Election Season 2024 (United States)

[Oniya]

Have you tried - rather than stating your position on immigration - saying something like 'Mom, I'd really rather not discuss politics.' in a very neutral tone.  Repeat until she stops, like a recording.  It's not quite grey-rocking, since any other topic is fair game, but it might break the cycle and head off any fighting.

[Laughing Hyena]

Have you tried - rather than stating your position on immigration - saying something like 'Mom, I'd really rather not discuss politics.' in a very neutral tone.  Repeat until she stops, like a recording.  It's not quite grey-rocking, since any other topic is fair game, but it might break the cycle and head off any fighting.

Fortunately I didn't state my position on such since I knew it would turn into an argument. So I kept silent. 

I honestly haven't tried that. I'm not too certain if she'd drop it though without asking why. Honestly though it should be self explanatory since I don't want to get into a heated argument. But I can give it a shot the next time it comes up.

[Oniya]

I struggle with this a lot with topics other than politics - but actively stating that 'here's the line' turns it into a conscious choice for her to keep going, compared to accepting your silence as a tacit approval to continue.

[Laughing Hyena]

Thank you for the advice Oniya. I appreciate it immensely.

[Oniya]

My own worries for this cycle is what I see at work.  Even though politics are one of those topics that are discouraged at work, there are enough side-comments for me to see that there's a distinct (and predictable) divide between the management and the hourly employees. 

Most of my immediate co-workers are decently knowledgeable about social issues (the one major exception is a guy who has been somehow insulated to the point of naivety), but they've bought into the 'they're all crooks' and 'my vote won't make a difference' rhetorics and don't even consider voting on issues, let alone candidates.  We've had conversations that could have been fractious, except that I'm that weird Gen-X lady who wears a pronoun pin, laughs at the dirty jokes, and actually knows what 'redlining' is (and helped explain it to that one guy). 

Meanwhile, the upper levels, who are only vaguely aware of when their paychecks hit the banks, don't seem to understand what all the fuss is about - but they vote because 'it's what you do'.

Now, if everyone in the store voted, the hourly folks would outnumber the salary folks - and while neither group is monolithic, the number of outliers in each group isn't game-changing.

[Missy]

I know it's been a while since thus topic got any traction and I'm glad it was quiet but I just need to type and let something off my chest. This election already has me stressed due to the fact my own mother and aunt watch RAN hosted by Bannon, Kirk and such.

I don't listen to it because I know it's rubbish, fear mongering  and propaganda. But my mom and aunt do parrot it and sometimes it seems like it's all they talk about. From the issues of real estate and rent and their biggest gripe immigration. I was coming home with my own mother and what seemed innocent enough turned into a one sided conversation about the "millions of illegals" coming across the border.

I love my mother and I think the world of her and it hurts me deeply to hear her speak like this. Last time a year ago this was a full scale argument and I promised not to fight like this again. So I kept my mouth shut but she just kept talking the whole time.

It feels like that's all they talk about. She asked me a few questions, if I believe what she said. I don't answer but she was willing to take my silence as that. She says look it up but I know where she gets her info from and I do not trust it. Even asking me if I would vote for anyone else like RFK besides who I intended to. Point blank asking who I'd vote for. All I can say is "I vote behind a curtain."

The best thing I can do is walk away from that argument but I know it's gonna come up again.

I know I cannot change her mind just as I know I won't change my mind or throw my vote away just to let a man like Donald Trump do what he wants and turn my country into something I was warned about in late elementary, junior high, and high school.

I just want this cycle to end and barring proof that God exists and literally strikes 45 down with lightning I am not voting for who she backs much less a republican.

My sister, my aunt, my mom, my grandma. Feels like I'm fighting the whole damn world.

Thank heavens for my brother and sister in law having a decent mind and being on the same stance as me, but I dunno how I can keep enduring this after eight years and it only gets worse.

This is why I hate Trump. He drives such a wedge between people and it just hurts my damn soul because now I have to fight with people I love more than most.

I'm just worried that by doing what I feel is the correct desicion that I will lose my family. Just because I'm not voting the way they want.

