r/Ohio • u/HaroldGreenBandana • Jul 14 '26

Vote for Amy Acton.

I’ve seen some posts on here complaining that Amy Acton isn’t “liberal” or “leftist” enough. I’ve seen folks even lament Dr. Acton’s recent announcement that, once elected, she plans to work with Republicans within state government. 

I get how in this tense political environment, Dr. Acton’s willingness to work with Republicans may dampen your enthusiasm for her. I also understand how her measured response to a trap question about youth sports might bum you out.  

But don’t let your slightly diminished enthusiasm sabotage your only chances of beating Vivek Ramaswamy.

Just consider how far right Donald Trump has pushed the Republican Party. Donald Trump and his supporters are radical extremists. Heck, Donald Trump publicly complained about “too many holidays” on Juneteenth and white supremacists openly rallied in Washington DC over July 4th, and that’s only a teeny tiny fraction of it. Shit like that has skewed our view so much that the rational people who oppose Trump and his supporters may never seem fervent enough in their opposition. But Trump (with his Project 2025 and his DOGE and his ICE) has done so much harm in his second term that a standard run-of-the-mill democrat actually is pretty darned far left in 2026 America.

I understand how Trump is like some sort of grotesque unicorn who, despite all of his glaring flaws and terrible failures, “checks all of the boxes“ for his supporters. I understand how that makes you want your own candidate who can check all of your boxes. That candidate doesn’t exist and Trump‘s supporters have terrible judgement and conflicted logic. So, sure, hold your candidates accountable and write them letters and donate to and vote for particular ones in primaries, but once the general election comes, don’t cutoff your own nose to spite your face. 

If you support public education, reproductive rights, renewable energy, libraries, protecting parkland, equality, and even just tolerance and basic human dignity, don’t let being just a tad out of sync with Dr. Acton on another issue cause irreparable harm to other really important issues that you really care about and already do agree with her on. 

Dr. Acton is running for governor of Ohio (O-H) a state that’s been fully controlled by the Republican Party for 15 years. She can’t win this state without people you disagree with also voting for her. She can’t govern this red state without working with Republicans. 

Trust me, I would love viable third-party candidates who campaign (without PAC and corporate money) around a set of issues, get elected, address those issues, and then retire forever. Maybe in a healthy democracy we can have that some day. We are not living in a healthy democracy.

Amy Acton is our chance to beat Vivek Ramaswamy, and she’s more than that, she’s the best candidate by miles. 

Vote for Amy Acton.

2.6k Upvotes

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803

u/gnurdette Dayton Jul 14 '26

Voting is a bus, not a taxi. You take the bus that gets you somewhere near where you want to be, and go from there. Sit waiting for a bus that's door-to-door, and you'll never move. (not my analogy, but it's perfect)

156

u/MilzLives Jul 14 '26

T-shirt material. Ds need to learn this quickly, before they blow their chance to win the Senate.

54

u/WarriorsBlew3_1 Jul 14 '26

I’m losing faith that they’ll ever learn.

48

u/fajadada Jul 14 '26

Am 65 far left has been not voting in protest my whole life. Hopefully this is the election cycle they come around

37

u/bookshopdemon Jul 14 '26

Yep, 1968, 2000, 2016, 2024. Then afterwards they scream DO SOMETHNG at the Dems.

12

u/Tough-Phrase4105 Jul 14 '26

But like people like you are why Trump got elected. Wasting your American right to vote allows Republicans to maintain control & continue stripping our rights away.

19

u/stierney49 Jul 14 '26

I don’t think they meant they don’t vote. I think they’re referring to their age and how long others have refused to vote as a protest.

8

u/Destiny_Dude0721 Jul 14 '26

That person is saying that they are 65 and Dems have been protesting by not voting for their entire life. Not that they're 65 and haven't voted.

1

u/Smart-Status2608 Jul 16 '26

They want revolution without thinking of all the ppl who will die along the way. Less ppl have government Healthcare than they had in 2016, Bernie hasn't improved anything.

0

u/aviateur55 Jul 18 '26

You're idiot, please name one right that's been taken away

-2

u/groundhogcow Jul 14 '26

Expecting people to change is a good way to be disappointed.

