If this is an analogy for voting it doesn’t work. Mostly because not voting let’s a Fascist madman be installed in office, allow 100,000 to die thru inaction, 40 million be unemployed, and destroy our democracy in the name of the Constitution.
7-Up was originally called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda and contained lithium citrate right up until 1950. In fact, it’s been suggested that the 7 in 7-Up refers to the atomic mass of the lithium.
Lithium is a light conductive metal, as far as I can tell it allows the electricity in the body to move better and this tends to lighten one’s mood.
Gee, it’s almost like choosing a consumer good — where each person can always have their own choice, no matter what anyone else does — is completely different from voting, where there’s always only going to be one winner.
Gosh, how amazing to have a completely pointless analogy.
This is a clever cartoon, but for anyone of a certain age it runs into a historical problem. When I was young, there were lots of kinds of soda, including some national brands but also regional or local brands. Some have now disappeared — anyone remember Nehi? I think Vernors ginger ale still exists, but it’s been watered down. So the analogy doesn’t quite work. Still, it’s clever.
I get his point…but this is totally a false equivalency. With the way the electorate is currently split politically/ideologically and way the electoral system is codified legally, a vote for a third party candidate is throwing your vote away and/or tacitly assisting someone you aren’t voting for to win. It sucks, but it is the current reality. Denying it using a logical fallacy doesn’t change anything. I don’t know how we can change it now without basically dissolving and restarting the entire system. Which neither Republican or Democrat leadership has any motivation to do…and certainly would never work together to do.
Banalogy…………………………..now, usually I’m fighting it out with the idiotic right-wing populists. It’s interesting to find this small group of people having a problem with my view of Ted. They do represent the model for the strawman “elitists” that the Rush Limbaugh crowd likes to create.
Generally, voting for third party candidates can be a good idea for local and statewide elections. A candidate can build a sufficient network of supporters and tell his or her story to every eligible vote. The reality is that most of third party candidates aren’t strong enough to win. Their ideas don’t resonate with significant numbers of voters and their personal charisma isn’t strong enough to attract significant numbers of voters That is why they lose most of the time.
At the national level, most strong candidates move to one of the major parties because it is a significantly easier way to win. Joining a party allows a candidate to leverage infrastructure that is already built and get access to money that is already out there. And getting the voters who will uncritically vote for their party’s candidates. It is a lot easier to change a entire tribe’s way of thinking about things than it is to start a new tribe. People who really want what third party candidates proclaim they want join a main party and work to shift the parties thinking.
As a result, most people running for national office from third parties are the kinds of people who would struggle to win in any election at any level and are simply doing it to call attention to their ideas. They have no expectation of winning. Finally, there are always some folks that will say that voting for third parties will give them a chance to become more legitimate over time. This is false. This is why independent voters usually end of voting for one of the two major parties. This is why Republicans become Democrats and vice versa more than they join third parties. Most people don’t have an interest in joining a nonviable tribe. There is no benefit.
Ooh…let me guess. Bernie Sanders is 7-Up, Pepsi is Biden and Coke is Trump. Panel 3 is Rall telling us not to vote. Panel 4 represents those of us who believe Biden is the lessor of two evils. But you know, Pepsi and Coke do taste different and many people actually have a preference. But that’s soda. Outside if Never-Never Land, the people who grew up can see vast differences between Biden and Trump. Trump has now publicly called for state censorship for sources that oppose him. And let’s not forget that Trump called on his followers to “liberate” their states and they show up heavily armed, some carrying nooses and Confederate Flags. Recently, they went as far as to hang a Governor in effigy. In the final frame where the character says, “WTF”; she apparently doesn’t realize that she is going to get severed a soda no matter what she does. If she chooses Pepsi, she only has to drink it. If she chooses Coke or neither, she gets a Coke; but it will be going in a different orifice.
Hey, where’s the usual strip condemning the Democrats for their evil farm policies and praising Trump’s backside while the bodies pile up from the Covid? You’re not kissing enough butt, Ted.
Third party candidates can and occasionally do tip an election. All the way from POTUS to dog-catcher.
The problem is that in a tight election the 3rd candidate typically draws votes AWAY from the major party candidate whose platform is closest to the 3rd. Look at Ross Perot. In 1992 he condemned us to 8 years of Slick Willie and the Banshee. Decades later I have not found a single Perot voter who does not regret seeing Bill in office.
