Post

"Do not retaliate!"

bsky.app/profile/wing...

it's not all of them but I think some small fraction of them are REALLY committed to The System and how they imagine it's supposed to work. they view voters choosing wrong as "regrettable" But ultimately the correct result. only an electorate that is virtuous enough deserves good outcomes

In my nearly two decades of political organizing, I have learned that anyone whose plan hinges on everyone taking one specific action does not actually have a plan

It's frustrating to watch play out over and over - when someone (usually a trans person) objects to a decision or statement made by a *candidate or politician,* they get swarmed by Election Methodists freaking out about *voter* behavior

politics is when you come up with a plan to organize voters, and then get mad at the voters for not following orders

The former Biden staffer just straight up posting "we think your crowing is cute & admirable but we're never gonna listen to you & we never did, morons" is the only truthful thing anyone has said about this in decades, which means it's absurdly fucked & untenable.

Completely agree, and this is even more true when you consider that trans people are one of the most reliably Democrat voting demos out there.

Like, this simple line represents SO MUCH of what is wrong with so many people. It's legit crazy 🤣

Or that maybe randos on a mid-tier social media site, however critical their comments, don't actually decide the fate of political campaigns.

My only frustration is that I often see folks on social media talking about how they can't vote for a certain candidate because of some (usually extremely legitimate) reason -- but they never talk about how they actually reached out to the candidate. Are these folks calling/writing/showing up?

See, you're doing the thing I'm talking about

Not really because strongly supporting something, even something that may not be popular, is still attractive to voters because it shows strength and confdence and people are naturally attracted to confidence. trump has terrible views but he is loud and confident about them and it helps him.

It absolutely is

Right. That’s why he flags down in the post we’re both replying to that “Move to the center” is actually a move to the right, not the center.

Well, y'know, it's carrot and stick. Can't ever let the leftists get the carrot, though, so it's gotta be 100% stick.

Extreme Ultra Leftism Only

Can someone help me budget, my consultants are starving: - 1000 votes to Israel - 1000 votes to the oil lobby - Negative 50,000 votes from my constituents doing purity politics like “Why aren’t you advocating for me” - 1000 votes for health insurance execs

I get the spreadsheet calculus that these politicians go through, but that's just it: People fucking hate spreadsheet calculus, poll following, focus group testing, politicians. The only way to fight "they're all the same" is to sound and feel different.

I love a political system that holds their base hostage under penalty of death and hey, we might still kill you anyways. No, there is no alternative. Yes, everyone in power is deeply invested in keeping things this way.

Spoiler alert: they don't really attract any votes from the right flank, and a dispirited left flank is a feature, not a bug.