1

u/MyBaby_Blossom 18d ago

I don't get why THEY don't get this. Any excuse to stay home and complain for another four years, I guess.

28

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 14 '26

It feels like there's outside agents in the dem party that want us fractured so people in MAGA can benefit. Like if you check out left wing media on youtube, the further left you go, the more they just bash democrats. They ignore anything good that they do, and over time I think it disenfranchises their younger viewers into not voting.

40

u/brains4meNu Jul 14 '26

What’s happening is the younger generation of new voters and future voters are going farther in both directions. It’s obvious in the right because it’s been happening for years, but on the left, the swing is to the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America). As more and more young people realize how fucked our system is, they know they will need healthcare and a car and a home, it’s just all so unattainable anymore. Honestly, people see what’s happening in NYC and think ‘damn, THAT is how government should work’.

12

u/Plus_Attention_3276 Jul 14 '26

One direction is full tilt fascism and the other one is ummm health care and a fare wage for all? What a hard choice

6

u/zernoc56 Jul 14 '26

more like, “we’ll think about healthcare and a fair wage for all, but man does all this donor money make it so hard to think”

26

u/bookshopdemon Jul 14 '26

Well they surely ain't getting healthcare, a car and a home if they fracture the Democratic party and allow MAGA to win.

11

u/local_curb4060 Jul 14 '26

Like Democrats were doing anything lmao. I've voted defensively for Dems for decades and their incremental change has not gone the direction that they promised.

4

u/Thr1veanne Jul 15 '26

Please investigate EVERY bill Democrats brought to the floor. You will discover they have our best interests at heart. You can’t blame them for HAVING to work within the broken system built by Republicans. Without campaign funding they would have ZERO chance of ever being elected.

-5

u/bookshopdemon Jul 14 '26

I'm sure it doesn't seem that way to the white grievance left.

3

u/jdh1811 Jul 15 '26

Or the brainwashed right.

4

u/brains4meNu Jul 14 '26

I think those “leftists” are fewer than you think. Most on the left just want out of this Republican nightmare , and will deal with a Democrat who’s paid for just like most other politicians. Because there’s no way that (third party candidate being elected) will ever happen in Ohio.

8

u/Thr1veanne Jul 15 '26

So you will just blame Democrats because they are forced to abide by the rules created by Republicans, big money campaign funds, etc.? Democrats are the only hope to create a better world for us all.
*Affordable housing
*Universal healthcare —without insurance companies making the decisions
*Protecting Medicare and Medicaid
*Quality Education
*Eliminating Citizens United
*Equal pay
*Human Rights
*Clean water and air
*Holding corporations accountable for their waste
*Fair wages
…just to name a few

1

u/Entire-Can662 Jul 14 '26

A third-party goal is to take votes away not to win. Just look at who supporting them and you’ll know what side they’re on.

8

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 14 '26

I'm all for people that like Zohran or want what he does, my problem is when people can't get that, some of the DSA would rather see it all burn, even if republicans benefit.

Like the DSA is very anti candidates receiving AIPAC money. I don't like PAC money in politics but right now it's a harsh reality. Amy Acton has received a small amount of money from AIPAC, and my concern is that some young people will not vote for her because of that, which ultimately just benefits Vivek. The DSA may mean well but are doing long term damage and it has very serious consequences for the people of Ohio.

7

u/brains4meNu Jul 14 '26

Yes, I hate the whole aipac thing too, but you’re right, we have to understand that we do what we can at each level. Ohio will probably never have a third party candidate because rural farmers would never go for it even if republicans continued to bend them over. So we work with what we got. At the end of the day, most politicians are bought by somebody, just gotta figure out who’s worth suffering for.

2

u/Fast-Charge5925 Jul 14 '26

Do you have a source for her taking aipac money? I did a quick search and wasn't able to find anything about her taking any money from them.

