### Reasons to vote - To change the outcome, including the mandate - To change the mandate (authority / legitimacy a candidate has to get things done) - This explains why one should vote for a candidate even if they are expected not to win. - Empirical research rejects the mandate hypothesis as ineffective - To express themselves and their affinity for a group or ideas - Voting in this way is a consumptive, rather than productive, activity - To discharge a moral duty #### Reasons people are voting in 2024 election - Abstaining from presidential election due to dissatisfaction with all available options or not seeing their vote as particularly meaningful - Single issue voters: Palestine, gun rights, anti-abortion - Third party voters - dissatisfaction with duopoly - make room for another party - pressure major parties to address their issue(s) #### Cons / considerations for third party voting - Help less desirable candidate win ("spoiler" effect) - Lead to even worse policy outcomes - Limited impact: "wasted" vote - 3rd party candidates aren't on ballot in all states (cannot win) - "Punishing" Dems doesn't push them left, in fact, it pushes them right— they go where the votes are. >The U.S. has maintained a two-party system through most of its history, with the Democratic and Republican parties serving as the primary rivals since the Republican Party became the second major party in 1854. [Gallup](https://news.gallup.com/poll/651278/support-third-political-party-dips.aspx) #### Green Party - In 2000, Ralph Nader won 97,477 votes in Florida. Al Gore lost the state by 537 votes. [NYTimes](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/14/us/politics/presidential-election-third-party-candidates.html) - New Hampshire swayed Republican first time since 1988. Bush won with 48% vote, Gore 47%, Nader 4% #### Jill Stein - Pro-Russian, Putin apologist - Investments in corporations like Raytheon and Exxon - Takes votes away from anti-Republican candidates - Runs an unserious campaign that doesn't try to build a broad base of political power - Siphoned votes from Clinton in key swing states in 2016 - Paid $100,000 to a consulting firm led by a January 6th rioter and has worked with Trump-affiliated lawyers. - VP is transphobic #### Trump - Threatening to jail Palestinian organizers and use military against protestors #### Misc - Consider Bernie Sanders 2016 (Clinton) + 2020 (Biden) campaign - Supreme court nominations ### Who is on the ballot in the battleground states | | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Jill Stein (Green) | Chase Oliver (Libertarian) | Cornel West | | ------------ | --------------------- | ------------------ | -------------------------- | ----------- | | Arizona | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Georgia | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Michigan | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Nevada | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | | N. Carolina | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Pennsylvania | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | | Wisconsin | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | # On Lesser Evil politics - Cynicism in politics - Trump’s narcissist rage and authoritarian instincts - Cold civil war - Never fully reconciled with slavery as a country - Republican Party and ideological shift to further extremism: Christian nationalism / Trumpism - Peter Thiel, Republican donations and monarchism - Past elections most closely resembling 2024: 1856 (Buchanan, slavery), 1860 (Lincoln, slavery), 1968 (Nixon, Vietnam War, racial tensions) - Misinformation / Disinformation and foreign influence - WILL attempt election interference - “it will be bloodless if the left allows it to be” - The rightward shift of many tech leaders - A16Z endorsing Trump, Musk endorsing Trump & cozying up with Christofascists, Peter Thiel funding, etc. - Ethical Egoism vs. Ethical Altruism: - There's an underlying tension between considering one's own political purity or personal interests versus what might be best for society as a whole. - Important closing: If Democrats lose because stance on Palestinians, then blame will be laid at their feet. - Revolution as a “rapture” event - Radical change is possible but sometimes so gradual hard to notice: gay rights, trans rights, symbolism of USA / American flag all happened over decade(s) - Examples of revolution ready: black panthers - Examples of “punishing” democrats didn’t work: 2016 election - Left lacks discipline. Right has discipline, carefully maneuvering over _decades_. - 2/3rds of Republicans don’t believe Biden won the election - Project 2025 calls for trans people to be killed. ([Reddit thread on specific pages / details](https://www.reddit.com/r/transguns/comments/1el8i6w/whos_the_bigger_threat/)) - Trans people are child sex offenders, child sex offenders should be executed, therefore trans people should be executed. - When the economy does bad, minority groups are scapegoated - Vote blue no matter who is not a wise strategy  - Polling last minute updates suggesting Harris will win  - Ann Selzer seen as expert and predicting Harris win, changing tune of everyone - 1969 election. Vietnam war. Nixon won, expanded war, enabled rightward shift of country Major threats - Climate change - Nuclear war Great points: - DACA recipients and refugees will lose everything, including health insurance coverage. Lower and middle class people will pay more for their insurance. Trump ended humanitarian support for Palestinians. Trump funded Saudis war in Yemen— death toll in Yemen is 8 times larger than in Gaza since recent crisis. ([Source: Reddit comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/chomsky/comments/1bvdaqt/comment/kxywau6/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) in r/Chomsky) [Chase Strangio is voting for Harris](https://www.instagram.com/p/DBG7LHMumGS/?igsh=MWw0YnpyODM0b3cybg==)