America has more independent voters than Democrats or Republicans. Are they changing American politics?

  • ChihuahuaOfDoom@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    56
    ·
    5 months ago

    I’m a registered independent, I did it because neither party represents me. I almost always vote democrat but I really wish there were more options.

    • pdxfed@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      It’s a common misconception but if you registered you aren’t “independent” you are a member of your state’s Independent party, who has a platform and agenda you may or may not agree with.

      You don’t need to register with any party to show you don’t like R or D. Go for “little i independent”.

      • RippleEffect@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        5 months ago

        I thought I saw something about that but didn’t remember where or look further into it. I just didn’t want to register as either of the big 2. How do we link up independent voters to a new party? We don’t have to play democrat/republican in the long game if we can get enough people on board to shift the board.

        I recognize this will take time and considerable effort, but I think a new party with a clean history would do this country good. Who is the outside team that’s got some momentum that we can build on? (albeit not for this prez cycle, sadly)

        • pdxfed@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          5 months ago

          The way to do it is to support ranked choice and other voting systems that are not first past the post all/nothing; this would eventually lead to changing of the composition of congress over time and the two parties would have to learn how to moderate and negotiate their stances just like happens in democracies all over the world.

  • cerement@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    “I think Gen Z will not be ignored, and … a lot of those folks are tired of parties. Their entire life, people have been lying to them and not coming through.”

  • AIhasUse@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    5 months ago

    It’s so interesting watching the BoTh SiDeS warriors shrink. It used to be full of them on posts like this, chanting their mantra at anyone who points out similarities or any articles that mentions people are pissed at us politics in general. Now, if they do show up, it’s just one or two.

    • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      25
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Are they shrinking? I get downvoted to hell for saying “<x> was bad when Trump did it, it’s bad when Biden does it”.

      I expect this will continue until the election, at which point they will blame the left for telling them that Biden needs to stop doing bad things and start helping people if he wants to be elected.

      And then they will pretend to care about concentration camps for migrants, anti-LGBT laws, women’s rights, police brutality, Palestinians, etc again, for about 3 years, at which point they will tell us that actually those things make a candidate unelectable until the primary is over, and then go back to pretending that they stand for those things until election day.

      Then if the dem candidate wins, the president will simply be powerless to do anything, because they only got 51% or wait no they needed a supermajority or wait no they needed a supermajority plus enough to stop the villain of the week, or wait no they needed some SCOTUS to die off, or wait no they needed the parliamentarian, etc etc.

      Repeat until republicans are in power again.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        21
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        5 months ago

        And then they will pretend to care about concentration camps for migrants, anti-LGBT laws, women’s rights, police brutality, Palestinians,

        Are you seriously trying to claim Democrats don’t care about those things? What utter nonsense.

        • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          12
          arrow-down
          15
          ·
          5 months ago

          Yes, if the democrats did care about these things, they would have emptied the concentration camps instead of writing the most draconian anti-immigration bill in recent history, then overriding congress when it didn’t pass, defunded the police instead of advising states to divert covid funds to them, stopped giving Israel the bombs to carry out a genocide, and stacked the court during the 2 years they had a majority and could have done so, instead of changing the rules so they couldn’t.

          You don’t get to campaign on maintaining Roe V Wade, then do nothing to prevent its overturn, and claim you cared about Roe v Wade.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            12
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            5 months ago

            So by “Democrats,” you mean “members of the Democratic party who have been elected in their districts or states, not necessarily because all of the Democrats in that state wanted them to run,” and not “registered Democrats,” which is what this is about.

            Or are you under the bizarre impression that America is a direct democracy?

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                8
                arrow-down
                7
                ·
                5 months ago

                So you’re changing the subject from what OP posted about.

                If you had made that clear in the first place, I wouldn’t have wasted my time.

                • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  8
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  5 months ago

                  Are you being obtuse or do you really not understand how the democrats failing to represent the will of their voters connects to registered democrats leaving the party?

        • AIhasUse@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          15
          ·
          5 months ago

          Seriously. Biden’s bombs have literally been blowing up anti-LGBTQ+ people almost every day for the last 10 months. You don’t get much more pro-LGBTQ+ than that!

  • Stamau123@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    I wish I lived in a state with ranked choice voting, in Colorado I believe it’s optional at a county level which is lame

    Or that it was in more states

  • mctoasterson@reddthat.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    5 months ago

    Haven’t voted for either of the major party candidates in the last several elections. Like many people, I have tried to reform parties from the inside and have also tried elevating third parties and independent candidates. It is frustrating.

    The two major parties in the US are baskets of mostly unrelated issues and policy positions. Seems to me that only the most braindead normies agree with even 60% of either these party platforms, much less 90%. All votes seem like “defensive” votes to prevent the excesses of your less-preferred party.

    It would be nice to be able to actually vote for something in my lifetime, that actually has a feasible chance of winning.

    • Omega@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      Call it defensive because it’s protecting rights if you want. But one side is protecting rights.

      I’m voting for women’s right to choose. I’m voting for pot legalization. I’m voting to fund Ukraine. I’m voting for gay rights. I’m voting for trans right to medical treatments. I’m voting to keep public education accurate. I’m voting to keep public libraries stocked. I’m voting for addressing climate change.

      And yes, I’m also voting against subverting democracy, corruption, erratic behavior, and domestic terrorism.

      90% of the “both sides” arguments are summed up by people who don’t realize that open conservatives have been part of the party for a long time, including Joe Manchin.

      I don’t know all of your views, but as a progressive, it feels like “both sides” people are keeping one foot firmly planted in the radical door.

  • aaaaace@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    5 months ago

    Testing cross posting instances and gratuitously adding that Colorado Springs is trashy ala St George, not a goid indicator of anything other than entitled oblivious people being discontented.