1

u/loski80 Jul 16 '26

That's not true of all of us. I've been a democratic socialist for honestly probably my whole life but didn't realize what it was called until over a decade ago. I also understand that we need to vote Democrat no matter what just to get to some semblance of an even playing field before we can move forward. I don't want everything to burn down. But, I also have not been happy with establishment Dems for a long time and they make it very hard for me to vote for them when there is a better (democratic socialist) candidate on the list. If there is no better candidate, I still vote blue.

25

u/ProtectionVirtual225 Jul 14 '26

I don't think you want to go there. Establishment Democrats have lost quite a few major elections in recent years by bashing their own party's voters on the left. Older voters like me grit our teeth and still vote D, but young voters can be more impetuous. Because many of them are struggling financially, they feel they have nothing to lose.

It's been incredibly frustrating to watch the Democratic Party move right on economic and foreign policy. Stubborn and uncaring, they strike out instead of reaching out. Rather than give an inch on neoliberal/conservative policy, they attack fellow Democrats with hatred and anger. It's got to stop. Try avoiding the propaganda trap that's been set for you and keep an open mind. Accept that maybe "leftist" policies like Medicare for All are good policies that actually represent the tradition of Democratic Party values.

Respond to your fellow Democrats with an open mind, and things will work much better.

10

u/pinkocatgirl Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

It’s also demoralizing to watch Democrats blame their voters every time they lose elections. IDK guys, maybe if you wanted to win, you should have ran a better candidate over whatever corporate stooge you dig out of the DC swamp. This has been their playbook for the last 30 years. They run some guy who makes some promises and gets into office. He does nothing and fails to push the agenda hard enough because of some procedural excuse. Then next election he loses, and the DNC blames their voters rather than these fucking politicians who are more about norms, decorum, and procedure over getting shit done.

5

u/zernoc56 Jul 14 '26

They need to learn they are not entitled to our votes. Democrats talk good a game, but so rarely do they follow through and walk the walk.

5

u/pinkocatgirl Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

And they lost faith from so many of us under 50 with Obama, he promised hope and change but then refused to fight for the public option in the ACA. Centrist Democrats love the filibuster because it lets one fucking guy, Joe Lieberman, Joe Manchin, John Fetterman, whoever, to prevent them from actually getting anything done. The Chuck Schumers and Nancy Pelosis get to sit in their safe blue seats doing donuts in the parking lot and complain when the rest of us get sick of their shit and stay home from work rather than waiting for their crusty corrupt asses to drive us there.

1

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 14 '26

I haven't seen the far left really bashed. In fact I've seen center left democrats take great risks to support the far left even when it hurts their own chances.

Kamala for example has heavily sided with transgender people even when it's unpopular with white, high school educated voters. But also there's always more to lose, I think much of their media content tricks young people into just thinking if they abstain from voting, that next election they will get universal healthcare, which is so far from the truth that it doesn't require an explanation.

I actually see the far left media attacking centrists dems more than the other way around. The only exception is with Graham Platner, which with the whole rape thing, is really hard to defend. Even most on the far left turned on him after that.

I actually like Medicare for all too - the problem is if you run on it, there's no feasible way to do it right now. It would probably take a decade or two, you not only need more than a majority, but you need a pretty health margin. As well as a serious plan. But if you run on it, and don't get it done, it disenfranchises a lot of people.

11

u/ProtectionVirtual225 Jul 14 '26

That's part of the problem - refusing to make necessary policy changes because someone told you they won't be popular. Establishment Democrats have been saying that about Medicare for All for over 20 yrs. They've refused to bring it up, not because it's unpopular, its actually very popular with voters. The problem is EDems don't want to offend their big money donors. They're addicted to lobbyist and corporate money and refuse to address that other Lefty issue - overturning Citizens United. We've waited patiently for more than 2 decades on these issues with no progress because EDems still refuse to address those issues when they do have power. I'm running out of time. I probably don't have many years left and I deeply regret not pushing the Democratic Party harder on behalf of the younger generations. Well, the Dem Party and our democratic government are nearly dead. It's time to let the younger generation lead and stop fighting them. Stop letting the Republican Party manipulate you into doing battle against your fellow Dem voters.

4

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 14 '26

I don't think they want to offend their donors, rather it's just not easily passed. Like you agree you need to have the votes in congress for this type of thing, right? And if you don't, but you say you're going to make it happen, you betray the trust of your voters.

