In General Elections, Vote for the Best Outcome Overall

[MineralMan]

Here in the US, most states have primary elections to see who will run for office in the General Election. Some use the caucus system, and others use a combination of the two. Before and during primary elections for any office, we have an opportunity to field candidates whose priorities are the same as ours as far as is possible. We can propose candidates who match our ideas and those candidates can file to run in the primary election.

Once the primary election is done and the votes are counted, the number of viable candidates for almost every office is reduced to just two. One will be a Democrat and the other will be a Republican. There are always third party candidates, but it is extremely rare for any of those to be a viable candidate.

As the General Election day approaches, campaigning is intense for all races from state legislative races and state offices to the House, Senate, and Presidency, depending on the year. For each of those in almost every case, either the Democratic or Republican candidate will win the election.

It is for that reason that we must vote for the candidate between the two who will produce the best results, overall. For me, that candidate has always been the Democratic candidate. Change in the United States, and in our individual states, is almost always incremental. There will be no term of office in which every goal each of us finds important is met. No single candidate for any office can produce massive change during his or her term in office. That is not how it works.

We all have issues that we believe to be extremely important. We want those issues resolved as soon as possible. We're often frustrated when they are not. But, there has never been a term of office, whether it is two years or four, when every issue is resolved. It doesn't happen. Instead, a wide range of issues is addressed and some of them are changed or resolved. If not our own personal issue, it will be others. Which direction they go is decided by the voters, in our General Elections.

Before voting as a protest for some third party candidate, it's extremely important to think about all issues that will be decided during the next term. If, for example, it is likely that Supreme Court judges in your state or nationally will be appointed, then that is an issue. If marriage equality, for another example, will be decided during the term, that is another issue of importance, if not the most important to you as an individual. Women's rights, economic decisions, and many other issues are decided, as well. During each 2 and 4-year term, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of issues that will be decided, and the decisions will be made by the people we elect.

The bottom line is that there is a pressing need for us to elect Democrats to state and federal office. Each race is important, whether it's your state representative or governor or the congressional representative from your district or a neighboring one. In the General Election, it is crucial to vote for and campaign for the Democrat who is running, even if you believe that not every issue will be treated with the same seriousness you apply to that issue.

It is the overall direction that is decided in the General Election, not individual issues. It is the direction we will be going after the election that is at stake. Vote wisely and help bring Democratic voters to the polls. That is the activism that will produce results in our lifetimes. That is what makes the difference.

GOTV 2014 and Beyond!

[The Magistrate]

1. Hear Hear, Sir

[leftstreet]

2. I forget...which party is pushing a chained CPI?

I definitely wouldn't want to vote for that crap!

[MannyGoldstein]

3. The Republicans

By definition, only a Republican would push such a thing.

[leftstreet]

7. Oh Thank God. What about that TPP trade thing?

[MannyGoldstein]

21. That is also a Republicans-only scheme

No Democrat could possibly back such a thing.

[leftstreet]

30. I know mandatory medical insurance is GOP

So I guess that covers it!

[Scootaloo]

4. With that said...

Primary hard against the Chamberlain wing of the Democratic party. We've got enough whack-fuck conservative dickbags coming from the other party, we don't need to give them new recruits from our own number.

[MineralMan]

16. Absolutely. In the Primaries, we should be working to

put the most progressive candidate possible in the General election.

[leeroysphitz]

5. I used to vote straight ticket Dem in the general elections...

But really I just don't care anymore, so I write-in "chipmunk" then go feed wild chipmunks and tell them they're going to be the next political power in the US.

[leftstreet]

9. ...

Thanks for that!

[99Forever]

6. You do what you want..

.. I'll vote my principles, my conscience, and my integrity.

If you want my vote, put up strongly progressives candidates, period.

This My Red Team, My Blue Team horseshit is killing this nation.

[MineralMan]

17. I will do just that. I'll also encourage others to

vote for Democrats. That's what I do. That's my activism these days. I'm too old and feeble for anything else.

[99Forever]

29. Hooray for ...

... mediocre corporate approved pols, as long as they have the magic "D" behind their name, right?

Yeah, that's work out so wonderfully for We the People, hasn't it?

[treestar]

26. Interesting that your integrity allows

for Republicans getting easier access to actual power.

Your integrity amounts to useless martyrdom.

[TheKentuckian]

8. Actually, it is closer to the reverse. The overall direction is decided and how nuance (non-systemic

issues) is handled is the choice.

Our options are about the things that don't revolve around society wide resource control, power, military, police powers, civil liberties, trade, finance, education, environmental policy, energy.

The more people at home and abroad that are impacted the less choice and impact the people have.

At this point the only significant to the bone difference is for or against access to our ever evaporating rights and what our oligarchs look like, not what they do and yes there is great value there but that value is diminished by the day and will eventually be meaningless. We will have fought for decades to find ourselves equally poor and powerless but able to see faces and plumbing like ours in our overlords which won't be an advance but rather a by product of globalization that can be used to paint a false picture of moving forward when the plan is for the bulk of humanity to take steps backward.

