What's new

The official "let's impeach Trump" thread

I think you're making a pretty significant error and leap in logic in assuming that any vote that is not the "critical" vote (or threshold deciding vote) is irrelevant. That's your definitional issue, not mine.

First past the post voting in this country means that there are structural factors that tend to narrow the field to two realistic candidates. Otherwise you get vote splitting and a strengthening of whichever party the third party "spoiler" candidate is actually least aligned with. We've seen this play out in this country so many times I can't believe it even needs to be explained.

No single vote among those two columns is the "threshold vote" even in an election decided by a single vote, because it's impossible to know the vote counts in advance in a freely held and anonymized election. Instead every vote is added to the accumulation of votes that goes towards getting "past the post." Even in an election decided by a single vote any individual vote in that pile added to the accumulation required to win - not just the final vote cast.

As practical matter, under the system as it currently exists, all the rules strongly favor pooling into two lanes because those are the two that can actually win. Every other vote effectively is null. Sorry. That's the way it is. You wasted your vote in 2016 other than I guess it made you feel better. I wasted my vote in 2012 basically just to say I voted for a female candidate. That was dumb too.

There's always a handful of exceptions to what I'm describing above that require regional explanations of local voting patterns. Lisa MurKowski's write-in campaign probably being the best example. But in the presidential election I feel very comfortable with the above until proven wrong.
Interesting take. But until you can explain to me what would be different if you had voted major party in 2012 I reject the notion that you wasted your vote. Even given your analysis of each vote contributing toward a pile of votes, you can't say there's any difference between a pile of (making up numbers) 1,200,345 and a pile of 1,200,346 when the opposing major party pile has a losing 1,005,098. Or a winning 1,400,055.
 
Oh, I plan to vote for Biden. And I will attempt to persuade many people to do the same. But shaming people for voting third party by saying they are wasting their votes is still wrong. And logically indefensible.
I don’t shame them. But, in my experience hearing these people explain themselves, they’re often either (a) exaggerating the potential impact of their dissent, or (b) holding fast to some view that they can’t vote for someone who didn’t earn their vote.

The latter is reasonable, in principle. But the present situation seems to require that we get beyond the strictures of principle and look at all the options with a different set of eyes.

When I lived in Utah, I voted for Nader. Obviously this had no outcome on that electoral debacle. But the scope of my action in my own eyes was outsized, for sure.
 
Last edited:
But the present situation seems to require that we get beyond the strictures of principle and look at all the options with a different set of eyes.

This.
Trump is such a bad president that people need to look at this election like no other. Hold your nose and vote for someone you don't like to get rid of trump.

Every other election go ahead and vote for whoever you like best or don't vote at all or whatever.

This election help rid the country of agent orange. Agolf twitler.

#nevertrump

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
 

I tried to read. There were plenty of issues with Obama's presidency. But when the first one is unprecedented corruption I had to laugh. Did the author forgot about our current president and this fact: "14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned since the days when the first-time candidate promised that he would only hire "the best people.""
 
I tried to read. There were plenty of issues with Obama's presidency. But when the first one is unprecedented corruption I had to laugh. Did the author forgot about our current president and this fact: "14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned since the days when the first-time candidate promised that he would only hire "the best people.""

This.

And was Obama ever investigated by a special prosecutor? Did that special prosecutor write about scores of obstruction of justice crimes? Was Obama ever impeached? Just soooooo much Trump corruption that republicans ignore. It’s really silly. Trump should’ve been impeached by the Mueller report let alone Ukraine.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top