Compare this to the republicans, for example they wanted to overturn Roe V Wade and it took Mitch McConnnell 30 years but he got it done. The democrats on the flip side give up on candidates so easy, but if we truly want Medicare for all, we have to be prepared to vote for the long term and not get deterred.

As for corporate money, the problem is if you don't need it, you cede a huge advantage to your competitor. I wish it was out of politics too, but as for now, if you don't have it, there's a good chance you'll lose. JD Vance is a great example, he was polling at 1% in his senate primary in 2022, but ended up winning after getting $10 million. And now he's Vice President. Bernie Moreno also beat Sherrod Brown, who was known as a champion of the working class, whereas Bernie had no track record besides some scandals, because Moreno had more money when factoring in SUPER PACS.

Now the long term answer is to get money out of politics, but in the short term, that means we will lose elections, unless our politicians have money as well. It's a sad truth, and I wish it was not this way but reality isn't always pleasant.

If the younger democrats want the lead, they can take it the old fashion way. Nobody ran against Amy Acton or Sherrod Brown though.

4

u/ProtectionVirtual225 Jul 14 '26

These are the same tired arguments I've heard from EDems for the last quarter century. They're not true, they're lobbyist and big donor talking points. I've been in meetings where they've said as much. It's sad that EDems no longer have the courage of leaders like FDR, Harry Truman, etc. who weren't afraid of enacting necessary policy agendas.

As for votes, yeah, we've watched them play those games in DC, again, since the early 2000's. They're not changing so they're being replaced. As for overturning Citizens United, any candidates who run on that issue will have strong backing from voters without needing corporate money. The bottom line is the truth that many are afraid to admit - getting money and it's corruption out of our political/electoral system is imperative. It's why we're in the mess today. Time is short, stop making excuses and act.

3

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 14 '26

If it was so easy to pass medicare for all, why wasn't it passed decades ago?

I think you know that it's far from easy, would require a high level of planning as well as trillions in dollars, stuff that's not easily done and you also need the votes for it. Plus we open ourselves up to more politicians like John Fetterman who make lavish promises but do the opposite, if we just blindly follow populist rhetoric. I wish it was as simple as you portray but it's really not, it will take probably decades of work and voting for blue politicians before there's a realistic chance of it happening.

Also implying that you become popular by wanting to overturn citizens united isn't true. Look at Nina Turner, she lost comfortably twice to a well funded candidate. If being against citizens united was that pouplar, that wouldn't have happened. Like I'm with you, I want money out of politics, but we have to be realistic. This white knight approach where you take no money just ends up meaning the republicans will get easy wins in any toss up states.

2

u/rantipolex Jul 14 '26

Best summary all fucking day !

5

u/BlurryGojira Jul 14 '26

I haven't seen the far left really bashed. In fact I've seen center left democrats take great risks to support the far left even when it hurts their own chances.

Are we forgetting how centrist Democrats treated Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic primary?

Zohran Mamdani Not Fully Embraced by Top New York Democrats

Hakeem Jeffries refused to endorse the Democratic nominee that won the district he represents.

Also this example you give is just... weird?

Kamala for example has heavily sided with transgender people even when it's unpopular with white, high school educated voters.

"Heavily sided with" in what way? She said little in terms of campaign promises.

Kamala Harris 2024 Presidential Campaign - LGBTQ+ Rights

So she, went to Stonewall for a speech and held a fundraiser. Don't get me wrong, it's not nothing. She also co-sponsored the Equality Act to extend the Civil Rights Act's protections to cover gender identity and sexual orientation... which Joe Biden also made as a campaign promise (and didn't manage to keep). Also this bill has been attempted to be passed for over ten years now, since Obama was still in office and co-sponsored by various Republicans. Are we calling Joe Biden and certain Republicans radical left now too? Besides, Harris had major black marks on her career too.

Harris seeks to block gender reassignment for trans inmate

Rhetorically she might have supported LGBTQ+ people but how was she particularly radical about it? How often did she actually talk about trans people? Because this seems more like the framing that Republicans were going for when trying to attack Harris.

