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Since I won't ever get to vote for a Pro-Choice Pro-2nd Amendment president, I guess I'll just stop watching the news, because I can not fathom how we can be sk

Since I won't ever get to vote for a Pro-Choice Pro-2nd Amendment president, I guess I'll just stop watching the news, because I can not fathom how we can be skewing Republican after everything that's happened.

coding123 5y ago
Things went too left, now "everyone" wants a republican to undo it. Well when I say "everyone" I just mean a lot of moderate democrats.
- neutronicus 5y ago
  Personally, I would guess it has more to do with people's attitudes shifting away from the COVID-cautious attitude the Dems staked out towards the Republicans' back-to-normal, outraged-at-restrictions stance.
- AlexandrB 5y ago
  Undo what? The only government-controlled "left" thing that happened is adding CRT to some school curriculums. Oh, and anti-trust enforcement is ramping up again - though that seems bipartisan. "Wokeism" and other right-wing boogeymen are cultural or corporate in nature. I think the current Democratic administration is most notable for its fecklessness and inability to get anything at all done. Maybe that's what's driving voters away.
  - thereddaikon 5y ago
    On the federal level the biggest problem is the economy in general and inflation and jobs specifically. As the the saying goes, its the economy stupid. Whether its the big guy's fault doesn't ever matter. People will always hold the president responsible for the economy. The effects of inflation has just hit us and prices jumped. The job market is also a mess, there's the great resignation of course but I think I speaks to a larger cultural shift in American work culture that will have long term implications. On the state and local levels there is the tug of war between governments trying to keep covid under control and those same measures being deeply unpopular. I don't know what the solution to that is but there is a sizeable enough group of voters who just want to get on with their lives that its having an effect.
    - AlexandrB 5y ago
      I agree that the economy is probably forefront in voters' minds, but there's nothing to "undo" in this area. I guess a Republican administration could cancel the infrastructure bill? It's not like Biden passed a series of radical policies that changed how the economy works.
      - thereddaikon 5y ago
        It's not that simple. It isn't about a particular bill. People want their lives back. They want inflation under control, they want their jobs and retirement secure. They want to be able to buy a car without having to wait a year for it to arrive. They want to go to sports games and have holidays and watch movies and all the other things we consider normal. They want to buy a house and not have speculators and investment firms jacking up prices because the rich already saw the problem with the market so they traded their cheap cash for physical assets a year ago. As long as COVID and the economy aren't "fixed" whoever is in power will have them as major problems.
        Damogran6 5y ago
        As if a pandemic can be fixed politically.
        thereddaikon 5y ago
        Hey man I don't make the rules. People expect leaders to come up with solutions. Obviously it doesn't always work that way but if you can't handle the criticism then don't apply for the job. Its not exactly a secret at this point that the economy is always the president's fault even when it isn't.
        coding123 5y ago
        We give them the resources to fix it and they don't. Fuck, there are homes everywhere, we have the ability to dig, plant, make food, we still have the ability to transport things around. I know that no one wants to work anymore - but at this point, the entire economy is a state of feeling - and that's exactly what a president (or actually all of the leaders of the world) MUST fix. The resources are ALL there, but I think everyone is just letting it all go to shit.
- tasty_freeze 5y ago
  Can you be more specific about what things went too left since Biden was elected? It was my impression that people are more dissatisfied about their jobs and that covid is still plaguing us.
  - coding123 5y ago
    Other people are pointing to it in the thread, but it's mostly about forced vaccines and not a damn thing about getting people N95 masks - which was one of the things Biden said he would work on getting everyone access to. And nothing was said of forced vaccines in his run up. Also the inflation and crime seems to be skyrocketing and crime is often better handled by republican leadership. I mean look at Boudin in SF. Ultra LEFT news and you get break ins. This says it all for me: https://www.foxnews.com/media/san-francisco-chronicle-ripped-for-asking-if-residents-should-tolerate-burglaries https://www.foxnews.com/media/san-francisco-chronicle-ripped... I know Biden isn't responsible for this, but it's just echo chambers from the top down that causes this. edit: @nradov, thanks for the clarity there.
    - nradov 5y ago
      Biden specifically stated in December 2020 that he wouldn't impose a vaccine mandate. Regardless of whether such mandates are a good idea or not, I think many voters are upset that he lied about it. https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe-biden-no-vaccines-mandatory-december-2020-1627774 https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe-biden-no-vaccines-ma...
