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So people are vote splitting-- candidate from one party for president, candidate from another party for the house.
So what?
Here's the reality: The representative system in the United States is not representative. The skew of representation means that Democrats need to win by 4% or MORE, just to break even. I can take you through the math, if you want, but the problem has existed since the beginning of the nation, and has been significantly exacerbated by the Reapportionment Act of 1929. In the Senate: American democracy’s Senate problem, explained (Vox). In the House, gerrymandering and geography also come into play (as well as apportionment). The Congressional Map Has A Record-Setting Bias Against Democrats (FiveThirtyEight):
I am not sure why you are now limiting it to the Federal government, are our state and local governments not democracies? However, even in the Federal government there are four vote options. Yay, nay, present, and abstain. Present and abstain both allow for laws to be passed with a plurality rather than a majority. Additionally, quorum rules allow for plurality passage.Where else in the United States democracy (especially at the federal level) is a plurality enough to pass a measure? My ignorance is on full display, (perhaps more than normal?) because I can't think of one.
Also i was not arguing that Republican positions were more popular, just that they are popular enough to continue to win elections and if that is confusing to another party or candidates, then perhaps some soul searching is indeed in order.
I am not sure why you are now limiting it to the Federal government, are our state and local governments not democracies? However, even in the Federal government there are four vote options. Yay, nay, present, and abstain. Present and abstain both allow for laws to be passed with a plurality rather than a majority. Additionally, quorum rules allow for plurality passage.
So how does the second part that you wrote have anything to do with my original point? Go back and read my original post that you are taking issue with and explain how anything you have written refutes my point.
Your position is that Democrats need to do soul searching of their policies to win elections. My point is that is a false dilemma. There are other ways that the party with the more popular policies may win elections without considering changing their policies.
She will blow every republican in congress to get what she wantsWill Prez Kamala deal with it? We'll see.
Abstentions are not counted in the vote tally. To pass a bill in the Senate you must have a majority of the votes, which are Yays and Nays. The Senate doesn't actually have present votes, but abstentions are non-votes and are not effectively Nay votes.I don't think that is correct. Rules state that a simple majority is still required (or 2/3rds majority, depending upon the situation, obviously) to pass a measure/enact a bill. Present or abstain don't reduce the number of votes required for a majority. That's completely false. 51 votes are still needed (out of 100, for example)
Are you for real? Do you not understand Democrats only 'won' this election via the fraudulent mail-in voting system? There's a reason why Biden didn't do any campaigning. There's a reason nobody cared that he was only drawing 100 people at his rallies. He knew the fix was in.Democrats tell themselves happy stories about 'demographics' meaning Republicans are done for, just as we've heard for years about Florida, Texas, Georgia and so on turning blue real soon now. (At least Virginia sort of did).
Democrats are a very diverse party, including voters from 'blue dog' right-wing voters, to 'centrists', to 'liberals', to 'progressives', with the 'corporatist/progressive split' a huge one, needing both sides to win national elections. Many Democratic voters are less engaged with politics. They include younger voters, who vote less.
Meanwhile, Republicans are powered by the engine of plutocracy, funding a massive con job for their voters. Big money, that is so critical to winning elections, ensuring that whoever wins, it will represent a win for big money; the public can't compete on the spending. In that sense, the elections are already broken between 'bad or disastrous' as the choices.
Republicans have a massive propaganda machinery, with over 90% of the talk radio market and many other outlets, including a if not the top cable news channel, indoctrinating 'their side' every day. Democrats have nothing of the sort, despite some Democratic-friendly MSNBC hosts and a far smaller bit of talk radio.
Republican voters tend to be more fanatical, closed-minded, cult-like, passionate voters than the Democrats.
Democrats just *barely* squeezed out a win in one race against the worst, criminal, incompetent president in history. Probably. While not taking the Senate, despite 23 Republicans being up for election and only 12 Democrats, and losing seats in the House in an election they probably won the presidency.
It would be like Democrats running Osama bin Laden for president (who killed FAR fewer Americans and lacked the corruption and lies of trump), and having a very close election. What would that say about how Republicans were doing?
Now, Biden faces running a country with an obstructionist Senate, where he can count on getting nothing passed, yet he'll get all the blame. Just as the Republican Justices are likely to destroy the ACA, which would need Republican votes to restore. Things are not looking good for Democrats, I hate to say. And now, without the huge pressure of a second trump term, many Democratic voters will be less engaged. Democrats have a heck of a challenge coming in 2022 and 2024.
un-educated white males no less.The concern about 'spending' in the presidential election didn't seem to matter when it was thought that Dems would sweep bigly.
When that didn't happen, suddenly money in politics becomes a concern.
Trump expanded the GOP base with blacks, Hispanics and women. He lost ground, amusingly, with white men.
Are you for real? Do you not understand Democrats only 'won' this election via the fraudulent mail-in voting system? There's a reason why Biden didn't do any campaigning. There's a reason nobody cared that he was only drawing 100 people at his rallies. He knew the fix was in.
So people are vote splitting-- candidate from one party for president, candidate from another party for the house.
So what?
No, the fundamental structure of Congress overrepresents Republicans. It’s not vote splitting. Literally more people have to vote Democrat to achieve the same number of representatives.
actually it does. the problem is that it gets in the leftists draconian takeover which is what it was designed to do and they can't stand it.agree, just as the Trumpisms see themselves victimized at every turn.
The "constitution" needs a total rewrite. It simple does not address a world in 2020.
BTW, it seems to me it is the constitution, as originally written, that erodes the freedom of many. Think about it.
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