Vice President Kamala Harris’ first public appearance with Tim Walz saw a large crowd in Philadelphia, while her Detroit appearance disappointed anti-war advocates
what motivation do they have to shift to better policies?
Midterms and protests. We already know for a fact that abstaining just pushes them further right as they try to scoop up more of the center. They won’t go further left unless we shove them that way.
Not voting for them only “sends the message” that you are not their constituents, not engaged, and/or comfortable with the status quo. If you are not engaging, you literally have no say.
And all voting is of course conditional. If you help get them in office, you have more clout when you call their office and say “I knocked on doors and volunteered and worked to get you in office so you could convince Congress to stop funding genocide. Now get moving.” If they don’t, THEN vote them out.
Speaking of which, the president’s hands are tied by decades of deals, agreements and other (largely misled) laws passed by Congress to support “our ally” Israel. It’s a stupid, massive tangle that can’t be easily undone, and Congress is not interested in changing anything because it’ll make Jesus cry or something. We need better representatives AND a more progressive president before anything will move.
And finally I do agree with you - coming out and actually saying “hey I don’t support genocide” is the bare minimum she can do and it’s frustrating that she’s not.
Midterms and protests. We already know for a fact that abstaining just pushes them further right as they try to scoop up more of the center. They won’t go further left unless we shove them that way.
We have very different opinions on how best to accomplish that. Voting for them unconditionally seems like a bad strategy.
Not voting for them only “sends the message” that you are not their constituents, not engaged, and/or comfortable with the status quo. If you are not engaging, you literally have no say.
And all voting is of course conditional. If you help get them in office, you have more clout when you call their office and say “I knocked on doors and volunteered and worked to get you in office so you could convince Congress to stop funding genocide. Now get moving.” If they don’t, THEN vote them out.
Speaking of which, the president’s hands are tied by decades of deals, agreements and other (largely misled) laws passed by Congress to support “our ally” Israel. It’s a stupid, massive tangle that can’t be easily undone, and Congress is not interested in changing anything because it’ll make Jesus cry or something. We need better representatives AND a more progressive president before anything will move.
And finally I do agree with you - coming out and actually saying “hey I don’t support genocide” is the bare minimum she can do and it’s frustrating that she’s not.
Cause and effect doesn’t care what your opinion is.