    - tasty_freeze 5y ago
      You said that political party preferences have shifted in 2021 because things have gone too far left. The things you point are are unrelated. If you had said people are moving toward the R column because Biden hasn't met his campaign promise, that would be a valid argument. There was a shortage of N95 masks under the previous administration, there continues to be a shortage, and you ascribe that to some movement toward the left. That is a non sequitur. As for the homeless problem in SF: again, has that issue changed since Biden took office? You have cultural myopia if you think a local SF issue is causing national polling trends to shift right. SF homelessness was an issue in 2020 when Biden was elected and people voted Dem to begin with.
- nitwit005 5y ago
  Nobody seems to have moved to the left though. The only significant thing that passed was an infrastructure bill, and none of the Democrats in congress seemed to have made any radical opinion shifts.
  - person22 5y ago
    I think this was a case of playing vote chicken. There were a tiny number of democrats who were never going to vote for those bills. There are a larger group that didn't want to vote for those bills but didn't want to go against party lines. So they voted for bills knowing that they wouldn't pass. They risked nothing and still got the outcome they desired.
  - thisiscorrect 5y ago
    The summer of 2020 included a number of radical opinion shifts among politicians. Or maybe, since we can't know a person's mind and what opinions they'd previously quietly believed, more like radical shifts in publicly stated position.
  - pbourke 5y ago
    > The only significant thing that passed was an infrastructure bill The American Rescue Plan passed in March 2021
hammock 5y ago
Bernie Sanders...
- Damogran6 5y ago
  Who won't ever get a serious chance to debate...the structure is set up to permit Coke vs. Pepsi... not Coke v. Pepsi v. RC Cola
  - datameta 5y ago
    I'd have agreed with you if Bernie hadn't been able to effectively voice his views during the Democratic Preaidential Debates in the 2020 election. And prior, in 2016, he was able to shift the collective viewpoint of the Democrats. I think he has had a tremendous impact, even if he wasn't able to go all the way.
  - tharne 5y ago
    Bernie Sanders won't get a serious chance to debate because his platform appeals to a small minority of Americans and most folks don't want he's selling. Democrats make up less than half of votes and progressives are a minority of Democrats. To borrow an analogy from Jerry Garcia, Bernie Sanders is the black licorice of American politicians. Most people don't like him, but the people who like him really like him.
    - AlexandrB 5y ago
      Something like 70% of Americans support some form of "medicare for all"[1]. And as another poster mentioned Bernie was to the right of many democrats on the second amendment. I'm not sure which unpopular issues you're referring to. > Democrats make up less than half of votes Not the popular vote. Even Hillary managed to win the popular vote in 2016. [1] https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/494602-poll-69-percent-of-voters-support-medicare-for-all https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/494602-pol...
      - tharne 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
blip54321 5y ago
The two sides of the political spectrum see very different images, and there's a very different "everything that happened" depending on which news source you see. "Everything that happened" includes cancel culture, woke culture, etc. It includes images like Kenosha burning. If you're a poor working-class white male, it's hard to vote for the party who calls you privileged. If those are the images you're seeing, you'll vote one way. If you see images of police killing minorities, you'll vote another way.
- chasd00 5y ago
  "it's hard to vote for the party who calls you privileged." that's very true and it goes both ways (right-to-left and left-to-right). When you call someone the enemy long enough they will eventually start to feel the same way towards you.
  - Damogran6 5y ago
    Let's not overlook the intentional messaging to get you to feel that way. It's lucrative to get people stirred up.
notch656a 5y ago
2A is dead. Learn to 3d print guns. It's very easy. It will get even easier. Some fine folks have even figured out how to make ammunition from unregulated components in Europe.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > 2A is dead. Learn to 3d print guns. It's very easy. It will get even easier. Some fine folks have even figured out how to make ammunition from unregulated components in Europe. Huh? Being able to produce something illegally is in no way a substitute for having a right to possess that thing legally. 1. 3D printed guns are crap. 2. Some people would like possess a gun that isn't a "go to jail card." 3. Some people would like to be able to conventionally practice shooting their guns, without attracting "go to jail" attention. The only thing that 3d printed guns and homemade "ammunition from unregulated components" is to how gun control to be a futile effort, because criminals will still have access to them even if law-abiding citizens are blocked. A criminal planning a crime might not mind points 2 & 3 above, but a law abiding citizen certainly will.
