I appreciate this analysis but I disagree with it. For Arab Americans (myself) and Muslim Americans, Trump is not a viable threat. We will not extorted into voting for Harris. Trump will be a catastrophe if he comes into office but not a worse catastrophe than Harris. The genocide continues in either case. For our community, and any allies who actually believe that genocide is a red line, even when the victims are brown Muslim people, it is critically important that we exercise our political power to block the enablers of genocide from returning to office. The Democratic Party needs to be broken of its Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, and that can only happen when they lose elections. No other strategy works. Trump is short term pain we will have to endure to achieve that strategically important long-term outcome.
Vote-shaming on the left is too divorced from discussion of the systemic reasons why popular will is suppressed in the first place. Yelling at people who vote for Harris is like getting mad that someone isn't composting their food waste. Different people make different calculations based on their values and how hard life will be. Instead of fetishizing our votes as the ultimate endorsement, we should be spending a lot more time addressing why our will is distorted by the electoral college, the Senate, gerrymandering, the Supreme Court etc.
Anyway, I completely agree with your alternate strategy, but I suppose that's easy for me to say since I'm not a swing-stater. In 2012 I cast a protest vote for Jill Stein because of Obama's continuing of illegal, violent, imperialist violence in the Middle East. And I'll do that again.
Why vote 3rd party? Why not vote a write-in? A 3rd party vote doesn't really say anything to Democrats, while a national campaign to write in -- what, I don't know yet -- would be a direct action.
This third party strategy, like all the others, is a fast train to the margins. What we need is something like the moratorium on the Vietnam War which genuinely scared Nixon, since it involved suburban women, not just student protesters. What sort of protest action or gesture can reach deep into American society? Union endorsements of an arms embargo is certainly promising. Third party babble is basically a way to tell them you've lost all interest in working with them.
I agree with your first point, but dismissing anyone who thinks we need more than two parties and their efforts the way you do will not win over anyone. We all need to work together
I agree with your Alternative Strategy. There is no way I was going to vote for Biden in 2024, even though I did in 2020. I consider him an accessory to genocide, and that overrides his progressive policies for me. Kamala is not an accessory to genocide yet. At the same time, I live in California, which will not be going Red anytime soon (I hope) so I have no qualms voting for Dr. Jill Stein, particularly since she called for a suspenion of military aid to Israel. If I lived in a swing-state, my choice would be harder.
They can sign this pledge. Www.bluevoteredline.org It's a simple statement that says we will vote for the democrats if they demand a ceasefire NOW or stop the shipments of military aid. If they don't, we will not vote for them. We are giving them every opportunity to step up. But genocide is our Red Line
I appreciate this analysis but I disagree with it. For Arab Americans (myself) and Muslim Americans, Trump is not a viable threat. We will not extorted into voting for Harris. Trump will be a catastrophe if he comes into office but not a worse catastrophe than Harris. The genocide continues in either case. For our community, and any allies who actually believe that genocide is a red line, even when the victims are brown Muslim people, it is critically important that we exercise our political power to block the enablers of genocide from returning to office. The Democratic Party needs to be broken of its Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, and that can only happen when they lose elections. No other strategy works. Trump is short term pain we will have to endure to achieve that strategically important long-term outcome.
I live in MN and will likely be voting Jill Stein as Tim Walz is currently my governor. Thank you for this thoughtful essay.
Vote-shaming on the left is too divorced from discussion of the systemic reasons why popular will is suppressed in the first place. Yelling at people who vote for Harris is like getting mad that someone isn't composting their food waste. Different people make different calculations based on their values and how hard life will be. Instead of fetishizing our votes as the ultimate endorsement, we should be spending a lot more time addressing why our will is distorted by the electoral college, the Senate, gerrymandering, the Supreme Court etc.
Anyway, I completely agree with your alternate strategy, but I suppose that's easy for me to say since I'm not a swing-stater. In 2012 I cast a protest vote for Jill Stein because of Obama's continuing of illegal, violent, imperialist violence in the Middle East. And I'll do that again.
Why vote 3rd party? Why not vote a write-in? A 3rd party vote doesn't really say anything to Democrats, while a national campaign to write in -- what, I don't know yet -- would be a direct action.
This third party strategy, like all the others, is a fast train to the margins. What we need is something like the moratorium on the Vietnam War which genuinely scared Nixon, since it involved suburban women, not just student protesters. What sort of protest action or gesture can reach deep into American society? Union endorsements of an arms embargo is certainly promising. Third party babble is basically a way to tell them you've lost all interest in working with them.
I agree with your first point, but dismissing anyone who thinks we need more than two parties and their efforts the way you do will not win over anyone. We all need to work together
I agree with your Alternative Strategy. There is no way I was going to vote for Biden in 2024, even though I did in 2020. I consider him an accessory to genocide, and that overrides his progressive policies for me. Kamala is not an accessory to genocide yet. At the same time, I live in California, which will not be going Red anytime soon (I hope) so I have no qualms voting for Dr. Jill Stein, particularly since she called for a suspenion of military aid to Israel. If I lived in a swing-state, my choice would be harder.
They can sign this pledge. Www.bluevoteredline.org It's a simple statement that says we will vote for the democrats if they demand a ceasefire NOW or stop the shipments of military aid. If they don't, we will not vote for them. We are giving them every opportunity to step up. But genocide is our Red Line
Thank you for the link. Signed! And will be voting for Jill Stein.