Dave Rahardja2d ago

People minimizing Orbán’s defeat in #Hungary through voting, and claiming that the same can’t be done to Donald Trump: Remember that Orbán was in power for SIXTEEN YEARS, that is, 2.5× LONGER than Trump. He had more than twice the time Trump has had to intimidate, corrupt, and destroy Hungary’s systems of voting. And yet, voting unseated him.

PLEASE do not preemptively give up on voting. Voting still works in the US, and it is quite likely that our voting infrastructure will far outlive Trump and his destructive party.

Authoritarians rely on a perceived popular mandate to continue their abuse. Voting can decisively deny them that mandate. Do not give up prematurely.

VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐1d ago
@drahardja I think most people's problem isn't that they think Trump won't leave office via an election, it's that the DNC doesn't have a democratic primary process and they are just going to run Gavin Newsom, who will win probably, and while better than Trump, we're looking at a marginally better rightwing president whether he or JD wins 2028, making it seem like voting doesn't matter -- the choice is oligarch-aligned rightwinger vs oligarch-aligned rightwinger at the end of the day as always.
Show threadMacCruiskeen
@Emerson61 @drahardja I would bet money (but not on Polymarkets) that Pritzker runs in 2028. But that doesn't really matter now. 2028 is far away. We should be focusing on the midterms and flipping as many R seats as possible.
Apr 13 at 1:23amWeb
Show threadMastodon Migration1d ago

@maccruiskeen @Emerson61 @drahardja

He will certainly run. We will see if he is any good. The best candidate will prevail. That's the way the primaries work.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐23h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja Tell that to Joe Biden, who came in 5th in every race before the party rigged the election for him in 2020. Tell that to Howard Dean, who the party corruptly undermined by getting Clear Channel to run "the scream" bits on classic rock stations that were normally Dirty Deeds by AC/DC on a loop in 2004. The DNC puts its rightwing finger on the scale in EVERY federal race. A Summer Lee beating them is a vanishingly rare event.
Show threadMastodon Migration23h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Loved Howard Dean, and worked for him, but he didn't really connect with voters. You are right about Biden, but he was a VP incumbent. The last real primary was Obama, and it pretty much worked as it should.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐23h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja regardless of candidate quality, it is CHEATING for a political party to bring to bear billions of "earned media" insofar as it wasn't paid, and corruption is a form of earning, against a primary candidate in that party. I have never voted in a fair DNC primary, and nobody who turned 18 after November 1992 has. They pick a winner EVERY federal race and cheat. Occasionally they are so arrogant an AOC slips through, but that is the exception.
Show threadMastodon Migration23h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Indeed they will try to cheat. Politics is basically cheating. But, a real primary process creates the opportunity for the most skilled politician no matter if the DNC tries to put a finger on the scale. We are right now in this battle. Julianna Stratton is an example. Show up. Go. Fight. Win.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐23h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja I will believe it when I see it, and will note the GOP did NOT cheat to act against Trump in 2016, because their primaries are actually intended to be democratic. I view AOC's 2028 run as the DNC pulling a Lucy to her Charlie Brown and pretending she can win so she doesn't knowably end Chuck Schumer's career with a senate run, which would be the better move for her, the left, and the party.
Show threadMastodon Migration22h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

As you say, we will see. If you want a prediction, think that JB Pritzker, allied with the likes of Warren and Murphy in the Senate, and AOC in the House are going to mount a very well resourced campaign to overturn the influence of the DNC, and take over the party apparatus. Hope they are successful.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐22h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja There is no world in which a billionaire is gaining enough outsider traction to do Bernie 2016, much less 2020, much less win a DNC primary for president. That's just not in the cards. I am the male scumbag left you would theoretically defeat a DNC anointed one with as the voters and I can tell you right now, I know NOBODY who hates Newsom and would consider a billionaire.
Show threadMastodon Migration22h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

We will see. It's just a prediction. Could be wrong. Newsom has very high negatives in CA. He is awkward and slimey and will do poorly under closer examination.

Show threadMastodon Migration22h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Plus, Pritzker is a Roosevelt sort of billionaire. You might warm up to him.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐21h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja this isn't about me, I always vote for the loser (I voted for Bill Bradley in the primary). If you want to make the governor a thing, you probably don't want me voting for him. I also deregistered as a dem after Genocide Joe 2020. If my primary vote doesn't count, why do I WANT to be part of your shitty party that hates people like me? Green Party, Nader voting young me was ACTUALLY right about everything and every inch I gave the right debased me.
Show threadMastodon Migration20h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja

Maybe because the alternative is fascism and this purity holding you breath stuff just doesn't work. Feel like the lesson of Hungary is if you want to break the hold of the fascists on power you need to make a broad alliance with everyone except the fascists. That said, working during the primary process to nominate better Democrats and reform the DNC is worth fighting for.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐5h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja I was more amenable to that argument before Genocide Joe. The DNC forced a genocidal madman on their own voters without a real primary. Twice. Once genocide is involved, you're multiplying infinities, the math stops mathing to be the "lesser evil" and I'm just unwilling to degrade myself by voting for that. It's a red line I am simply unwilling to let slide because fascism. Until the DNC stops supporting genocide, no vote from me no matter what.
Show threadMastodon Migration5h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen @drahardja@chihuahua.

And you realize that many more of the Gazan people you profess to care about were killed because of this principled stance.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐3h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen I have no reason to believe Kamala wouldn't have been completely controlled by Israel like Biden and Trump, so I would argue there is no basis by which to assume it would have been any better. She literally campaigned with Liz Cheney to show that she is a war monger.
Show threadMastodon Migration3h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen

You can say this if that helps you sleep at night, but you know it isn't true.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐3h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen I honestly don't, and I sleep very well. It is a political party's job to appeal to voters, especially those who have voted for them and donated and volunteered for decades, not the job of voters to drag an offputting rightwinger they hate, picked by party bosses, across the finish line on the premise they might be better than the rightwinger the other rightwing party is running.
Show threadMastodon Migration3h ago

@Emerson61 @maccruiskeen

Understand your point, just saying you and a lot of folks like you got a lot of the people you profess to support killed. If you feel like this is a reasonable sacrifice for your principles, so be it.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐21h ago
@mastodonmigration @maccruiskeen @drahardja Kamala had such bad negatives in CA she had to drop out before the primary to avoid embarrassment. She was still VP in 2020 and top of the DNC ticket (sans process) in 2024. High negatives in America generally doesn't phase the DNC. They exist to spend money on ads so that Jen O'Malley Dillon's yacht can have a yacht, not win elections. Kamala had shit CA numbers and the PR consultants made a cut on a BILLION, maybe a more unpopular figure would be mo!