  - notch656a 5y ago
    >1. 3D printed guns are crap. Hybrid like FGC-9 can be reliable for over a thousand rounds. Non-firearm parts added in US to a printed AR or glock receiver ['firearm'] can be good for several thousand. >Huh? Being able to produce something illegally is in no way a substitute for having a right to possess that thing legally. Aight so how do I carry a glock for defense in Hawaii? How about carrying a glock for defense in DC after catching a felony for illegally importing a lobster? Can I drill a 3rd hill in an AR without asking daddy for permission? >3. Some people would like to be able to conventionally practice shooting their guns, without attracting "go to jail" attention. Aight, so tell me how I could avoid being infringed while mag dumping a lightning-link. 2A is dead, we have a patchwork of [compared to rest of world] liberal gun laws that allow you to enjoy some firearms in some situations. But it's infringed to hell, particularly if you are a 'felon' [not in the sense of a felon when constitution was written -- just walking onto a prohibited water conservation area without disturbing it is a felony in my state]. The alternative is the politics of the deed, just make it. Sure 2A would be better than mere ability to make them. But you have to live within reality. The needle isn't moving back to free of infringement. >but a law abiding citizen certainly will Well 2A says keeping/bearing a gun can't be illegal. Unfortunately state and federal laws say otherwise, and judges are happy to bend over and make any excuse to infringe, particularly against felons.
sAbakumoff 5y ago
they are "skewing" republicans because the democrats are not doing a damn thing to help people who faced inflation, supply chain issues, higher gas prices, COVID, endless mass shootings, etc. Biden's agenda is dead, he blown up BB spectacularly, he is limited to executive orders power but he does not seem to be willing to apply it properly(cancel the students' debt, legalize weed, use ACA to the full extent, etc) Republicans have NOTHING to offer to people except of cultural issues, but they are winning because they are not democrats.
- chasd00 5y ago
  how can an executive order legalize weed or cancel student debt? you can't just change a law with an executive order, if so then what's the purpose of the legislature?
  - sAbakumoff 5y ago
    Higher Education Act of 1965 allows Biden to cancel the debt, some legal experts say. As for weed, he just need to remove it from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Keep in mind that this is what Bernie run on, so it is feasible.
    - AlexandrB 5y ago
      US weed regulation is such a confusing mess. Even if you personally think weed should be illegal, I'm not sure what political benefit there is to keeping it as Schedule I federally. Legalization is clearly popular as many states have either legalized it or are in the process of doing so.
    - nradov 5y ago
      I don't think the President can just change drug scheduling by executive order. Legally changes have to go through an administrative process.
      - chasd00 5y ago
nradov 5y ago
You could have voted for Jo Jorgensen. Sure she had no chance of winning, but protest votes for third-party candidates help build momentum for the long term. Be the change you want to see in the world. https://ballotpedia.org/Jo_Jorgensen_presidential_campaign,_2020 https://ballotpedia.org/Jo_Jorgensen_presidential_campaign,_...
- cosmojg 5y ago
  Depending on what state you live in, voting for a Democratic or Republican candidate may be more of a waste of your vote than voting for third-party presidential candidates. Given that nearly all states (excluding Maine and Nebraska) use a winner-takes-all approach when sending their delegates to the electoral college, marginal votes for Democratic or Republican candidates in states with solid Democratic or Republican majorities are largely wasted (contrary to popular belief about the opposite being true). After receiving 5% of the national vote, third parties qualify for federal funding. After receiving 15% of the national vote, third parties qualify for participation in national debates. Out of all the candidates on the ballot in the last election, Joe Biden was my favorite, but I didn't vote for him. I live in Massachusetts, a state which had a near-100% probability of sending all of its delegates to the electoral college in the name of Joe Biden. I voted for Jo Jorgensen, not because I support her or her party, but because she and her party had the greatest chance of hitting that 5% threshold and I personally value a chance of increasing political competition between parties over the empty virtue signalling I would have achieved by voting for Joe Biden instead. I strongly believe that having more parties will strengthen our democracy, and by strategically voting for Jo Jorgensen, I know that I increased the impact of my vote and my likelihood of making the world a better place. Unless you live in a proportional state (e.g., Maine, Nebraska) or a swing state (e.g., Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin), you are absolutely wasting your vote and your time by voting for a Democratic or Republican presidential candidate instead of a third party.

