I live outside a decent sized metropolitan area in the Midwest. We currently have a black Democrat mayor. Outside of senators and congressmen. Democrats often don’t run for any offices in the area and the state. Outside of the top level ones mayor Etc. I leave large portions of our ballots here blank. Because our only choices are Fascist Republicans or liberals pretending to be Libertarians.
It would seem the true crux of our position is Democrats literally abandoning lower positions in rural areas. We need that for sweeping change. We need that for ranked choice. We need it to stop this slippery slope to a theocracy. We need it to end this ratcheting game.
In small (population-wise) rural areas like that, where positions are running uncontested or only contested in the primary, it’s actually possible individuals could make a difference. But there’s some caveats.
If the area is extremely Republican and would never vote for a Democrat, don’t run as one. Unlike in races like President and Senate, independent and third party are actual choices at this level, they’re not simply false choices.
An individual could find some local issue that matters to a lot of people in the area but seems to be being ignored. Talk to neighbors, local people, etc, figure out what they’re upset about that actually falls under the purview of local or state government, then make that the core of your platform.
As long as you’re not officially listed as a Democrat, you’re not platforming on things that the locals would never vote for (and you probably couldn’t do anything about anyway in the lower office you’re running for) and you’ve actually done some local research and found an issue that a significant number of people in your area are upset about, you actually have a chance. You’d probably lose, but there’s a real chance.
I live outside a decent sized metropolitan area in the Midwest. We currently have a black Democrat mayor. Outside of senators and congressmen. Democrats often don’t run for any offices in the area and the state. Outside of the top level ones mayor Etc. I leave large portions of our ballots here blank. Because our only choices are Fascist Republicans or liberals pretending to be Libertarians.
It would seem the true crux of our position is Democrats literally abandoning lower positions in rural areas. We need that for sweeping change. We need that for ranked choice. We need it to stop this slippery slope to a theocracy. We need it to end this ratcheting game.
In small (population-wise) rural areas like that, where positions are running uncontested or only contested in the primary, it’s actually possible individuals could make a difference. But there’s some caveats.
If the area is extremely Republican and would never vote for a Democrat, don’t run as one. Unlike in races like President and Senate, independent and third party are actual choices at this level, they’re not simply false choices.
An individual could find some local issue that matters to a lot of people in the area but seems to be being ignored. Talk to neighbors, local people, etc, figure out what they’re upset about that actually falls under the purview of local or state government, then make that the core of your platform.
As long as you’re not officially listed as a Democrat, you’re not platforming on things that the locals would never vote for (and you probably couldn’t do anything about anyway in the lower office you’re running for) and you’ve actually done some local research and found an issue that a significant number of people in your area are upset about, you actually have a chance. You’d probably lose, but there’s a real chance.
Between fascist Republicans and liberals pretending to be libertarians, I think it’s a pretty clear choice. We vote to live another day.