Dude

That's the problem.  Team politics.

Work for ranked choice voting instead.

Democratic party may be coming around

 

Fusion voting

In three states—Wisconsin, Kansas, and New Jersey—small but serious groups of citizens, including some former elected officials, have formed new parties—United Wisconsin, United Kansas, and the New Jersey Moderate Party—whose aim is to break the hyper-partisan doom loop.

These new parties do not plan to run their own candidates, at least not initially. Instead, they want to cross-nominate major party candidates so they can support whoever is committed to compromise-oriented governing and the rule of law. In our current system of single-winner elections, cross-nominating candidates is the most effective way for citizens to organize electorally. Third parties running standalone candidates is a recipe only for wasted votes.

[...]

Fusion voting is an elegantly simple solution to breaking the binary that has made politics in America so disagreeable. It allows candidates to be nominated by more than one party, which allows voters to cast a more meaningful and impactful vote.

  Contrarian

You know what would be a better idea? Ranked choice voting.  It would also take care of this problem:v

Whether she intended it or not, the 39-year-old [Mallory] McMorrow started a trend of Democratic outsiders end-running party leaders to launch their campaigns, sometimes in explicit opposition to them. The movement is fueled by a crisis of confidence among Democratic voters in their own party, which is giving encouragement to the types of nontraditional candidates who have been walloped by leadership-aligned rivals in the past.

Altogether, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the moves have created a number of crowded and competitive-looking Democratic Senate primaries — contests that have often seen party leaders leap in to anoint favorites in recent years. Democratic angst following the loss to President Donald Trump last year has contributed to the trend in at least five races that could determine the majority, from core battlegrounds like Michigan and Maine to long-shot targets like Iowa and Texas.

[...]

Even as the DSCC remains officially neutral, it is not uncommon for leaders to work behind the scenes to steer donors and party support to preferred candidates in an effort to head off contested primaries in key races.

  NBC

Looking at you, Chuck Schumer.

McMorrow [...] has said she won’t vote to re-elect Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as the Democratic leader. Her main Democratic rivals in Michigan, four-term Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive physician Abdul El-Sayed, have both demurred on whether they would back Schumer as leader.

“I understand that I’m sometimes not the ‘capital D’ Democratic Party’s favorite,” El-Sayed said in a recent interview when asked if he has faced any pressure to drop out of the race. “But I’m listening to the people and they’re telling me, ‘Abdul, it shouldn’t be this hard and you’re the only one showing up and telling us how you want to fix it.’”

In Maine, where Democratic leaders are holding out hope of recruiting Gov. Janet Mills, oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner is running as a populist disruptor who will take on a system that is “rigged” for the wealthy.

Platner, who has made waves on social media, garnering millions of views for his posts and videos, is also vowing not to support Schumer if elected. (Platner and El-Sayed have both been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.)

[...]

Another Democratic strategist advising Senate candidates said the “old” playbook of party leaders effectively controlling primaries doesn’t work in the context of the modern “attention economy,” while predicting that the 2026 primaries will boil down to three questions: “Are you cool? Can you fight? Can you inspire people?”

Old Guard move over

 

Apparently, money doesn't have the power it used to have.  Cuomo has said he'll run in the general as an independent.  He should have a look at this chart.

The money spent to defeat Mamdani in the general election will be unprecedented.

It's worth noting that Mamdani was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Doesn't congratulate, but he does take some credit for the taxi drivers relief.

UPDATE 04:55 pm:

UPDATE 06/26/2025:

As might be expected, Zohran Mamdani is getting slammed from both sides.

Election reform begins with multiple parties

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Time to change

.

This is an urgently needed conversation.  Please listen.

..but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

A win for ranked choice voting

Ranked-choice voting advocates scored a big win Tuesday, when New York City overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that made it the most populous city to adopt the reform.

Under ranked-choice voting, voters rank their top five candidates in order of preference, rather than simply picking one candidate. It’s a set-up that pushes candidates to engage with a broader swath of voters in order to pick up their support and allows voters to support lesser-known candidates without a sense of “wasting” their vote.

