• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    Around 1 million New York Democrats showed up to vote, the highest raw total in a city primary since 1989, before Mamdani was born.

    Weird…

    Almost like giving people a candidate they agree with, makes them more likely to vote…

    • jeffw@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      There’s also 1 million more people than in 1989 and (I think?) a larger portion of NYCers are registered dems now. So that’s not actually that good. We should break turnout records every year if our population grows.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Fair, I always want turnout by percentage of total voters, because percent of total voters in each party is a big part of it.

        A candidate that grows the party shouldn’t have their accomplishments reduced because they drive turnout.

        We don’t live in an ideal word, most people don’t even vote in generals.

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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      13 days ago

      Why do people keep talking about candidates like they’re gifts?

      He won a PRIMARY. We get progressives in NY primaries ALL THE TIME. The only difference with Mamdani’s win is that WE SHOWED UP.

      This is how we take control of our Congress. Vote. In. Primaries.

      • MammyWhammy@lemmy.ml
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        12 days ago

        Thank you.

        I always get ticked when I see people talk in the general election “man these are two shitty candidates” when they didn’t vote in the primary.

        The primaries are where much smaller grassroots movements can be far more effective than the general.

        • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          They’re arguably the most important elections for change. We should be voting twice every two years, not once every four, for federal elections alone. It’s much easier to remember with mail-in ballots, and they give you the names to research if you’ve been too busy to keep up.

  • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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    13 days ago

    You know they’re shitting themselves. Progressive successes pose more of a threat to incumbent Democrats than Republican successes

    • SoupBrick@pawb.social
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      13 days ago

      Nah, we just need to co-opt the current blue party and drag liberals along for the ride. Just need people willing to run on progressive policies.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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          13 days ago

          If I had a dollar for everyone who complained about Dem candidates but didn’t vote in the primaries, I’d probably deserve the guillotine.

      • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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        12 days ago

        And a party willing to not put all its resources to preventing them from winning. Mamdani’s example is inspiring, and he’s likely going to win, but part of this is because his opponents are all toxic. In a more serious contest this sort of party meddling can and will tank progressive candidates to the benefit of Republicans.

        • MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          They’re going to tank the progressive candidate regardless of whether or not they run as a Democrat. You have to take away power here, not just try to beat it. Winning primaries, and also actual party positions, both makes them weaker and us stronger. That’s way easier than trying to take both the Democratic Party and the GOP in a general.

          I think we just need to outwork those fuckers and 20% turnout in the primaries just isn’t going to cut it. The number of people who support progressive policies dwarfs the number of people who vote in the primaries. Until that changes, a 3rd party isn’t going to do shit.

          • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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            12 days ago

            They’re going to tank the progressive candidate regardless of whether or not they run as a Democrat.

            True, which is why it’s important to have a free hand to fight back. It’s a lot harder to attack the Democratic Party as the hopelessly corrupt institution it is from the inside than from the outside. It’s easier to organize as a third party than as a group of individuals in a big tent organization that wants you gone, and that way you can take more radical action and use more radical rhetoric than when you’re in one way or another beholden to the party apparatus. For example a third party would be able to do things like organize protests, civil disobedience and strikes (which should be a hallmark tactic of any self-respecting leftists opposition party), attack establishment Democrats for being sellouts, run even when party sabotage tanks your primary campaign, put a whole organization’s weight behind favored candidates rather than individual endorsements and play hardball when you don’t get your way in government like centrists like to do so often. Of course splitting the vote under FPTP can lead to Republican victories, but with smart risk control this can be mitigated at less cost than cooperating with Democrats. Now technically most of these things can be done even as part of the Democratic Party, but they just aren’t, so founding a new party with principles and organization conductive to leftist action will result in a generally more effective party apparatus. Meanwhile trying to take over the DNC certainly offers a more attractive prize, but it comes with a whole spider web’s worth of strings attached.

            • meyotch@slrpnk.net
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              12 days ago

              Do both. People on the inside bolstered by support from outside groups. We are Legion. We can execute such a strategy.

          • meyotch@slrpnk.net
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            12 days ago

            Yep, primaries and special elections are where grassroots grit can have the biggest impact. In my jurisdiction, there was a special election related to home rule. It was a MAGA power grab, no question.

            It was defeated with almost 70% saying no to the formation of the Commission that would draft a home rule charter. About 30% of eligible voters in the county turned out, which is really high for a special.

    • meyotch@slrpnk.net
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      13 days ago

      We get it by taking over the Dems and forcing all the Goldwater Republicans in charge currently to join what remains of the Republican Party.

      • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Exactly. They’re already going to get the votes of the people who only pay enough attention to vote Working Families in the general election. We just need to replace those candidates with progressives in the primaries. It’s shouldn’t be too difficult with the current <15% attendance. Mamdani saw a whopping 30% turnout.

    • Eatspancakes84@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      The establishment pushing against him is a good thing. Think about what happened the first time Trump announced his candidacy. Voters love to vote for candidates that the establishment hates.

  • SoupBrick@pawb.social
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    13 days ago

    *Democrats refuse to change policies in order to continue profiting off the suffering of constituents.

    • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
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      12 days ago

      No third party will ever have a chance of being successful. The Dems and Repubs wrote the laws to make sure of it. That’s why they can’t.

      • Raltoid@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        Not even just that they wrote laws to protect their status: A two party system is in and of itself prone to issues like what is currently going on. George Washington knew that, and warned about its dangers. Because it has happened multiple times throughout history.

    • ultranaut@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I think you should study the US political system more. They see the most realistic path to making change. If the Left can’t wield one of the two parties it will never wield the state.