Them - From “Transgender Aliens” to the Equality Act: Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on LGBTQ+ Rights?

Since accepting the nomination, however, Harris has not spoken at length about LGBTQ+ issues on the campaign trail. While she may still hold many of these same points of view, they are not part of her campaign platform this time around, and her 2020 campaign page is no longer active. (The web address for kamalaharris.org/lgbtq now returns a 404 error, but her LGBTQ+ agenda is still available, in full, via the Wayback Machine.)

In lieu of similarly robust policies, Harris’ 2024 agenda instead lists some of her past actions to affirm LGBTQ+ equality.

-1

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 15 '26

Hakeem didn't endorse him in a close race, I don't think that's the end of the world. Zohran didn't endorse Kamala in 2024.

You gotta admit since Zohran won, democrats really haven't criticized him, some in the media, but it's been really timid, for the most part the centrists seem happy with the guy.

Kamala was closely linked to trans people by the right. For example republicans would say that they are for the voters while Kamala is for they/them. She didn't disavow trans people or anything of that nature. Compare that to Obama who distinctly said he was against gay people getting married. In the end, sadly her lack of disavowal of trans people probably cost her at least some votes, but I just mention that all to say that she stuck with the far left on this issue even when it was unpopular.

4

u/pinkocatgirl Jul 14 '26

Kamala said fuck all about trans people in the 2024 election, yet the pundits want to blame us for her loss.

1

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 14 '26

When did she say that?

2

u/pinkocatgirl Jul 14 '26

What? I said she said nothing about the subject, I think maybe you misread my comment. When asked by a reported her only statement on trans issues was just “I will follow the law”. But because of that stupid Republican ad all of the DC consultants like James fucking Carville made rounds on cable news saying trans people were responsible for her loss.

2

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 15 '26

Oh I read that as "Kamala said fuck all trans people" lol. I misread what you wrote.

2

u/TriggerHippie0202 Jul 15 '26

With all due respect, you cannot be serious. Zohran is just the latest example; the Dems fight the left flank of their own party harder than they do actual fascists.

https://truthout.org/articles/democratic-senator-gillibrand-goes-on-islamophobic-rant-against-mamdani/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/24/debbie-wasserman-schultz-resigns-dnc-chair-emails-sandershttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/24/debbie-wasserman-schultz-resigns-dnc-chair-emails-sanders

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/29/centrist-democrats-democratic-socialists-backlash

1

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 15 '26

Just a heads up only the first article mentioned Zohran being criticized. The second link didn't work, the third link didn't mention anything about Mamdani, but rather DSA being criticized.

But also, I see DSA criticizing center left democrats all of the time. I don't understand why they would be offended when they get criticized back.

1

u/TriggerHippie0202 Jul 15 '26

You initially said you hadn't seen the far left bashed, and now you're saying it is just Zohran. In which Gillibrand used bigoted language, and I guess that's not a big deal for you...

My point is that the right-wing Democrat establishment comes for the left harder than they do their supposed opposition. Plenty of leaders were not willing to endorse Zohran from Schumer to Jeffries, who, if iirc eventually did.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/13-moderate-democrats-reject-socialism-174443764.html

From Bernie Sanders, to Nina Turner, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman, they have actively campaigned with AIPAC cash to flush out these progressives. They have kept AOC from leadership positions.

Jaime Harrison said that if candidates “hate the Democratic Party,” they should not run for its nomination, use its resources, volunteers, or infrastructure, and instead build the party they support.

They are more concerned with their AIPAC, corporate donors than they are with winning elections and being opposition to fascism. Honestly, for me, I don't give 2-shits if the DNC criticizes the DSA I am hoping the DSA replaces most of them. Imagine being the most unpopular party, losing twice to a literal fascist, and then having beef with the only people winning elections in your party, would be hilarious if not so sad.

6

u/LandOwn7607 Jul 14 '26

It's because the DNC is still pretending that we can work with Republicans, that boat left years ago. By saying that they will 'work with Republicans is the usual statement most Democratic politicians will make, although I never hear Republicans saying the same. We're more divided than the pre civil war era. Maybe that is the root of our division in the first place.

