Ted Rall for April 17, 2024

“Well I wonder who would lead us if none of us would vote.” Larry Norman (quote AGAIN!)Can anybody answer the question?

Biden is defacto becacse hes incumbunt

Comon Ted I dont need to tell you basic facts

Definitely no artificial intelligence involved here.

Pfft. Choosing the lesser of two weevils IS democracy, though it’s not as much fun as being able to choose someone you really like. And telling people how you think they should vote is too. This ‘toon is just complaining that growing up and doing your duty isn’t fair. If I understand it.

A lot of progressives in Florida are disillusioned in the DNC and are looking Green with Dr Jill Stein or even Cornel West in the election. It seems every election the MSM tries to tell everyone that FL is too close to call and then the repubbas win, often decidedly, sometime the democrats even get boat raced when they run bland mediocre candidates such as Charlie Crist so in a red state such as FL (and most of the South along with places like OH) perhaps progressives should voice their displeasure at bland, conservative DNC values by going third party. If I was an angry voter in Michigan for example, I would defintely think about doing this as well since Banker Joe is obviously ignoring the voices of the people who want him to stop funding the madness in Palestine. The people in Michigan have a powerful hammer as that is a true toss up state and Banker Joe needs every vote there to win, you would think he would take action but has he? There is still time for the DNC to alter course but lets face it, when it comes to israel, there is little difference between the DNC’s and the repubbas servitude to the conglomerates and 1%ers who are basically in full support of the war and destruction of Gaza.

Mass Vigilante Challenges, self appointed vote fraud hunters. In one case, one person challenged 32,000 voters who in turn never had their votes counted. “True the Vote”, it’s how the GOP plans to win this year!

The power in this process belongs to the two political parties in this country plain and simple. The policy making decisions and the candidates they endorse are determined by well entrenched corporate interests. The extent that his can be successfully portrayed as “democracy” demonstrates the extent to which we have been hoodwinked as an “electorate”.

Fun fact:

In Brazil, where voting is mandatory, if more than two thirds of the voters hand in a blank ballot the elections have to be done over, with all candidates from the first run not allowed on the ballot again.

The media have seen to it, though, that this has never happened.

Democrats have a Presidential candidate with all the experience and demonstrable dedication to his country we could ask for. Republicans have a character who represents the educational and emotional level of his supporters. People who want a 3rd option never put the effort in choosing someone who can adequately differentiate themselves between the two disparate options.

It will be so much fun under Trump again, like last time, right?

Ted thinks wee are a democracy. Ted is ignorant.

Mr. Rall is right on with this one! The party elites on both sides are strangling Democracy!

Are we back to “don’t vote” already? I thought Rall starts that campaign in the summer. On the other hand, this isn’t a democracy and I’m not sure that we’ve ever had one. Wasn’t George Washington the richest man in America at the time?

Ohio changed their law to keep President off of the ballot and the brain dead GQP zombies think that’s fair because ’’republicans’’ [not democrats] tried to keep trump off of the ballot in their states. Somehow it’s equal in their tiny minds.

Third and fourth parties run candidates regularly, they just don’t get many votes. If you want a socialist (for example) to win, then you have to work hard in between elections to convince people to vote that way.

Anyone and everyone who meets the criteria will be on the ballot for president.

I was never under any illusion that Biden was anything but a moderate. He compromises. He has views that the far left loathe. No one ever gets a candidate that aligns with all of their views. Politics and yes, democracy, is messy.

So what’s left? Which candidate offers the best chance to advance causes that will help, rather than harm more people? If staying “pure” to your beliefs means getting someone 180 from those beliefs is it worth it? Obviously, people will do what they do, but for me, there really is only one choice. Concerns about the environment, abortion, function of government, etc. have ZERO chance to be adequately addressed during a 2nd Trump term.

It’s Democracy … so long as you vote as you are told to vote by the DNC.

If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal". – Emma Goldman

You can vote for anyone you want, lets write in Rall.

Not just the R.N.C. & D.N.C.: our electoral system, especially our presidential elections are structured toward two candidates. This means, however, that both parties benefit by being big tents, which the Democrats are. They even permitted Senator Sanders to run for the Democratic nomination for president without his being a Democrat (except very temporarily). The Democrats run a wide gamut of opinions, while the Republicans have become totally tools of Trump, who is a tool of Putin.

There are, however, hundreds of registered candidates for this year’s presidential election (, List_of_registered_2024_presidential_candidates), and anyone is free to vote for any of them—or to write in a candidate of one’s own choosing.

A vote for a third party is a vote for diaper Donnie. Not voting? Same result.

This again? Really? Ted, we went over this. I went and did the research (although you deleted your post, which caused my reply to be deleted along with it) and proved there were no states in which there were only two Presidential candidates in 2020. Therefore, there’s no reason whatsoever to think that will happen this year. There’s no precedent for it. You are fearmongering in order to present yet another false equivalence.

Fear not, everyone. You don’t have to listen to the white-haired bully trying to scare you into thinking your vote doesn’t count and so there’s no point in voting. AND you don’t have to give up on democracy either! If you don’t want to vote for Trump or Biden, you don’t have to vote for either — but you can still cast a Presidential vote just the same, and I encourage you to do so.

If you feel it is best to vote for Trump because you think he’ll do the best job, do that.

If you feel it is best to vote for Biden because you think he’ll do the best job, do that.

If you feel it is best to vote for Trump because you dread what will happen under another four years of Biden, and you think Trump is the best chance of preventing his reelection, do that.

If you feel it is best to vote for Biden because you dread what will happen if Trump returns to office, and you think Biden is the best chance of preventing Trumps’ return, do that.

If you feel one of the other candidates on your ballot is a better choice for President, and you want to throw your support behind them because you think they might have a chance if only enough people do as you do and vote for them, do that.

If you know your preferred candidate has no chance but you still want to express your support for them by voting for them, do that.

IT’S YOUR VOTE. USE IT HOW YOU WANT TO USE IT.

When the choice is bad or worse, smart people choose bad.

Charlie “the perrenial sacrificial candidate”? Embarrassing…Even I, an almost dedicated Progressive, would almost vote for DiStupid-but I’d poke a sharp stick through my tongue, first.