Presidential Election Aftermath: What Now / What Next?

I get that argument, but i'm also thinking that voting 3rd party, especially me being a progressive and voting Jill Stein, is essentially a vote for Donald Trump. I guess not so much so in that i'm a resident of CA and it'll go to Clinton no matter how I vote, so in essence I have the luxury of voting my conscious. But i'm thinking of the liberal living in Ohio who votes for Jill Stein. That indirectly helps Trump. I don't like that at all.

 

But you said it yourself right there. You're in California. A vote for the third party is literally NOT a vote for Donald Trump. Your vote has no say on the SCOTUS picks. California will go to Hillary.

I get your line of thinking. If you truly feel Trump is significantly worse for us in the long term than Clinton then push your friends in Ohio and other swing states to vote Hillary.

Personally, I don't think Trump would be that much worse for us in the long term ... other than the SCOTUS picks. If we could hypothetically ignore those picks, or assume he might pick slightly more liberal judges once he's elected that actually align with his personal views as opposed to being a GOP puppet, I think his election would shake up the establishment enough to start some progress. I don't think he'd be able to do anything too crazy in his 4 years, but the movement on the left would be even more energized out of their hatred for him and the establishment on the left would realize they can't ignore the powerful movement on their side.

Meanwhile, an election for Hillary would usher in even greater complacency. The left has propped up Trump as this anti-Christ so that the eventual election of Hillary will in itself seem like progress. It's not. They'll know they can continue rigging elections. They can continue selling political power to a select few while only paying lip service to the will of the masses. They'll throw us a few bones. Maybe they'll "reverse" Citizens United and celebrate it loudly while remaining silent on some new law that essentially recreates it through several loopholes. Maybe they'll execute some ISIS leader and celebrate it loudly while remaining silent about their continued arms funding.

For many of us, the illusion of democracy will have been shattered, but they know it doesn't matter. It will be akin to professional wrestling. It's fake and everyone will know it's fake, but they know we'll eat it up anyways if they continue buying their way through elections/policies and using the media to distract us.

I get it if you don't feel that way. We're bombarded with anti-Trump messages everywhere. Cable news spends every day cherry picking a new quote from him to portray as racist or unsafe for the country. Social media has been infiltrated by the left. Facebook won't post anything with a positive spin on Trump. Twitter will ignore massive anti-Hillary trending topics. On Reddit, members of a Hillary super-PAC have spent millions of dollars to buy existing accounts so that they look reputable when they flood the political subreddits with their agenda.

It definitely doesn't help that Trump truly is a fool. Don't get me wrong, I know that. It's just absurd how disproportionate the attacks on him are to the point where it almost discredits the media when they have legitimate points. Spend more time talking about how he doesn't know what he's doing economically rather than spending a week calling him racist because of the shape he used in Microsoft Paint in the background of one of his ads.

So overall, if you acknowledge some of Hillary's significant faults as you say you do, I don't know why you wouldn't take advantage of the luxury of living in California to vote third party. Don't think of it as a vote for Trump. You don't even have to think of it as a vote for Stein or Johnson. Think of it as a multi-faceted vote for Hillary. She's still winning the state, but now if she wins the general, she'll look at the numbers and say "I should've won California by a landslide but I didn't. This key demographic really didn't fall in line like I expected and these third party candidates unexpectedly had a decent showing. Maybe now I should do more to represent the interests of Azndude2190 and others like him if I want to be re-elected in 4 years". Will that message come in loud and clear and significantly influence Hillary? Probably not. But it might a little. And that's the only real voice we have.

 

This is the part where I disagree with you. To me Hillary Clinton represents no change. Essentially a third term of Obama without the personal likability factor and baggage. And Donald Trump represents change, but in the opposite direction of where I want this country to go.

I'd rather have no change at this point.

 

I just want America to be great again. Those options tho.

 

Anyone see his speech at west bend? Just wanted to get your thoughts on it... Probably the first time I seen a republican call out the democracts for what they're doing to the minority population.

 

Thought it was actually a powerful speech and some serious allegations against the democratic party that I actually always believed.... Just some thoughts from you guys who have a bit more insight on politics.