I held my nose and voted for Hillary in 2016. I don't think I can do it again this time. Neither of these parties represent my views and the Democratic establishment has made it abundantly clear that they despise me and the rest of the left. But I live in Massachusetts, so my vote doesn't matter and it's kind of moot anyway.
If Trump ends up winning again, are you going to feel okay with your decision to have not done the bare minimum to try to prevent his 2nd term? I understand your frustration but it’ll be a lot easier to push for progress under a Biden presidency than it will be under Trump. Also, this is a redistricting year. If trump gets a 2nd term and repubs get to gerrymander further, it’s going to be near impossible to elect a true progressive in the future.
Well, like I said, I'm in a solid blue state, so my vote doesn't matter. But to your point, I've done much more than the bare minimum. I spent countless hours volunteering for the Bernie Sanders campaign only to see it sandbagged the night before Super Tuesday by a few phone calls from Barack Obama. Now it's out of my hands. I despise Trump, but nothing is going to get better under a Biden presidency. It might not get worse at the same pace, but it's still going to get worse.
I see your point, Bernie was my first choice as well and it’s really hard to see Biden at the top of the ticket. I just really hope that the voters in the states that matter do show up because I can’t imagine how bad things could get under a 2nd trump term.
Respectfully, I know that you're tired. But "nothing is going to get better under a Biden presidency" is just... flatly not true. It may be the way you FEEL right now, and I can understand that despair. But it's not an incontrovertible truth. I'm not sure why you aren't at least a little heartened by the degree to which Biden has begun to work with Bernie -- that's the opposite of a clear sign that he and his administration "despite the left". A Biden win doesn't just mean getting Trump out of the White House (although that itself would be an amazing goal); it means replacing the head of every government department and agency. Further, though, it's pretty clear that people like Bernie, Warren, AOC and the rest aren't going anywhere, and that they are energized as well. Do you really think that if Biden is elected, they will stop putting forward legislation and trying to push a progressive agenda?
As Caitlin's article recounts, the last 4 years have seen so many attacks on so many groups of people, it starts to be hard to keep count. But make no mistake, there are people who have died because of things this administration has done, or failed to do. People who aren't personally worried about the safety of themselves and their loved ones under another 4 years of Trump, or who think Biden's admin would be no improvement, strike me as people in a privileged position discussing the impact of 4 years of this administration more theoretically than practically, through lived experience. The differences are not theoretical to the tens of thousands more who are dying of COVID-19 under this administration's botched response, or to the victims of increased hate crimes, or even to the millions out of work without adequate support.
I hear you that you are in Massachusetts, and there's no way on gods green earth that MA will be anything but blue in the upcoming election, all the way down the ticket. I'm in MA too. But if Biden does win, the last thing we need is a narrative that shows that even in very blue states, his win was less decisive than presidential voting has been in the past.
If Bernie can't convince you to stay in the fight, then nothing I can say will do that, either. I'm voting, even though my vote in MA will (hopefully) be lost in a sea of blue. I'm voting because it's a signal that I stand against the open fascism we're seeing. I'm voting because while I don't love Biden/Harris, I think they can be pushed afterwards, and I'm sticking behind the progressives who will continue pushing them. I'm voting because I despise Trump and everyone who enables him, and if we are fortunate enough to get a Biden win, I want the vote total to be humiliating for Trump.
I disagree with a lot of what you've said here. I've seen no indication that Bernie has moved Biden left at all. He said just a few weeks ago (in the middle of a pandemic) that if he were the president and a Medicare for All bill came across his desk, he would veto it. He's on record promising donors at a closed door event that under a Biden presidency "Nothing would fundamentally change." Biden is the personification of the rightward shift of this country. The current Democratic party is essentially where the Republicans were 15 years ago. Why do you think the most notable pro-Biden messaging has been coming from the Lincoln Project (a bunch of neocons who were former Bush, McCain, and Romney staffers)? You have your reasons for voting (and that's fine, I'm not telling anybody not to vote). But I have my reasons for not voting. I'm 38 years old and have voted in every election since 2000. I'm sitting this one out, because I want the Democratic establishment to know that my vote can't be taken for granted anymore and if they continue to dismiss overtures from the left, their seats are no longer safe. I'm done voting for the lesser of two evils.
You're right, we disagree. I'm 52 and I've voted in every election since 1988; you don't have to tell me about the Democratic party's shift to the right, or that Biden is what a moderate Republican *should* look like (but in the past 40 years, his stance on various issues would still not have allowed him to be a part of the Republican party). He's still not a fascist, and like it or not, that has become the terms of this election. If you think those aren't the terms, you haven't been paying attention, and I still have to conclude that your position is privileged enough that you think you won't be affected by a continuation of this administration. Not caring about how the lives of the less fortunate in the coalition will be affected isn't very progressive.
Just as you think your vote for or against won't matter in very blue Massachusetts, I can also tell you that it doesn't matter how many people like you sit out as a "protest" to show the Dem establishment that you can't be taken for granted. If you don't vote, you aren't seen, period. Of course you're entitled to withhold your vote. You've got your viewpoint, and nothing I can say is enough to make you think differently. But as someone who supported Bernie so enthusiastically, I'm surprised you won't listen to him, either.
