• WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    Actual analyses done on this topic by Pew, Breugel, and National Affairs suggest this effect is largely not true. When considering the entire electorate, a significant number of non-voters lean Republican or are politically unaffiliated and would not support the democratic party.

    Further research indicates that, despite popular belief, higher voter turnout does not consistently benefit either party across the board. Over the past 70 years, there has been no strong correlation between increases in turnout and the Democratic vote share in presidential or midterm elections. This suggests that while higher turnout could marginally favor Democrats, it might not drastically alter outcomes.

    Democrats could gain some advantage from 100% turnout due to the inclusion of historically underrepresented groups, but the overall impact would likely be less substantial than expected, as the partisan balance among non-voters is more evenly distributed than commonly thought.

    The notion that 100% voter turnout would deliver sweeping political control for Democrats is just a comforting illusion—one that feeds into the fantasy that everyone secretly agrees with you. Both parties indulge in this kind of wishful thinking, convinced that non-voters would tip the scales in their favor if only they showed up.

    The truth is that America is fiercely divided, and non-voters are just as politically varied as regular voters. Believing otherwise is just a way to avoid confronting how split the country really is.

    • abbadon420@lemm.ee
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      1 hour ago

      Also, popular opinion tends to shift to the right when times are tough and times are tough. You can see this happening in Europe as well, every European country.

    • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      The government keeps fucking everyone but the democrats blame the republicans for it, and the republicans the democrats for it, not realizing they are talking about the exact same group of people.

      I’m shocked either party can maintain the illusion at this point but thats just my perspective.

      • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        If you don’t see a difference between the current political parties, that seems like a you problem.

        • Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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          18 hours ago

          That’s a strawman argument. Pointing out that one of them is worse than the other ignores the real problem - the system is broken.

          • Knightfox@lemmy.one
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            3 hours ago

            It’s not really a strawman argument, it’s closer to an ad hominem. In fact, the argument you are making is closer to a strawman.

            “A straw man fallacy is the informal fallacy of refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion, while not recognizing or acknowledging the distinction.” -Wikipedia

            Saying that “if you can’t tell the difference between the two parties is a you problem” is attacking the person not the issue. Saying that the difference between the two parties isn’t the problem (when that’s what is being argued) and instead it’s the system is by definition a strawman. Using the strawman to make the discussion about the futility of voting in a flawed system just goes to show how much of a strawman it is.

            • Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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              3 hours ago

              It’s a strawman because they’re trying to shift the focus from one thing (the system is broken) to another (Republicans are bad)

              • Knightfox@lemmy.one
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                2 hours ago

                Nope, the thread they were responding is this one (https://lemmy.one/comment/13175909) which is about the two parties (specifically whether higher turnout would benefit one party or the other). Someone else replied saying that it’s about the system being broken (itself a strawman). This guy made an attack on the person, but was still focused on the two party system. Then you made a strawman as well.

          • theparadox@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            And comparing the two parties like they are both the same within this broken system is counterproductive. One party is openly planning an authoritarian coup, and the other is far too beholden to the capitalist class. Voting third party or abstaining (same thing) is a vote to end whatever shreds of democracy we still have.

            Vote for the lesser evil and make a scene about whatever you don’t like but don’t pretend the two parties are the same. It kills morale and it’s bullshit to boot.

              • theparadox@lemmy.world
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                53 minutes ago

                Then your values are flawed.

                You are watching a victim forced to give a gun to either

                1. sleazeball or

                2. a psychopath who has an explicitly outlined plan to use the gun to get more guns and kill as many people as possible.

                Instead of urging the victim to choose the lesser evil you are doing… nothing? Bravely doing nothing so that next time… the sleazeball will make better choices or arguments? Or maybe so that next time the victim will learn their lesson and find a third option?

              • theparadox@lemmy.world
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                52 minutes ago

                There are better ways to end an empire than making a christofascist the emperor and hoping it burns to the ground eventually.

                • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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                  13 minutes ago

                  Oh sure but this

                  Vote for the lesser evil and make a scene about whatever you don’t like but don’t pretend the two parties are the same. It kills morale and it’s bullshit to boot.

                  Doesn’t sound like it has a happy resolution.