coding123 5y ago

Things went too left, now "everyone" wants a republican to undo it. Well when I say "everyone" I just mean a lot of moderate democrats.

neutronicus 5y ago
Personally, I would guess it has more to do with people's attitudes shifting away from the COVID-cautious attitude the Dems staked out towards the Republicans' back-to-normal, outraged-at-restrictions stance.
AlexandrB 5y ago
Undo what? The only government-controlled "left" thing that happened is adding CRT to some school curriculums. Oh, and anti-trust enforcement is ramping up again - though that seems bipartisan. "Wokeism" and other right-wing boogeymen are cultural or corporate in nature. I think the current Democratic administration is most notable for its fecklessness and inability to get anything at all done. Maybe that's what's driving voters away.
- thereddaikon 5y ago
  On the federal level the biggest problem is the economy in general and inflation and jobs specifically. As the the saying goes, its the economy stupid. Whether its the big guy's fault doesn't ever matter. People will always hold the president responsible for the economy. The effects of inflation has just hit us and prices jumped. The job market is also a mess, there's the great resignation of course but I think I speaks to a larger cultural shift in American work culture that will have long term implications. On the state and local levels there is the tug of war between governments trying to keep covid under control and those same measures being deeply unpopular. I don't know what the solution to that is but there is a sizeable enough group of voters who just want to get on with their lives that its having an effect.
  - AlexandrB 5y ago
    I agree that the economy is probably forefront in voters' minds, but there's nothing to "undo" in this area. I guess a Republican administration could cancel the infrastructure bill? It's not like Biden passed a series of radical policies that changed how the economy works.
    - thereddaikon 5y ago
      It's not that simple. It isn't about a particular bill. People want their lives back. They want inflation under control, they want their jobs and retirement secure. They want to be able to buy a car without having to wait a year for it to arrive. They want to go to sports games and have holidays and watch movies and all the other things we consider normal. They want to buy a house and not have speculators and investment firms jacking up prices because the rich already saw the problem with the market so they traded their cheap cash for physical assets a year ago. As long as COVID and the economy aren't "fixed" whoever is in power will have them as major problems.
      - Damogran6 5y ago
        As if a pandemic can be fixed politically.
        thereddaikon 5y ago
        Hey man I don't make the rules. People expect leaders to come up with solutions. Obviously it doesn't always work that way but if you can't handle the criticism then don't apply for the job. Its not exactly a secret at this point that the economy is always the president's fault even when it isn't.
        coding123 5y ago
        We give them the resources to fix it and they don't. Fuck, there are homes everywhere, we have the ability to dig, plant, make food, we still have the ability to transport things around. I know that no one wants to work anymore - but at this point, the entire economy is a state of feeling - and that's exactly what a president (or actually all of the leaders of the world) MUST fix. The resources are ALL there, but I think everyone is just letting it all go to shit.
tasty_freeze 5y ago
Can you be more specific about what things went too left since Biden was elected? It was my impression that people are more dissatisfied about their jobs and that covid is still plaguing us.
- coding123 5y ago
  Other people are pointing to it in the thread, but it's mostly about forced vaccines and not a damn thing about getting people N95 masks - which was one of the things Biden said he would work on getting everyone access to. And nothing was said of forced vaccines in his run up. Also the inflation and crime seems to be skyrocketing and crime is often better handled by republican leadership. I mean look at Boudin in SF. Ultra LEFT news and you get break ins. This says it all for me: https://www.foxnews.com/media/san-francisco-chronicle-ripped-for-asking-if-residents-should-tolerate-burglaries https://www.foxnews.com/media/san-francisco-chronicle-ripped... I know Biden isn't responsible for this, but it's just echo chambers from the top down that causes this. edit: @nradov, thanks for the clarity there.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Biden specifically stated in December 2020 that he wouldn't impose a vaccine mandate. Regardless of whether such mandates are a good idea or not, I think many voters are upset that he lied about it. https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe-biden-no-vaccines-mandatory-december-2020-1627774 https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe-biden-no-vaccines-ma...
  - tasty_freeze 5y ago
    You said that political party preferences have shifted in 2021 because things have gone too far left. The things you point are are unrelated. If you had said people are moving toward the R column because Biden hasn't met his campaign promise, that would be a valid argument. There was a shortage of N95 masks under the previous administration, there continues to be a shortage, and you ascribe that to some movement toward the left. That is a non sequitur. As for the homeless problem in SF: again, has that issue changed since Biden took office? You have cultural myopia if you think a local SF issue is causing national polling trends to shift right. SF homelessness was an issue in 2020 when Biden was elected and people voted Dem to begin with.
nitwit005 5y ago
Nobody seems to have moved to the left though. The only significant thing that passed was an infrastructure bill, and none of the Democrats in congress seemed to have made any radical opinion shifts.
- person22 5y ago
  I think this was a case of playing vote chicken. There were a tiny number of democrats who were never going to vote for those bills. There are a larger group that didn't want to vote for those bills but didn't want to go against party lines. So they voted for bills knowing that they wouldn't pass. They risked nothing and still got the outcome they desired.
- thisiscorrect 5y ago
  The summer of 2020 included a number of radical opinion shifts among politicians. Or maybe, since we can't know a person's mind and what opinions they'd previously quietly believed, more like radical shifts in publicly stated position.
- pbourke 5y ago
  > The only significant thing that passed was an infrastructure bill The American Rescue Plan passed in March 2021

