1. I would vote for Biden because everything must be done to stop Trump. With Biden, at least protest and debate will still be possible. Americans can protest Biden once he's in office. They can hold him to account.
Equally any RFK options must also be ignored.
2. There's a side to me that thinks, let it rip. So much seems to be conspiring to funnel Trump in (including Biden's support of Israel) I wonder whether humanity should be standing in the way.
Yes, I keep oscillating between these kinds of thoughts too. I can understand the argument for doing anything to stop Trump, but couldn’t bring myself to vote for someone who’s so proudly supporting, arming and funding a genocide. I just don’t think Biden deserves anyone’s vote. Part of me also thinks that a slide into civil war and then full-blown fascism is an inevitability in the US – and that another Biden term is just postponing a future that's already been mapped out, but then I’m not a Mexican immigrant or a Black transgender woman or a pregnant teenager in the Midwest needing an abortion, or anyone else who’ll be directly and horribly impacted by the plans that Trump and the Republican Party have in store if they win.
I don’t know what the third option is – whether voting for an alternative candidate will have any positive impact, or whether voting informally will send a message that needs to be heard, or if there’s some other ‘third way’, but options A and B both seem impossibly awful.
I think most commentary is saying a vote for RFK is a vote for Trump. In effect.
I have come to realise voting is not a popularity contest, it has to be tactical. The US election, I feel, needs to be a tactical effort to save democracy.
I think RFK is really dangerous too and definitely popular with the Trump crowd. Aren't Cornel West and Jill Stein still in the running? Both seem head and shoulders above the other candidate, though I can't see either of them getting as many votes as RFK will likely get, so maybe you're right.
I think Gaza has shown us though (those who didn't already have their doubts) that democracy is largely an illusion. I don't know - I'm feeling very down about it all...
Yes, absolutely. If I was in the US, there's no way I could vote for either Trump or Biden though – it's such a grim choice they're facing.
I have two thoughts.
1. I would vote for Biden because everything must be done to stop Trump. With Biden, at least protest and debate will still be possible. Americans can protest Biden once he's in office. They can hold him to account.
Equally any RFK options must also be ignored.
2. There's a side to me that thinks, let it rip. So much seems to be conspiring to funnel Trump in (including Biden's support of Israel) I wonder whether humanity should be standing in the way.
Overall, however, 2 is far too dystopian for me.
Yes, I keep oscillating between these kinds of thoughts too. I can understand the argument for doing anything to stop Trump, but couldn’t bring myself to vote for someone who’s so proudly supporting, arming and funding a genocide. I just don’t think Biden deserves anyone’s vote. Part of me also thinks that a slide into civil war and then full-blown fascism is an inevitability in the US – and that another Biden term is just postponing a future that's already been mapped out, but then I’m not a Mexican immigrant or a Black transgender woman or a pregnant teenager in the Midwest needing an abortion, or anyone else who’ll be directly and horribly impacted by the plans that Trump and the Republican Party have in store if they win.
I don’t know what the third option is – whether voting for an alternative candidate will have any positive impact, or whether voting informally will send a message that needs to be heard, or if there’s some other ‘third way’, but options A and B both seem impossibly awful.
I think most commentary is saying a vote for RFK is a vote for Trump. In effect.
I have come to realise voting is not a popularity contest, it has to be tactical. The US election, I feel, needs to be a tactical effort to save democracy.
I think RFK is really dangerous too and definitely popular with the Trump crowd. Aren't Cornel West and Jill Stein still in the running? Both seem head and shoulders above the other candidate, though I can't see either of them getting as many votes as RFK will likely get, so maybe you're right.
I think Gaza has shown us though (those who didn't already have their doubts) that democracy is largely an illusion. I don't know - I'm feeling very down about it all...
I feel compelled to dignify it, hold it up, remind people that it's the goal.
It's a disappointing reframing...but actually not an inaccurate take on how democracy is meant to work.