I have been an Unafilliated Independent since I registered to vote in 1977. Neither party can win without me, but they can’t count on my vote. If they want my vote, they have to EARN it, and they even seldom try.
In the nicest possible way, and only judging from this post, you are part of the problem. Hear me out:
They don’t actually need you. Either party. There’s a solid base of voters who are going to vote blue or stay home, or vote red or stay home. If you require being courted, then you’re either effectively random, staying home, or lean towards one side over the other.
You’re possibly upset that none of your choices are good. That’s pretty true. ‘both sides’ have reasons to not vote for them. You need to help fix that: pick a side, whichever one you lean towards, and go make the choices better.
Local politics (the ones at the precinct, county, state levels) decide how we choose our candidates in the larger races by deciding who represents us on those larger stages internally to the party. Example: the general public was not polled for the dnc chair election, it was only people put into dnc leadership, who were voted for, several steps down, by people at the precinct level. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Democratic_National_Committee_chairmanship_election
Is there corporate bullshit here? almost certainly. Can it be overcome? Only if people are paying attention and care to get involved. Voting only in November elections and expecting the candidates to cater to you specifically will not resolve the problems.
The candidates don’t need to work for your vote. You need to work for better candidates. Or shut up and vote for the least harm.
I have been an Unafilliated Independent since I registered to vote in 1977. Neither party can win without me, but they can’t count on my vote. If they want my vote, they have to EARN it, and they even seldom try.
In the nicest possible way, and only judging from this post, you are part of the problem. Hear me out:
They don’t actually need you. Either party. There’s a solid base of voters who are going to vote blue or stay home, or vote red or stay home. If you require being courted, then you’re either effectively random, staying home, or lean towards one side over the other.
You’re possibly upset that none of your choices are good. That’s pretty true. ‘both sides’ have reasons to not vote for them. You need to help fix that: pick a side, whichever one you lean towards, and go make the choices better.
Local politics (the ones at the precinct, county, state levels) decide how we choose our candidates in the larger races by deciding who represents us on those larger stages internally to the party. Example: the general public was not polled for the dnc chair election, it was only people put into dnc leadership, who were voted for, several steps down, by people at the precinct level. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Democratic_National_Committee_chairmanship_election
Is there corporate bullshit here? almost certainly. Can it be overcome? Only if people are paying attention and care to get involved. Voting only in November elections and expecting the candidates to cater to you specifically will not resolve the problems.
The candidates don’t need to work for your vote. You need to work for better candidates. Or shut up and vote for the least harm.
You had a longer answer; I was just getting some real Ken Bone energy there…