In the future scenario you are referring to Trump being elected is not a punishment but a consequence of an indirect action. You incorrectly assume I’m trying to punish Democrats. I don’t care what they do, they’re just not getting my vote until they’re doing what I want them to do. It’s just business to them and should be treated as such. They don’t truly care about you.
So close but still framing it as “Blue needs to save us so we need to punish them with Red”, which is still red vs blue thinking
In the future scenario you are referring to Trump being elected is not a punishment but a consequence of an indirect action. You incorrectly assume I’m trying to punish Democrats. I don’t care what they do, they’re just not getting my vote until they’re doing what I want them to do. It’s just business to them and should be treated as such. They don’t truly care about you.
You call it consequence, I call it punishment. What’s the difference here?
Well then it’s an indirect punishment, but I’m not doing it to directly punish them. You just see it as a punishment.