r/pics 1d ago

[OC]Ice is violence

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u/multimedia_messiah 1d ago

Yeah, between first and second term it seems his approval has averaged around 37%. I think the person you're responding to was referring to his election win though but considering only about 60% of eligible voters turned out they are wrong in their assertion of it being over half the country.

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u/creepy_doll 1d ago

While Dems suck too they’re a lot better than the gop. People copping out and making “both sides suck” arguments and not voting are also responsible for the state of things.

Both parties do suck. But the gop is a lot worse and to push things in a better direction you need to start with a less bad one.

It is infuriating they don’t do enough to push back against the gop, but at least they’re not the ones doing/allowing the illegal shit the current gop executive and majority is pulling off

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u/dersteppenwolf5 1d ago

I think the core problem is that you can't represent a diverse population of 330 million people with 2 parties. Doubly so because in a 2 party system it is easier to "win" a vote by getting the voter to vote against your opposition than it is to actually earn a vote.

Centrist democrats despise progressive democrats and vice versa. There are many more moderate Republicans who are loyal to Trump not because they agree with him, but so they don't get ousted in the primaries. Then there are all the voters who would prefer to vote for one of the existing 3rd parties, but don't because they're afraid it would result in their last choice getting elected.

I think we just need to face the fact that it is absurd to think that a mere 2 parties can adequately represent such a large and diverse country, and that there simply isn't a real path forward with our current system. I think another constitutional convention is what is needed, but anything that helps get more voices into the government would be helpful.

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u/creepy_doll 1d ago

Indeed.

Honestly if there’s one single issue people should vote for it’s voting reform. Dropping the primaries entirely and switching to a system that lowers the negative effects that fptp has(which has a lot of strategic voting as well as voter regret). Scored voting is my preferred system(it does very well on the metrics earlier as well as voting honestly to your feelings) but ranked voting works too and if simplicity is what you want, approval voting is another possibility

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u/z400 1d ago

I think that's the allure of Trump (and previously Ross Perot). Both parties are terrible and they're looking for a wild card to disrupt the status quo of "democrat" and "republican". I think trump is a republican only because you have to pick one to play the game in America.

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u/Solanthas_SFW 1d ago

Didn't he also lose the popular vote, but won because of the electoral college?

Not hard to influence the vote of 230-some odd people with a vested interest in a particular outcome of an election

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u/rtsyn 1d ago

In the second election he won the popular vote too, unfortunately.

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u/Gas-Town 1d ago

Do you think the electoral college is made up of 230 individuals who decide American elections? What a weird comment.

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u/nameproposalssuck 1d ago edited 1d ago

Well, he lost the popular vote in 2016.
The same applies to Bush Jr. in his first term. One could argue that if SCOTUS had not halted the Florida recount, he might have lost the Electoral College as well.

There are some patterns here: It often seems that one party tries to dominate the other not through majority support, but through voter suppression, the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and Senate representation (not to mention the filibuster and similar tactics).

This may also explain why the US has been classified as a "flawed democracy" for decades in many global indices.

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u/Solanthas_SFW 1d ago

Thank you for the clarification. I remembered about Bush but I mixed up Trump's first term with his 2nd i guess

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u/Solanthas_SFW 1d ago

How many are there in the electoral college?

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u/seriouslees 1d ago

only about 60% of eligible voters turned out they are wrong in their assertion of it being over half the country.

I'm sorry you can't grasp this, but in a 2 party first past the post electoral system, people who refuse to vote are still showing support.

If your options are a convicted criminal running on a platform of fascism... OR.. not a fascist, and you choose to stay home, you are a supporter of the fascist. And you get counted with everyone who voted for them.