On the local and state level it is not uncommon to see an election slide over to a candidate whose platform is everything the 3rd voter opposes because he and his small group of like-minded fellows wasted their vote on a 3rd candidate. The 3rd voter rarely ever votes as a protest but indeed does support the candidate who best represents his goals. Sadly, the major candidate who is next best loses to the worst possible choice.
The above formula is true for both liberal and conservative goals. The Buckley Rule is one that ALL voters need to hold dear and obey. When it comes to voting 3rd you rarely ever win, and sometimes you cause the worst possible outcome according to your values. Better to get half a loaf than to starve.
Pepsi started losing ground when its president/CEO John Scully left in the early 1980s to work at a little company in Cupertino, CA. It is called Apple. I wonder how they are doing? (Smugly sent from my iPad).
You may choose one beverage for everyone at the party to drink. The two with the most votes are Water or Hydrochloric acid. It’s currently neck-and-neck. One of those two will be selected.Rall: I prefer 7-up to Water!Voting for 7-up just increases the chance that you and everyone else will be given Hydrochloric acid to drink.Rall: I don’t see any difference between the two, and even if I have to drink acid, I feel better about choosing 7-up!
jdeathlogan almost 4 years ago
Ted’s still upset that Bernie didn’t get the nomination.
Darsan54 Premium Member almost 4 years ago
If this is an analogy for voting it doesn’t work. Mostly because not voting let’s a Fascist madman be installed in office, allow 100,000 to die thru inaction, 40 million be unemployed, and destroy our democracy in the name of the Constitution.
Radish the wordsmith almost 4 years ago
7-Up was originally called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda and contained lithium citrate right up until 1950. In fact, it’s been suggested that the 7 in 7-Up refers to the atomic mass of the lithium.
Lithium is a light conductive metal, as far as I can tell it allows the electricity in the body to move better and this tends to lighten one’s mood.
superposition almost 4 years ago
What is also weird is that folks under 40 don’t think socialism is bad and they’re not fans of Coke or Pepsi.
GabryelFrost almost 4 years ago
Proportional alocation of mandates on state level instead of one candidate district. Many Europeans (Spain, Danemark, Germany) use it.
wyneaux almost 4 years ago
Gee, I thought it was all about Kool-aid…. now where’s my Dr. Pepper?
Radish the wordsmith almost 4 years ago
Republicans drink bleach.
Andrew Wheeler almost 4 years ago
Gee, it’s almost like choosing a consumer good — where each person can always have their own choice, no matter what anyone else does — is completely different from voting, where there’s always only going to be one winner.
Gosh, how amazing to have a completely pointless analogy.
lonecat almost 4 years ago
This is a clever cartoon, but for anyone of a certain age it runs into a historical problem. When I was young, there were lots of kinds of soda, including some national brands but also regional or local brands. Some have now disappeared — anyone remember Nehi? I think Vernors ginger ale still exists, but it’s been watered down. So the analogy doesn’t quite work. Still, it’s clever.
ncorgbl almost 4 years ago
Someone needs to lay off the coke…
StackableContainers almost 4 years ago
I get his point…but this is totally a false equivalency. With the way the electorate is currently split politically/ideologically and way the electoral system is codified legally, a vote for a third party candidate is throwing your vote away and/or tacitly assisting someone you aren’t voting for to win. It sucks, but it is the current reality. Denying it using a logical fallacy doesn’t change anything. I don’t know how we can change it now without basically dissolving and restarting the entire system. Which neither Republican or Democrat leadership has any motivation to do…and certainly would never work together to do.
rossevrymn almost 4 years ago
Banalogy…………………………..now, usually I’m fighting it out with the idiotic right-wing populists. It’s interesting to find this small group of people having a problem with my view of Ted. They do represent the model for the strawman “elitists” that the Rush Limbaugh crowd likes to create.
Zen-of-Zinfandel almost 4 years ago
I’m sure Ted remembers Ross Perot : > ]
Diane Lee Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Generally, voting for third party candidates can be a good idea for local and statewide elections. A candidate can build a sufficient network of supporters and tell his or her story to every eligible vote. The reality is that most of third party candidates aren’t strong enough to win. Their ideas don’t resonate with significant numbers of voters and their personal charisma isn’t strong enough to attract significant numbers of voters That is why they lose most of the time.