hammock 5y ago

Bernie Sanders...

Damogran6 5y ago
Who won't ever get a serious chance to debate...the structure is set up to permit Coke vs. Pepsi... not Coke v. Pepsi v. RC Cola
- datameta 5y ago
  I'd have agreed with you if Bernie hadn't been able to effectively voice his views during the Democratic Preaidential Debates in the 2020 election. And prior, in 2016, he was able to shift the collective viewpoint of the Democrats. I think he has had a tremendous impact, even if he wasn't able to go all the way.
- tharne 5y ago
  Bernie Sanders won't get a serious chance to debate because his platform appeals to a small minority of Americans and most folks don't want he's selling. Democrats make up less than half of votes and progressives are a minority of Democrats. To borrow an analogy from Jerry Garcia, Bernie Sanders is the black licorice of American politicians. Most people don't like him, but the people who like him really like him.
  - AlexandrB 5y ago
    Something like 70% of Americans support some form of "medicare for all"[1]. And as another poster mentioned Bernie was to the right of many democrats on the second amendment. I'm not sure which unpopular issues you're referring to. > Democrats make up less than half of votes Not the popular vote. Even Hillary managed to win the popular vote in 2016. [1] https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/494602-poll-69-percent-of-voters-support-medicare-for-all https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/494602-pol...
    - tharne 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

blip54321 5y ago

The two sides of the political spectrum see very different images, and there's a very different "everything that happened" depending on which news source you see. "Everything that happened" includes cancel culture, woke culture, etc. It includes images like Kenosha burning. If you're a poor working-class white male, it's hard to vote for the party who calls you privileged. If those are the images you're seeing, you'll vote one way. If you see images of police killing minorities, you'll vote another way.

chasd00 5y ago
"it's hard to vote for the party who calls you privileged." that's very true and it goes both ways (right-to-left and left-to-right). When you call someone the enemy long enough they will eventually start to feel the same way towards you.
- Damogran6 5y ago
  Let's not overlook the intentional messaging to get you to feel that way. It's lucrative to get people stirred up.

notch656a 5y ago

2A is dead. Learn to 3d print guns. It's very easy. It will get even easier. Some fine folks have even figured out how to make ammunition from unregulated components in Europe.