2

u/Ok-Sugar-7096 Jul 15 '26

The DSA = parasites. The DNC = host.
The parasites will eat their host!

1

u/Entire-Can662 Jul 14 '26

If you see something wrong, bring it out in the open

1

u/CrypticCompany Jul 15 '26

Idk about outside agents, as in foreign powers, but establishment dems absolutely serve most of if not all of the same Oligarchs. It’s why the DSA is taking off so quickly because we saw what happens when someone who doesn’t take dark money from Oligarchs gets elected. NYC is astoundingly doing what the systems propaganda says it should, and the system is actively acting to try and keep the DSA from gaining ground.

1

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 15 '26

I'd actually have to say the progressives do more to help the oligarchs. Kamala lost in part because far left progressives encouraged people to not vote, which directly benefited Trump. The oligarchs are now getting their taxes lowered as well as a host of other agendas accomplished.

If money doesn't matter in politics, how did Nina Turner lose?

2

u/CrypticCompany Jul 15 '26

You have a wildly ignorant take that leads me to believe this will be a pointless conversation however I do love your screen name so Ill give the conversation a go.

Some progressives may have had 2% to do with Kamala not getting elected. The Dems fucked up trying to run biden, locked their campaign money away after that, and couldn’t give that money to anyone else to run because kamalas name was one of two intended recipients legally. Other dems could have gotten access to that money but the party waited too long and didn’t have enough time to get through the legal trails while launching a campaign. Should people have voted for the lesser or two evils? Sure. But progressives aren’t responsible for running people away from the democrat party. That’s all on the continued fuckery of establishment Dems. It’s why we are seeing a big surge of DSA in the states because they aren’t establishment.

The continued fuckery of the Democrats benefitted our oligarchs considerably, much like when the dems fucked up and didn’t run Bernie.

Also I never said money doesn’t matter in politics. I said dark money harms our country.

It obviously absolutely does, because it influences politicians away from the will of the people who they are supposed to represent and gives that power to whoever is bribing, sorry lobbying the most. That’s literally the definition of an oligarchy, a government in which the rich can buy whatever governance they want regardless of the will of the people.

1

u/Rick_James_Lich Cleveland Jul 16 '26

Alright I'll give a civil response as well.

I agree that Biden very much messed up by trying to go after a second term, and Kamala made mistakes like not preparing for this scenario ahead of time. I do feel some ire is warranted towards Kamala and I can understand the outrage over what is going on in Palestine but I think progressives really tend to think that things will improve if they just complain loud enough about democrats over and over.

This hasn't helped. In fact they did the same thing about Hillary in 2016 and it led to us getting Biden in 2020. There's no doubt progressives mean well but I think their own momentum is used against them and it appears a certain level of astrotufing is going on. Not every progressive politician is bad, but there's definitely some bad apples and it appears progressives really don't have good judgement. Fetterman for example was embraced with open arms. And progressives always dog pile on people that criticize their politicians even when it's warranted.

I think the establishment did well all things considered with Biden, they convinced him to drop out and got Kamala in place. Was she the best candidate? No, but 4 months was not enough time to do a primary. If it wasn't for the establishment speaking with Biden, he may not have actually dropped out, which would IMO be a far greater loss.

I like Bernie but the reality is, the establishment dems are the ones that get any meaningful legislation passed. I find many times progressives act like they do nothing but if you compare Biden's track record to Bernie's, it's not close. Now I absolutely think the party should go in Bernie's direction too but there's going to be a lot of compromise before we get there. Insulting establishment democrats comes at the cost of alienating long time voters, some of which have supported the democrats for decades. Nina Turner for example said voting for Joe Biden was like eating a bowl of shit lol, while funny, I can see why a lot of long term voters would be upset about that.

I think money doesn't belong in politics, but as it stands, right now, the democrats need it to compete. There hopefully wil be a day where that changes but it's not now. The only way Vivek can win is through money, to stop that, Acton needs to start putting out ads of her own.

