• axont [she/her, comrade/them]
    ·
    8 months ago

    This really comes down to individual people in local offices and regional politics in general. For instance every single local democrat in my area runs on a platform of being "tough on crime." They're also always talking about diverting public funds into subsidies for tech companies to lure silicon valley investors. They get away with it since it's a Democrat stronghold city and the courts are all democrats.

    But democrats in deep republican areas tend to be better

    • LeylaLove [she/her, love/loves]
      ·
      8 months ago

      Yeah, wanna make it clear that I'm not disrespecting people that have the logical choice of not voting. You're perfectly fine in not voting if it truly makes no tangible difference.

      I just live in Missouri. For reference, our schools have started doing 4 day school weeks because of funding cuts, but also won't increase cigarette pack tax whatsoever, even if it means 5 days of school a week. Cheapest smokes in the nation at least! I live in an area where Republican brainworms have gone beyond brainworms, and have gone into destroying the people around them.

      I live in an area where the difference between democrat and republican is funding schools or not funding schools (among many other issues, but that's the biggest domestic issue). I'm okay with people not voting for president, that's perfectly okay because both candidates are just as awful in different ways. But when the comparison is Claire McCaskill (averagely corrupt dem) vs Todd Aiken (guy who said that women's bodies had a biological reaction to stop r*** to counter abortion and DNA evidence), I do genuinely look down on people who don't participate in keeping their small area of home safe through the few means we're given. Even Missouri people picked McCaskill because they couldn't stand the idea of such a disgusting person being in office. In deep Republican areas, people should 100 percent be voting Dem. In some states, its literally the difference between trans parents being abusive for exposing their children to the "contagion" and being able to keep your children without being harassed. The difference between r*** victims being considered liars because they got pregnant from it, against being able to get some justice. A real example, the difference between paying MILLIONS of dollars to keep trans kids out of their schools vs just letting them use the bathrooms.

      I don't hold any love for the Democrats. I just live in a situation where they often have a gun to my head, so I'd rather a Democrat be the head of the school board than the crazy ass Qanon Republican Evangelical. Even if they're awful, they're not going to be malicious. They're not going to consciously try to make my children's life worse.

      Local and State elections are the only form of electoralism worth anything. But they're the little power some of us have in truly hopeless situations

      • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]
        ·
        8 months ago

        100 percent agreed. Local politics will always be the more important elections you should vote for if you live in a bigger country. That's where the real changes to your living situations can be felt as opposed to the President. A lot of people overlook this and I would argue that they should show up on election day anyway so that they can vote downballot for any local elections and referendums.

        The electoral process in my country is a little different, so I don't vote for the President but I do vote for the Communist party during legislative elections. Then I vote on referendums or the Communist party at the local level. We've gained some ground in the area which is always nice to see.