At the national level, most strong candidates move to one of the major parties because it is a significantly easier way to win. Joining a party allows a candidate to leverage infrastructure that is already built and get access to money that is already out there. And getting the voters who will uncritically vote for their party’s candidates. It is a lot easier to change a entire tribe’s way of thinking about things than it is to start a new tribe. People who really want what third party candidates proclaim they want join a main party and work to shift the parties thinking.
As a result, most people running for national office from third parties are the kinds of people who would struggle to win in any election at any level and are simply doing it to call attention to their ideas. They have no expectation of winning. Finally, there are always some folks that will say that voting for third parties will give them a chance to become more legitimate over time. This is false. This is why independent voters usually end of voting for one of the two major parties. This is why Republicans become Democrats and vice versa more than they join third parties. Most people don’t have an interest in joining a nonviable tribe. There is no benefit.ndblackirish97 almost 4 years ago
Yep. Third Party politics in a nutshell.
halvincobbes Premium Member almost 4 years ago
If I choose a soft drink, it has no effect on the world. Choosing a candidate does. Talk about a false equivalence!
Not the Smartest Man On the Planet -- Maybe Close Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Biden’s the nominee, Rall. Suck it up.
RalphConti almost 4 years ago
Ooh…let me guess. Bernie Sanders is 7-Up, Pepsi is Biden and Coke is Trump. Panel 3 is Rall telling us not to vote. Panel 4 represents those of us who believe Biden is the lessor of two evils. But you know, Pepsi and Coke do taste different and many people actually have a preference. But that’s soda. Outside if Never-Never Land, the people who grew up can see vast differences between Biden and Trump. Trump has now publicly called for state censorship for sources that oppose him. And let’s not forget that Trump called on his followers to “liberate” their states and they show up heavily armed, some carrying nooses and Confederate Flags. Recently, they went as far as to hang a Governor in effigy. In the final frame where the character says, “WTF”; she apparently doesn’t realize that she is going to get severed a soda no matter what she does. If she chooses Pepsi, she only has to drink it. If she chooses Coke or neither, she gets a Coke; but it will be going in a different orifice.
AM730 almost 4 years ago
Hey, where’s the usual strip condemning the Democrats for their evil farm policies and praising Trump’s backside while the bodies pile up from the Covid? You’re not kissing enough butt, Ted.
Andylit Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Third party candidates can and occasionally do tip an election. All the way from POTUS to dog-catcher.
The problem is that in a tight election the 3rd candidate typically draws votes AWAY from the major party candidate whose platform is closest to the 3rd. Look at Ross Perot. In 1992 he condemned us to 8 years of Slick Willie and the Banshee. Decades later I have not found a single Perot voter who does not regret seeing Bill in office.
On the local and state level it is not uncommon to see an election slide over to a candidate whose platform is everything the 3rd voter opposes because he and his small group of like-minded fellows wasted their vote on a 3rd candidate. The 3rd voter rarely ever votes as a protest but indeed does support the candidate who best represents his goals. Sadly, the major candidate who is next best loses to the worst possible choice.
The above formula is true for both liberal and conservative goals. The Buckley Rule is one that ALL voters need to hold dear and obey. When it comes to voting 3rd you rarely ever win, and sometimes you cause the worst possible outcome according to your values. Better to get half a loaf than to starve.
DeepState almost 4 years ago
Like it or not, it is an accurate depiction. Sometimes negative actions can have positive consequences.
kentmarx36 almost 4 years ago
This cartoon should be deep-sixed as a gesture in maintaining sanity for the majority.
Teto85 Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Pepsi started losing ground when its president/CEO John Scully left in the early 1980s to work at a little company in Cupertino, CA. It is called Apple. I wonder how they are doing? (Smugly sent from my iPad).
HouseApe almost 4 years ago
You may choose one beverage for everyone at the party to drink. The two with the most votes are Water or Hydrochloric acid. It’s currently neck-and-neck. One of those two will be selected.Rall: I prefer 7-up to Water!Voting for 7-up just increases the chance that you and everyone else will be given Hydrochloric acid to drink.Rall: I don’t see any difference between the two, and even if I have to drink acid, I feel better about choosing 7-up!
Enjoy the acid, Ted. The rest of us won’t.
vtdba almost 4 years ago
Coke or Pepsi??? Since 1876; if you wanted to get anything done it just takes Moxie.