[HardTimes99]

10. In the GE, there are really only 2 choices: fascists (Republicans) and centrists (Democrats). I look

at General Elections as my opportunity to strike a (non-violent) blow against fascism and vote accordingly, while keeping my ears peeled for any viable party that will consciously and unabashedly advance the interests of the working class. While there are some frringe left-wing parties out there that meet the test of advancing the interests of the working class, none have thus far come anywhere close to meeting my test of viability. (I do sometimes wish I lived in Vermont, so I could vote for a Democratic Socialist and have my vote mean something.)

[MineralMan]

14. That depends on where you are and how much effort went into

the primaries. Here in Minnesota, at least in my district, progressives are the rule. We insist on it. In 2012, we got rid of the centrist in our state Senate. He disappointed, so the DFL party refused to endorse him. A progressive ran in the primary and won there, and then won in the General Election.

Since Minnesota dumped Republican majorities in both houses of the state legislature, and elected a Democratic Governor in 2010, our state has become the 12th to have marriage equality and we defeated a voter ID constitutional amendment. On the other hand, there are still many things that need to be done. We did raise the minimum wage this year, though, and raised taxes on the 1%. Movement is in the right direction and the 2010 election is now history, along with the Republican's goals in that election.

[HardTimes99]

18. To Vermont I can see that I need to add the great state of

Minnesota (whence came Hubert Humphrey, one of my personal Dem heroes) as places I sometimes wish I lived. Except I can't stand the cold!

[MineralMan]

19. Minnesota is never a lock for Democrats.

People found that out in 2010, when both houses of the legislature got Republican majorities. We corrected that two years later, but nothing is certain. Every election requires a solid GOTV effort. The same was true in California, where I lived until 2004. You'd think they'd both elect Democrats almost by default. There is no default.

Without dedicated election activists, any district can turn. With those activists doing the hard work it takes, any district can elect Democrats. Even in Red States. It just takes the right candidate and massive turnout.

GOTV Always!

[Thinkingabout]

11. Good post, elections from the bottom up is important as history in the past decade or so has

Rendered a system which has proven totally uninterested in governing. Having grown up.with a mostly Democratic controlled Congress I enjoyed the fruits of their work. Electing candidates based on one issue has gotten those like Crazy Cruz and several more in his category.

I appreciate your point on revolting to a third party candidate but on the funny side if you are Democrat please do not revolt to a third party, if you Republican, revolt to third party.

[MineralMan]

15. Well, of course. Republicans should opt to vote for

any of the several reactionary third parties.

[GeorgeGist]

12. In many, if not most, cases the Best Outcome Overall ...

is none of the above.

[MineralMan]

13. That's not an option, though.

If you choose None of the Above, most often a Republican fills the seat. That's never a good outcome.

[markiv]

20. correct - tweedle dee is far superior to tweedle dum

anyone who cant see the difference must be a fool

[MineralMan]

22. Anyone who cannot see the difference between

Democratic and Republican candidates is a fool. Anyone who can't see the difference between a Democratic and a Republican majority in a state or national legislature is indeed a fool.

The difference is clear, and it's important, besides. Look at Minnesota in 2010 and 2012, and you can see the difference. It changed many things. It made a real difference. Go check it out.

[markiv]

23. H-1b visas, trade deals and NSA spying are what I care about

and there's not a dime's worth of difference between the parties on these issues

the party has absolutely no business supporting such things, there's no excuse fo it and it's a bait and switch of it's traditional pricipals

i get tired of party members getting in my face yelling WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT IS NOT IMPORTANT, WE WILL TELL YOU WHAT MATTERS

sorry, not into the top down issue thing

[MineralMan]

25. Yes, I care about those issues, too, along with dozens of other

issues. I care about a woman's right to choose. I care about marriage equality. I care about the minimum wage. I care about providing for those with limited resources. I care about many, many things.

I weigh them all with each election. The balance is always the same. I vote for the Democrat.

You will do whatever you choose to do. I will continue to support progress, slow as it is to happen.

[markiv]

28. here's where I'm coming from - had a howard dean kid come to my door

and i had this basic conversation, and the twerp told me 'people like you are what's wrong with this country!', at which point i dismissed him from my door

years later, at a political event in my town, i was talking to a guy who seemed very knowledgeable, who basically said exactly what i already thought, that both parties support the same thing, and push wedge issues to keep factions divided and in line (he explained it more elequently that that, but it's more or less what he said

who was he? i found out he was Joe Trippie, the campaign strategist for Howard Dean in 2004, the head of the campaign that little twerp was calling me 'what's wrong with this country' because i was wise enough to believe what the guy he was following really thought, rather than the propaganda

i felt entirely vindicated, then and now

[treestar]

24. Good post

One issue people rarely get what they want, because they miss this point.

[MineralMan]

27. Thank you. There are hundreds of important issues.

All are important to many people. Each is crucial to many people. It is the totality of issues that makes my decision, not individual issues. That's just me, though, I guess. Some take up one issue and ignore the rest. That trick never works.