tablespoon 5y ago
> 2A is dead. Learn to 3d print guns. It's very easy. It will get even easier. Some fine folks have even figured out how to make ammunition from unregulated components in Europe. Huh? Being able to produce something illegally is in no way a substitute for having a right to possess that thing legally. 1. 3D printed guns are crap. 2. Some people would like possess a gun that isn't a "go to jail card." 3. Some people would like to be able to conventionally practice shooting their guns, without attracting "go to jail" attention. The only thing that 3d printed guns and homemade "ammunition from unregulated components" is to how gun control to be a futile effort, because criminals will still have access to them even if law-abiding citizens are blocked. A criminal planning a crime might not mind points 2 & 3 above, but a law abiding citizen certainly will.
- notch656a 5y ago
  >1. 3D printed guns are crap. Hybrid like FGC-9 can be reliable for over a thousand rounds. Non-firearm parts added in US to a printed AR or glock receiver ['firearm'] can be good for several thousand. >Huh? Being able to produce something illegally is in no way a substitute for having a right to possess that thing legally. Aight so how do I carry a glock for defense in Hawaii? How about carrying a glock for defense in DC after catching a felony for illegally importing a lobster? Can I drill a 3rd hill in an AR without asking daddy for permission? >3. Some people would like to be able to conventionally practice shooting their guns, without attracting "go to jail" attention. Aight, so tell me how I could avoid being infringed while mag dumping a lightning-link. 2A is dead, we have a patchwork of [compared to rest of world] liberal gun laws that allow you to enjoy some firearms in some situations. But it's infringed to hell, particularly if you are a 'felon' [not in the sense of a felon when constitution was written -- just walking onto a prohibited water conservation area without disturbing it is a felony in my state]. The alternative is the politics of the deed, just make it. Sure 2A would be better than mere ability to make them. But you have to live within reality. The needle isn't moving back to free of infringement. >but a law abiding citizen certainly will Well 2A says keeping/bearing a gun can't be illegal. Unfortunately state and federal laws say otherwise, and judges are happy to bend over and make any excuse to infringe, particularly against felons.

sAbakumoff 5y ago

they are "skewing" republicans because the democrats are not doing a damn thing to help people who faced inflation, supply chain issues, higher gas prices, COVID, endless mass shootings, etc. Biden's agenda is dead, he blown up BB spectacularly, he is limited to executive orders power but he does not seem to be willing to apply it properly(cancel the students' debt, legalize weed, use ACA to the full extent, etc) Republicans have NOTHING to offer to people except of cultural issues, but they are winning because they are not democrats.

chasd00 5y ago
how can an executive order legalize weed or cancel student debt? you can't just change a law with an executive order, if so then what's the purpose of the legislature?
- sAbakumoff 5y ago
  Higher Education Act of 1965 allows Biden to cancel the debt, some legal experts say. As for weed, he just need to remove it from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Keep in mind that this is what Bernie run on, so it is feasible.
  - AlexandrB 5y ago
    US weed regulation is such a confusing mess. Even if you personally think weed should be illegal, I'm not sure what political benefit there is to keeping it as Schedule I federally. Legalization is clearly popular as many states have either legalized it or are in the process of doing so.
  - nradov 5y ago
    I don't think the President can just change drug scheduling by executive order. Legally changes have to go through an administrative process.
    - chasd00 5y ago

nradov 5y ago

You could have voted for Jo Jorgensen. Sure she had no chance of winning, but protest votes for third-party candidates help build momentum for the long term. Be the change you want to see in the world. https://ballotpedia.org/Jo_Jorgensen_presidential_campaign,_2020 https://ballotpedia.org/Jo_Jorgensen_presidential_campaign,_...

cosmojg 5y ago
Depending on what state you live in, voting for a Democratic or Republican candidate may be more of a waste of your vote than voting for third-party presidential candidates. Given that nearly all states (excluding Maine and Nebraska) use a winner-takes-all approach when sending their delegates to the electoral college, marginal votes for Democratic or Republican candidates in states with solid Democratic or Republican majorities are largely wasted (contrary to popular belief about the opposite being true). After receiving 5% of the national vote, third parties qualify for federal funding. After receiving 15% of the national vote, third parties qualify for participation in national debates. Out of all the candidates on the ballot in the last election, Joe Biden was my favorite, but I didn't vote for him. I live in Massachusetts, a state which had a near-100% probability of sending all of its delegates to the electoral college in the name of Joe Biden. I voted for Jo Jorgensen, not because I support her or her party, but because she and her party had the greatest chance of hitting that 5% threshold and I personally value a chance of increasing political competition between parties over the empty virtue signalling I would have achieved by voting for Joe Biden instead. I strongly believe that having more parties will strengthen our democracy, and by strategically voting for Jo Jorgensen, I know that I increased the impact of my vote and my likelihood of making the world a better place. Unless you live in a proportional state (e.g., Maine, Nebraska) or a swing state (e.g., Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin), you are absolutely wasting your vote and your time by voting for a Democratic or Republican presidential candidate instead of a third party.