Aye, this is one of the most frustrating features of the modern age, we've all just lost our respect for one another. I actually fairly fortunate myself one of my best coworkers can say abortions murder and I can say it's not and we have enough respect for one another that we can move on from the subject if we can't agree on it. H3 usually ends up telling me about the classic car he's been building from absolute scratch for a while, I,  not a car person, but I don't mind listening to him about it at all, it can be kind of interesting, especially since he just started upthe motor he built from scratch for the first time recently, pretty impressive stuff. I guess I wish I knew how to adjust societies course so people. Could have that kind of respect again.

[Callie Del Noire]

My own worries for this cycle is what I see at work.  Even though politics are one of those topics that are discouraged at work, there are enough side-comments for me to see that there's a distinct (and predictable) divide between the management and the hourly employees. 

Most of my immediate co-workers are decently knowledgeable about social issues (the one major exception is a guy who has been somehow insulated to the point of naivety), but they've bought into the 'they're all crooks' and 'my vote won't make a difference' rhetorics and don't even consider voting on issues, let alone candidates.  We've had conversations that could have been fractious, except that I'm that weird Gen-X lady who wears a pronoun pin, laughs at the dirty jokes, and actually knows what 'redlining' is (and helped explain it to that one guy). 

Meanwhile, the upper levels, who are only vaguely aware of when their paychecks hit the banks, don't seem to understand what all the fuss is about - but they vote because 'it's what you do'.

Now, if everyone in the store voted, the hourly folks would outnumber the salary folks - and while neither group is monolithic, the number of outliers in each group isn't game-changing.

The my vote doesn’t count is BS. bush won three districts by literally a small handful of votes. I had two airmen saying that and I showed them the news piece and highlighted that half the folks eligible to vote didn’t registered. And of that 50% only about 50% of that actively vote. So a quarter bother to vote. 

[LostInTheMist]

I'm gonna stick to my position that the only wasted vote is a vote that isn't cast.

[ClarkKent]

I'll be voting for whoever the Democratic nominee is. Probably Biden, assuming he's still alive at that point. The reason for this is that I really want to still have a vote that counts in 2028, and if the Republicans win, even if it's not Trump, I probably won't. 

So I recently saw something online about Michelle Obama was potentially going to run as the Democratic nominee. Though she had publicly said that she had no interest in running for president, in the past, I think she would actually be a viable candidate. She would be able to use more of her husband's platform and continue making change. 

It truly is devastating what is happening in our country. I am devastated that these people who are arguing for Trump are making excuses for him when they were passionately chanting to "Lock Hillary Up" just a few years back. We truly need a non-geriatric candidate, someone who understands the world as it is now, not 50 years ago when you could buy a house for a nickel. 

[Oniya]

Mrs. Obama has been saying for years that she has no intention to run for president.  The most recent article I saw making that statement was March 5 of this year, while the most recent article suggesting that she was 'a contender' was on Feb 28 - about a week before that refusal.

I also noted an opinion column on Politico that drops this rumor squarely in the laps of folks like DeSantis and Ted Cruz - hardly Democratic insiders.

A little further digging, and it's looking like this whole thing may have originated with a FOX News host in May of 2023.  (This was promptly fact-checked on-air in real time, but... well.)

Upshot is that she polls well - people like her - but she has no interest in being swapped in. 

[ClarkKent]

Well that is quite a disappointment. Thanks for all the articles, that is honestly super helpful!

I think if she put her name on the ballot she'd be a shoe in. We need someone who is brave enough to say what needs to be said. 

This whole defiance with Trump is just fear mongering and genuinely makes me fear that he wants to change the state of the country to a dictatorship. 

[LostInTheMist]

And of course it's too late for her to run this year anyway. All the state and territory primaries have been run. There are two caucuses left to go, one in Guam, the other in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Even if 100% of those went to Michelle Obama, she wouldn't even be a footnote at the convention. The only way it could conceivably happen would be if Biden were to die between now and the Democratic Convention. Even then, even if she were convinced to stand for nomination, the convention would almost certainly pick Harris to run in his place (as she would be the incumbent President at that point.) Even though she'd almost certainly be walloped by Trump.

But Michelle Obama has no interest in running in any case, so even if there were an opening, it wouldn't happen. 

The FOX News bit in May 2023 might have been an attempt by FOX News (basically the propaganda arm of the Republican Party) to discourage Democrats from supporting Biden, in the hopes that Michelle Obama would run instead. Also to fire up the Republican base, who fear what a black woman would do in power.