With all due respect, fuck off. Please stop telling me that I'm privileged and don't care about people's lives because I don't want to vote for Joe Biden in a state where my vote doesn't matter. Do you think Donald Trump came out of nowhere? Do you think things were hunky dory for all of the people you keep using as a cudgel against me four years ago? I've put a lot of thought into my decision and agonized over what to do way more than I probably should have. What happens in 4 years if Biden gets elected? You don't think things will shift further to the right? You don't think the Republicans will run an even more dangerous candidate like Tom Cotton or Josh Hawley (who are both legitimate fascists and unlike Trump they are actually competent, which is an extremely dangerous combination). I'm not sure why you think I should be taking orders from Bernie Sanders. I donated, volunteered, and voted for him because I back his policies. I don't idolize or take orders from him or any other politician. This is not a cult of personality. These people work for us and we need to hold them accountable. For somebody your age, you seem extremely naive. Now are we done here or do you want to continue trying to bully me into voting for Biden? Here's a tip: you're not going to succeed in that venture.
I vividly remember going to a polling station in 2016 at 6:30am and feeling completely exasperated even just seeing Donald Trump's name on the ballot because I knew. And I had known for a while. This man was going to win. A lot of us (young white folks) have very similar stories to yours, but what the years since Trump announced his candidacy has shown us is that while a great many of us base our political principles on a clear moral foundation, the majority of our political institutions and the people who run them have none and are no longer pretending to have one. I don't know if we were "radicalized" in the sense that we have moved further left, we just are being shown how big the fight is and where it needs to come from. With the fog of war removed it's so much easier to stand in solidarity with the people who knew this way before we did.
Great article, Caitlin. I feel like at this stage, our odds of pushing reforms inside of a Biden presidency are much greater than a Trump term. Not ideal, and still difficult work, but our chance of moving in that direction are greater, in my view. Our job then becomes continuing to do the work to move things in the direction we want them to go. If Biden wins (OMG, let's have this one happen!), I will give myself a day or two of a sigh of relief before getting back to work.
Exactly! I am still hopeful that tXXXp will be voted out. I cannot imagine bearing the depressive feelings I've had for the past (almost) four years with him as the POTIS. It's been Hell. Thank you for writing about your feelings which I felt a real kinship with.
I held my nose and voted for Hillary in 2016. I don't think I can do it again this time. Neither of these parties represent my views and the Democratic establishment has made it abundantly clear that they despise me and the rest of the left. But I live in Massachusetts, so my vote doesn't matter and it's kind of moot anyway.
If Trump ends up winning again, are you going to feel okay with your decision to have not done the bare minimum to try to prevent his 2nd term? I understand your frustration but it’ll be a lot easier to push for progress under a Biden presidency than it will be under Trump. Also, this is a redistricting year. If trump gets a 2nd term and repubs get to gerrymander further, it’s going to be near impossible to elect a true progressive in the future.
Well, like I said, I'm in a solid blue state, so my vote doesn't matter. But to your point, I've done much more than the bare minimum. I spent countless hours volunteering for the Bernie Sanders campaign only to see it sandbagged the night before Super Tuesday by a few phone calls from Barack Obama. Now it's out of my hands. I despise Trump, but nothing is going to get better under a Biden presidency. It might not get worse at the same pace, but it's still going to get worse.
I see your point, Bernie was my first choice as well and it’s really hard to see Biden at the top of the ticket. I just really hope that the voters in the states that matter do show up because I can’t imagine how bad things could get under a 2nd trump term.
Respectfully, I know that you're tired. But "nothing is going to get better under a Biden presidency" is just... flatly not true. It may be the way you FEEL right now, and I can understand that despair. But it's not an incontrovertible truth. I'm not sure why you aren't at least a little heartened by the degree to which Biden has begun to work with Bernie -- that's the opposite of a clear sign that he and his administration "despite the left". A Biden win doesn't just mean getting Trump out of the White House (although that itself would be an amazing goal); it means replacing the head of every government department and agency. Further, though, it's pretty clear that people like Bernie, Warren, AOC and the rest aren't going anywhere, and that they are energized as well. Do you really think that if Biden is elected, they will stop putting forward legislation and trying to push a progressive agenda?
As Caitlin's article recounts, the last 4 years have seen so many attacks on so many groups of people, it starts to be hard to keep count. But make no mistake, there are people who have died because of things this administration has done, or failed to do. People who aren't personally worried about the safety of themselves and their loved ones under another 4 years of Trump, or who think Biden's admin would be no improvement, strike me as people in a privileged position discussing the impact of 4 years of this administration more theoretically than practically, through lived experience. The differences are not theoretical to the tens of thousands more who are dying of COVID-19 under this administration's botched response, or to the victims of increased hate crimes, or even to the millions out of work without adequate support.
I hear you that you are in Massachusetts, and there's no way on gods green earth that MA will be anything but blue in the upcoming election, all the way down the ticket. I'm in MA too. But if Biden does win, the last thing we need is a narrative that shows that even in very blue states, his win was less decisive than presidential voting has been in the past.
