gabbath

It's not just policy, it's energy.

Becoming a recognized name that sticks in people's heads is the biggest battle — this is usually the incumbent advantage: this was Manchin's advantage over Paula Jean Swearengin; but it was also Cuomo's advantage over Zohran Mamdani... and Cuomo lost. So there's another way to make yourself known: being disruptive.

I loathe MAGA. They are assholes, but that's how they took over. That's what gets them covered in the news, they do constant theater saying asshole things. Literally everyone knows who Marjorie Taylor Greene is, whether they're into politics or not. Many MAGA politicians nowadays you know first from the podcast circuit. Yes they have an ecosystem but that doesn't mean we can't do guerrilla campaigning. After all, Mamdani still won, right?

Now I'm not saying we need progressives to be assholes. But they should be more performative — loudmouths even: get up in people's faces, speak confidently and provocatively into the camera, tell people your values without them asking. Do things that aren't necessarily stunts, but that get labeled as stunts.

Mamdani has done a bunch of this stuff, from telling Cuomo how to spell his name, to his full day walking through Manhattan and interacting with people, to how easily he answers even the hardest questions — I mean, you probably already know how good he is at this stuff and how easy he makes it look, so it might be tempting to think you can't replicate his success because of how uniquely talented he is, but let me give you another example:

Kat Abughazaleh (YouTuber and investigative journalist for Mother Jones and Media Matters, currently running for Congress) has done arguably even more with her campaign: she's using campaign money for mutual aid (anyone can walk into their office and get free stuff except for ICE), feeding the homeless, Pride and Drag Queen Story Hour; she gave bigots the finger on camera and doubled down; she did a campaign event in a comedy club and turned it into a TED-style stand-up presentation about "General" Michael Flynn wanting to sell your blood. Her campaign slogan as a Democrat is "What if we didn't suck"! She started in single digits and now she's single digits away from first place. Watch her explain it though, to get a sense of the energy. (All the other stuff is on her channel too, I highly recommend the Flynn one btw!)

You have to get creative and work the outrage media space, it's the only way. Get eyes on you and stand up for your values, loudly!

This. The whole framing needs to be pushed back against.

And what was his "merit" again (since that's how they like to frame it)? Oh right, fooling people into voting for him. Just PR and courting big shots for campaign money.

It's so obvious. They never said or will ever say that line ever about a white guy.

Well yeah but you have to get RCV first. But for the rest of us in FPTP land, we make do until enough of a movement for RCV is built — and you can't build a movement for RCV while basic rights are being stripped away and you're spending all your cycles on the back foot defending those and putting out fires. Eh, who am I kidding... The damage is irreparable, current Democrats (unless the party gets taken over by Mamdani clones) will just do their ratchet shit again and cement this as the new normal because they're fucking useless.

In FPTP, not voting the lesser evil gives you the greater evil. It's dead simple, but I'll be the first to admit it's a damn hard pill to swallow for us idealists (I should know, I was a Jimmy Dore fan in 2019-2020, took me ages to see through faux-left grift because it preys on idealism and perfectionism).

ratfuck to describe using proceduralism to try to manipulate democracy

Haha, I never thought to define that term, it just comes to me instinctively whenever Democrats or Republicans are mentioned (particularly this second Trump administration): Democrats ratfucked their constituents in 2024, Republicans ratfucked the country in 2025.

Fair enough, but I was saying in the "this should become common practice" sense. I don't think anyone can just post there since it's owned by the creators, so you have to join them, it's a package deal.

Where would be a general purpose place to use as the second platform? Something that's easy to use (and ofc not even more immoral than youtube, so not rumble or things like that).

She also defended herself: "Contrary to brainwashed Democrat boomers think and protest about, Trump is not a king, MAGA is not a cult, and I can and DO have my own opinion."

Well, maybe people think that because of the other paragraph in your tweet:

"It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts, and neocon tv personalities that MAGA hates and who were NEVER TRUMPERS!" she wrote on X.

See, everyone but you could have (and has) predicted the bait and switch. That's why you're a cultist. Not because you don't have your own opinion, but because you trust a guy who is untrustable.

Well they won't improve. Your move EU.

That second point is so much more applicable to Russia, but they sing a wholly different tune with regard to that.

The Void by Ice-Pick Lodge, the makers of Pathologic.

This game taught me that actions have consequences and that I should be more humble and think twice about the environment before exploiting it like I'm playing a game.

Yes, it's that kind of game.