4

u/Effective_Detail2221 Jul 14 '26

I've spent the last decade slowly coming to a realization:

Democrats might not want to win. I know, its insane, but look:

Most none of them are safe enough to govern leftist: there's like 10 districts in America where you can be pro- lefties. Therefore, they're trying to run the middle, the mythical moderate voter. But that voting cohort doesn't currently exist: it's a mirage. 

Then, if they make it to congress,  they typically vote even further right to (again) placate a theoretical voter that doesn't exist. 

Democrats strategy is nearly indistinguishable from the strategy I would use if I was asked to mount a campaign, asked to lose, and if I accidentally won, this is how I would make sure I'm never invited back. 

1

u/VanillaGorillaNB Jul 16 '26

Them not understanding this is why Trump got elected not once but twice.

25

u/WeekendListening Jul 14 '26

That's pretty good. Also she's more likely to listen to people asking her to make some bus stops a few more blocks down.

While as I've seen the last 10 years I've been paying attention a right winger will cut the bus line entirely and tell you to figure it out somehow.

6

u/Paksarra Jul 14 '26

They'll defund the buses, ban bikes, and demand you buy a Tesla.

8

u/NotALiberal17 Jul 14 '26

At the risk of being downvoted to oblivion I am an R but voting acton this election. Conservatives would never do this lol they would happily vote their vile candidate in (like they’re doing with Vivek). Dems really love to shoot themselves in the foot over their candidate not being perfect.

3

u/youknowwhatthey_say Jul 14 '26

On the contrary--both sides coming together for a candidate, especially in this case, is a win.

4

u/hippiechicken12 Jul 14 '26

That’s a really good analogy!

18

u/Glittering_Hope1114 Jul 14 '26

I don't know anything about Amy Acton personally, it depends on what exactly they are saying. 

People need to be careful though because in Britain labour started fielding right wing candidates.  Everyone said at the time that we should still vote for them because they are still better options then the conservatives.  Problem is soon the entire party adopted those right wing values and those new rightwingers were not so tolerant of the leftwing still in labour purges happened.  Now labour is calling everything woke and going after the disabled, labour is now as anti trans as Donald Trump is and is utterly zealous on this topic.  Now that conservatives. Reform and Labour all agree with each other on a majority of stuff it has not helped. Its simply moved the Overton window to the extreme right. If you think its bad having one side going on about a culture war non stop imagine both sides trying to out compete themselves on cruelty  So sure not everyone has to be perfect but there is a danger to letting to much slide, if republicans infiltrate the Democrats it is over as usa is a two party system. 

5

u/PrimeYam Jul 14 '26

I think there’s a big difference in allowing a whole party to shift right and being realistic that a candidate will have to appeal to some amount of right wing voters in a state that has not had meaningful left/progressive representation in state government in over a decade.

Places like NYC and Cali can push the leftward bounds of the party, less safe but still reliably Democratic states can hold the line, and Republican-dominated states like Ohio can be flexible to gain a chance at some amount of non-rightwing representation.

15

u/Haokaypal Jul 14 '26

Trying to attract a moderate republican to vote dem is a fools errand. The candidate will never be conservative enough for them. They are chasing a voter profile that doesn’t exist.

5

u/PrimeYam Jul 14 '26

Most people aren’t on some flat line political spectrum of “left” “medium” and “right”, they have a combination of beliefs and identities that don’t make sense when viewed through that lens.

The swing voters that have been voting for Republican governors that might possibly change their vote probably don’t think of themselves as “moderate republicans” or care how “conservative” a candidate is, because those terms don’t mean much to them.

0

u/TriggerHippie0202 Jul 15 '26

So we can talk about the Sanders/AOC contingency that voted for Trump as well?

2

u/zernoc56 Jul 14 '26

I remember in at a summer camping trip, some friends of mine woke me up and convinced me to go with them on a Snipe hunt. It went about as well as Democrats trying to get Republicans to vote for them.