If Bernie can't convince you to stay in the fight, then nothing I can say will do that, either. I'm voting, even though my vote in MA will (hopefully) be lost in a sea of blue. I'm voting because it's a signal that I stand against the open fascism we're seeing. I'm voting because while I don't love Biden/Harris, I think they can be pushed afterwards, and I'm sticking behind the progressives who will continue pushing them. I'm voting because I despise Trump and everyone who enables him, and if we are fortunate enough to get a Biden win, I want the vote total to be humiliating for Trump.
I disagree with a lot of what you've said here. I've seen no indication that Bernie has moved Biden left at all. He said just a few weeks ago (in the middle of a pandemic) that if he were the president and a Medicare for All bill came across his desk, he would veto it. He's on record promising donors at a closed door event that under a Biden presidency "Nothing would fundamentally change." Biden is the personification of the rightward shift of this country. The current Democratic party is essentially where the Republicans were 15 years ago. Why do you think the most notable pro-Biden messaging has been coming from the Lincoln Project (a bunch of neocons who were former Bush, McCain, and Romney staffers)? You have your reasons for voting (and that's fine, I'm not telling anybody not to vote). But I have my reasons for not voting. I'm 38 years old and have voted in every election since 2000. I'm sitting this one out, because I want the Democratic establishment to know that my vote can't be taken for granted anymore and if they continue to dismiss overtures from the left, their seats are no longer safe. I'm done voting for the lesser of two evils.
You're right, we disagree. I'm 52 and I've voted in every election since 1988; you don't have to tell me about the Democratic party's shift to the right, or that Biden is what a moderate Republican *should* look like (but in the past 40 years, his stance on various issues would still not have allowed him to be a part of the Republican party). He's still not a fascist, and like it or not, that has become the terms of this election. If you think those aren't the terms, you haven't been paying attention, and I still have to conclude that your position is privileged enough that you think you won't be affected by a continuation of this administration. Not caring about how the lives of the less fortunate in the coalition will be affected isn't very progressive.
Just as you think your vote for or against won't matter in very blue Massachusetts, I can also tell you that it doesn't matter how many people like you sit out as a "protest" to show the Dem establishment that you can't be taken for granted. If you don't vote, you aren't seen, period. Of course you're entitled to withhold your vote. You've got your viewpoint, and nothing I can say is enough to make you think differently. But as someone who supported Bernie so enthusiastically, I'm surprised you won't listen to him, either.
With all due respect, fuck off. Please stop telling me that I'm privileged and don't care about people's lives because I don't want to vote for Joe Biden in a state where my vote doesn't matter. Do you think Donald Trump came out of nowhere? Do you think things were hunky dory for all of the people you keep using as a cudgel against me four years ago? I've put a lot of thought into my decision and agonized over what to do way more than I probably should have. What happens in 4 years if Biden gets elected? You don't think things will shift further to the right? You don't think the Republicans will run an even more dangerous candidate like Tom Cotton or Josh Hawley (who are both legitimate fascists and unlike Trump they are actually competent, which is an extremely dangerous combination). I'm not sure why you think I should be taking orders from Bernie Sanders. I donated, volunteered, and voted for him because I back his policies. I don't idolize or take orders from him or any other politician. This is not a cult of personality. These people work for us and we need to hold them accountable. For somebody your age, you seem extremely naive. Now are we done here or do you want to continue trying to bully me into voting for Biden? Here's a tip: you're not going to succeed in that venture.
I vividly remember going to a polling station in 2016 at 6:30am and feeling completely exasperated even just seeing Donald Trump's name on the ballot because I knew. And I had known for a while. This man was going to win. A lot of us (young white folks) have very similar stories to yours, but what the years since Trump announced his candidacy has shown us is that while a great many of us base our political principles on a clear moral foundation, the majority of our political institutions and the people who run them have none and are no longer pretending to have one. I don't know if we were "radicalized" in the sense that we have moved further left, we just are being shown how big the fight is and where it needs to come from. With the fog of war removed it's so much easier to stand in solidarity with the people who knew this way before we did.
Really enjoyed reading this and it felt very relatable. I'm sure others agree.
Thank you for this, Caitlin. It captures better than I ever could all of the warring emotions, ideas, and information in my tired, tired brain.
This was awesome. I have no further comment. Just very well done.
Great article, Caitlin. I feel like at this stage, our odds of pushing reforms inside of a Biden presidency are much greater than a Trump term. Not ideal, and still difficult work, but our chance of moving in that direction are greater, in my view. Our job then becomes continuing to do the work to move things in the direction we want them to go. If Biden wins (OMG, let's have this one happen!), I will give myself a day or two of a sigh of relief before getting back to work.
Truly upsetting read. Great stuff
Exactly! I am still hopeful that tXXXp will be voted out. I cannot imagine bearing the depressive feelings I've had for the past (almost) four years with him as the POTIS. It's been Hell. Thank you for writing about your feelings which I felt a real kinship with.
So good, and so relatable. Thanks for making me feel there are others out there seeing what I'm seeing.
Excellent article.