole, or the idea that we need more choices in our democracy. In fact, AOC specifically cited the Working Families Party as an example of an effective third party. The organization I lead, MoveOn, supports their 365-day-a-year efforts to build power for a pro-voter, multi-party system. And I understand third parties’ power to activate voters hungry for alternatives: I myself volunteered for Ralph Nader in 2000, and that experience helped shape my lifelong commitment to people-first politics.


Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

  • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    A spoiler is something that only exists in the mind of Liberals

    Dude, I already showed it to you.

    Election report for election "Plurality 2 Candidates"
    Total people: 1047
    11% of people supported the winner.
    
    Kruger - 112 votes - WINNER
    Sahl - 111 votes
    

    Election report for election "Plurality 3 Candidates"
    Total people: 1047
    10% of people supported the winner.
    
    Sahl - 109 votes - WINNER
    Kruger - 93 votes
    Maikol - 91 votes
    

    The overlap of two circles means there will be an area shared in between. That’s the math, you can’t get around that.

      • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “It’s bullshit because it proves I’m full of shit and I don’t actually have an argument against it.”

        • Skeezix@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          This is the modus operandi of conservatives, libertarians, and anyone trying to put forward a disingenuous argument

          • anticolonialist@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            That’s cute, That your binary thinking assumes a ballot critique of one thing is automatically support of the other.

              • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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                3 months ago

                They won’t. They already ignored multiple requests for an explanation or evidence. anticolonialist doesn’t discuss in good faith and this isn’t anything new.

              • anticolonialist@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Because the people that are not serious are people like AOC, the ones that ran on populist platforms to get elected. And then once they got into office, they completely abandoned everything they ran on.

                • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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                  3 months ago

                  they completely abandoned everything they ran on

                  First and foremost, no she didn’t. She’s still one of the most progressive members of Congress, and she continues to fight for realistic progressive policies including universal healthcare, free college, and housing as a human right.

                  You’re welcome to disagree though. Move to her district so you can campaign and vote against her if it really matters to you. Her district keeps reelecting her (82.2% of the vote this year) so I guess she presently represents them quite well.

                  Or, if relocating so that you get a say in AOC’s representative abilities isn’t a part of your game plan, consider campaigning for the kind of representation you want to see for your current congressional district. Take a stand where you actually get a voice.

                  But your constant opposition to Democrats, two months away from an election where Fascism is knocking at the door, isn’t helpful. If your goal is a progressive future, you need to be paying attention to what’s on the line right now. If your priority is to purity test Liberals instead of campaigning against Fascist Republicans like lives depend on it (they do), then you’ve completely lost the plot.

                  One side ® is starting Pograms and threatening genocide against millions of immigrants. The other (D) doesn’t promise your ideal leftist utopia. Think hard about which of these concessions you’re willing to accept as you continue constantly attacking Democrats with nobody lined up to replace them but Republicans.

                  • anticolonialist@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    When the duopoly has convinced you that you have two options, they’re going to vote for the red fascist or the blue fascist. That 82.2% of the vote that voted for her belonged to the blue fascists.

          • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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            3 months ago

            And yet none of you have been able to explain how or why it doesn’t prove anything. Only making assertions that it doesn’t.

              • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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                3 months ago

                You’re the one making the claim that it doesn’t prove anything. You have done nothing to explain how it doesn’t. Just saying it proves nothing isn’t enough.

                • PeggyLouBaldwin@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  if I told you that leaving that comment proves fort Knox is empty, what kind of refutation is appropriate? it doesn’t, it makes no sense to claim it does, and no further refutation is necessary.

      • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        Really now? Please explain exactly how it’s “bullshit.” Just claiming it’s bullshit is not sufficient.

      • Skeezix@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        You’re disagreeing with math. Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the dunce award.

      • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Yet you didn’t provide explanation for why it’s bullshit. Because you know it isn’t. It’s right in front of you.