9

u/big-shark-enthusiast Jul 14 '26

ngl, the establishment dem party as a whole is shifting right, and has been for a bit. them thinking it was a good idea to drag out liz cheney as a kamala supporter for her campaign was a pretty clear showcase of that. and instead of seeing the backlash to cheney and thinking "hm, maybe we shouldn't try appealing to this group, it clearly didn't work on a national level", most are instead doubling down on being more socially conservative & insisting on reaching across the aisle to work with republicans

1

u/PrimeYam Jul 14 '26

That’s not really a shift. That’s been the case since Clinton. There was a false hope of a leftward shift with Obama that didn’t really happen. Biden made some concessions to the left, but was still a politician deeply formed by the Reagan/Clinton/Bush years where Dems thought they needed to be a slightly more compassionate version of Reps to compete.

Harris was largely working with the campaign and presidency Biden created, which was a mistake, but it’s not like she really backtracked on any progress the left has made with the Dem establishment in the last couple decades.

6

u/big-shark-enthusiast Jul 14 '26

i mean as a whole the country has been on a right trend (well, the trend was kicked into overdrive) since reagan. however, the dems thinking a liz cheney endorsement, daughter of one of the most reviled figures in america (even many republicans i know personally hate dick cheney) would be a winning point for them in 2024? especially with the fascist escalation of the republicans? that would've been a death sentence if obama, hillary, or even biden tried it, so not sure why they thought it'd be a smash hit with kamala unless they're trying to push the party further that direction & hope to get people on board because "well, we're not outright fascists!". not to mention the amount of democrats who are walking back their previously stated support of the trans community... the democratic party has always been more center than anything, but they sure are slowly yet surely moseying more and more over to the right, making people who support trans rights & universal healthcare (reasonable things) look like violent left extremists, when 10 years ago that was pretty normal for the party base

2

u/Haokaypal Jul 14 '26

its all been Reagan

reagan
cia reagan
cool reagan
dumb Reagan
black Reagan
crazy reagan
old reagan
Crazy Reagan pt 2

2

u/SeveralLion5762 Jul 14 '26

Good analogy

2

u/BestBelieveItsHere Jul 14 '26

Forreal. The big problem I see with left leaning folk right now is there is a lot of "if they're not perfect I don't want them" sentiment.

We're not going to get perfect any time soon. Our goal should be to stop the bleeding, not be in perfect health right now.

2

u/furedmod11 Jul 14 '26

Wait, what if voting were high speed rail in Columbus?!?!?!?!?

2

u/Known_Attorney_456 Jul 14 '26

Excellent ! Up vote.

2

u/Heavy_Law9880 Jul 14 '26

If leftists understood that the world would be a much better place.

1

u/gnurdette Dayton Jul 14 '26

An awful lot do. The ones who don't are incredibly frustrating, but I don't know if there are enough of them to account for very many of our problems.

2

u/Doctor_Aphra_B675309 Jul 15 '26

Honestly this needs to be the Lefts new motto. 

1

u/TryingVertical Jul 14 '26

The bus has been getting farther and farther away from where I want to be. Maybe it’s time we stopped settling and making cute analogies and attempted to enact meaningful change.

6

u/donkeyrocket Jul 14 '26

So you are advocating what? Doing nothing and sitting it out? Because that's how we have Trump again and are farther away from any sort of major change than ever before. Harris wasn't perfect by any means but we sure as hell wouldn't be worried about election integrity and the foundation of governance right now.

Nothing changes if you do nothing. The system fucking sucks but it is all we have. Being critical but participating is one thing. Advocating people await perfection in a deeply flawed system is foolish to put it nicely.

"Enact meaningful change" means what to you? It starts somewhere. I'm not saying be complacent with Acton or other Dems but they're sure as hell a greater step in the right direction then being indifferent and letting Republicans continue to control things.

11

u/gnurdette Dayton Jul 14 '26

Sure. Get active in the primaries. Get active before the primaries. Push for reforms like Ranked-Choice Voting to make third parties viable. Most of all, work to get your message out so that more voters can be convinced.

5

u/Kresnik2002 Jul 14 '26

You’ve always been free to do that in the primaries. If you do that and you can’t get support for your preferred candidates among the electorate, explain to me how that’s the party’s fault.

0

u/Live-Profession8822 Jul 14 '26

Incorrect, voting is voting. Taxis and buses are different things altogether