Post by @WoodScientist@lemmy.world

2026-10-27 00:17 UTC

No election is a binary choice, as each election effects the elections that come after it. You can stick your fingers in your ears and yell “I can’t hear you!” tell you’re blue in the face, but that doesn’t change the simple fact that anyone trying to compress an election down to a binary choice has the attention span and memory of a goldfish.

Replies (2)

@mrmaplebar@fedia.io 2026-10-27 03:02

No election is a binary choice This is, as a matter of political science, incorrect. Currently, almost every election in the United States ultimately boils down to a binary choice, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law You can certainly disagree with the candidates, the platforms and the messaging all you want, but the truth is that (in almost every first-past-the-post, winner-takes-all election in the United States) one of two people (usually a Democrat or a Republican) will ultimately win--and to the winner go all of the spoils. That's the system we currently have, and as someone who agrees that it sucks, I highly recommend advocating for state and local reforms to make elections laws more democratic. What does candidate A represent? How does it compare to candidate B? Fundamentally, the question absolutely boils down to "which one of these two people do I want to win, and which one of the two do I want to lose?" And that is the basic question by which the informed and politically-aware voter ultimately ought to make a strategic decision. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_voting Vote with your heart AND with your brain.

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@Bristlecone@lemmy.world 2026-10-27 07:07

I agree with you theoretically, but in practicality, in US politics currently, that’s how you get Trump

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