The past few years have marked significant progress for ranked-choice voting, which is now used by more than 20 cities. The tactic, first employed for a federal election by Maine in 2018, has also garnered prominent backing from the likes of Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet.

In California cities like San Francisco and Berkeley where the reform has been used, ranked-choice has been found to increase the diversity of the candidates vying for seats, and even that of those who are ultimately elected.

Plus, because New York City has now approved the measure, it’s possible even more cities and states will consider adopting the same when more ballot initiatives are up for a vote next year.

  Vox

Maine flirts with ranked choice voting

If only we could have this system nationwide.

The people's veto campaign to overturn a law that would eventually repeal Maine's landmark ranked-choice voting system has qualified for the June ballot.

[...]

That means that, barring any future legal challenges, voters participating in this June's primary elections will test the ranked-choice voting system at the same time they're deciding whether they want to continue using it for some contests.

[...]

In 2016, voters approved the system for all legislative, gubernatorial and congressional elections. But last year Maine's Supreme Judicial Court said the system was unconstitutional for certain general election races, including gubernatorial contests.

Ranked-choice supporters pushed for a constitutional amendment, but it never advanced in the Legislature. Instead, lawmakers passed a bill last year that repeals the voter-approved system in 2021 if the state constitution isn't amended before then.

[...]

If voters ratify the people's veto, it means that ranked-choice voting will remain in place for primary contests and general elections for congressional races, but not general elections for governor or the state Legislature.

  Maine Public

That sounds awfully confusing. I hope the voters understand it.

Why Am I Skeptical of This Headline?

In 2016, the U.S. House had a 97 percent re-election rate, despite the latest Gallup poll placing the House’s approval rating at 21 percent.

A big part of the reason why is the way we elect our representatives. The U.S. uses a winner-take-all, single-member district system. Those districts are often drawn in a way to privilege one party over another — which is called gerrymandering. So if you’re a Democrat living in a district drawn to include a huge number of Republican voters, your vote is purposely drowned out (and vice versa).

And [if] a candidate wins 40 percent of the vote, while her two opponents get 30 percent each, the first one wins, even though 60 percent of the district voted against her. That dynamic effectively forces political actors to sort themselves into two parties, or risk being boxed out of power entirely.

[...]

A group of representatives in the House want to change this system, and are introducing legislation to [...] make America’s federal elections more representative and competitive.

Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer authored and introduced the Fair Representation Act. [...] Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland have co-sponsored the legislation.

  The Intercept

I think I see a flaw in this.

Because of gerrymandering, Republicans hold the reins of power, and this is a Democrat sponsored bill.

The bill would do three things: require all congressional districts to be drawn by independent redistricting commissions, establish multi-member districts, and have all districts use what’s known as ranked-choice voting (RCV).

All things that we've needed for decades but which the Democrats were happy enough to reject until now that the gerrymandered Republican congress is in power and looks to stay that way.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

You See, It Works Both Ways

And they've given it a name:  Lesser Evilism

And the Hillary camp is saying to leftists that they have to vote for her because, you know, you have to beat Trump.

I've seen Trump-opposer comments, since Trump suggested to 2nd Amendment proponents that they could do something about Hillary, saying he'll never win now and so, yippee, we can vote our conscience.

The system that gave us Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will win if you don't.  That hasn't changed.  You can always vote your conscience - and should.  Democracy is not a team sport.  If your conscience votes are not working for you, if you've already lost the right to vote your conscience, you're in pretty big trouble. A right is not a right if you can't exercise it.

Call bullshit on people who tell you a third party vote is an election spoiler, who tell you a vote for anyone but Hillary is a vote for Trump, because if that's true, it's just as true that a vote for anyone but Trump is a vote for Hillary.

Investigate and vote for third party candidates. Investigate and work for instant run-off (ranked choice) voting.  Work to overturn Citizens United and get corporate money out of campaigns. Organize to fix the system. It's the system you have to beat if you want your right to vote your conscience and actually want to live in a democracy.  Voting for one of two corrupt and entrenched parties every four years does nothing for your conscience or your rights.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Are You Voting Against Trump?

Bingo.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Yes, There Is a Better Way

That is, if you are serious about being a democracy.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.