Vote For Change!
One of my readers made a set of comments a few days ago that I want to share.
- If you want endless wars, you have two choices, Trump or Biden, both will continue fighting wars.
- If you want increased deficit spending, you have two choices, Trump or Biden. Both will continue to increase the national debt. It is just a matter of where you want the last $200-$500 Billion to be spent.
- If you want more government in your lives, you have two choices, Trump or Biden. Neither will do anything to decrease the amount of intrusiveness in our lives.
- If you want more partisan bickering, you have two choices, Biden or Trump. Neither will solve the problem, it isn’t in their best interest to solve anything.
- Nobody I talk to is interested in voting “for” Biden or “for” Trump. They are voting AGAINST one or the other. Is this what we really want?
- I choose to vote FOR Jo Jorgensen.
I Endorse Jo Jorgensen for President
In case you missed it, please see my endorsement: I Endorse Jo Jorgensen for President
Vote For Change!
Mish
Vote Trump. He’s taking it to the politicized Administrative State:
Nobody else in decades has flexed this sort of muscle in DC. If he gets a mandate he’ll go much further than he could do the first four years being on the back foot all the time with massive seditious collusion against him from pretty much all branches of the Body Politic.
The notion that voting 3rd party is “throwing your vote away” assumes that one’s individual vote for a D or R candidate will actually make a difference in your state.
Spoiler: it won’t.
Agree with all of the first 5 points but, for point 6, I would like to interject the following imperatives in order of priority.
If you accept those priorities it means that if your state race is close, vote for Biden along with a Republican slate for congress. I really wish Jo could win but she can’t, not yet. Gridlock is the best outcome we can hope for.
If I vote for Jorgensen I will get less change than if I voted for Trump or Biden.
hear! hear!
you either manipulative, stupid or naive if you think voting for Jo Jorgensen is going to be nothing more than the same as taking away a vote for Trump or a vote for Biden. And in this election with Trump on the verge of making this country a dictatorship your righteous position seems more like it is manipulative i.e, not upsetting you subscriber base in search of more profit. Very pathetic.
Fixating on Trump as the sole harbinger of dictatorship is utterly ridiculous. We have been marching along toward it under the two party system for decades. Most people are simply blind to it when it’s their team doing it.
Mish,…here is my concern. Until we also get rid of the ilk portrayed by Mitch O’Connell and Graham and Rubio and Cruz, etc,..this country is doomed.
We’ve got to get new blood and new ideas and new procedures in government and throw out what no longer is a functional construct.
Having Jo as POTUS is the start.
Do you have any words on how she would be able to curtail and handle the likes of these other pieces of human garbage we have in major power positions in the Senate and Congress ?
TIA
I’M NOT JUST ADDRESSING THIS TO ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL,..IT IS TO ALL WHOM EXCLAIM THIS AS THEIR EXCUSE TO “THROWING THEIR VOTE AWAY” IF YOU VOTE FOR ANYONE OTHER THAN THE TWO PIECE OF GARBAGE CANDIDATES. IT IS ADDRESSED TO ALL WHOM EXPRESS YOUR SENTIMENT.
There comes a time when that logic, ” throwing your vote away.”,… is no longer logical nor sound thinking.
To vote for two individuals that are in fact part of the problem and you know both will continue to do nothing to improve this country IS THE WASTE.
Both Trump and Biden are just opposite sides of the same coin. Same suit, different tie. So,..not . one. thing. will. change. voting. for. either.
Knowing that don’t you think it is time for a change in logic and rational ?
Knowing that don’t you have a responsibility to actually honor that call which you know will give a better chance at improving this countrys sanity ?
Knowing that why would you express the lack of courage to not do what your inner conscience and higher intelligent mind knows is the answer ?
Isn’t it time to really make a differend ? Maybe yuo think you’re only one person and what can you do. John Denver wrote a song espressing exactly that truth. “What One Man Can Do”. Gandhi was one man,…look what he did. MLK was one man,…look what he did.
What if this is the when the most change can actually manifest.
What if this is the time when your standing up and saying “NO” like Gandhi did that change can really manifest ?
Are you willing to pass up that opportunity ? I’m not.
Be the change you want to see.
Begin to honor your deepest wishes for the betterment of ALL.
NOW,…is the time.
This might sound preachy and wishy-washy,..it is not.
This is exactly how things change,…by changing them.
Join Mish and Me and Others,…
YOU are the man in the mirror,…make that change !!!!
I agree, but I refuse to vote Libertarian because I disagree with everything the party stands for. I’m not voting for either Trump or Biden because neither one (and their respective parties) will do anything for the average American. And I refuse to be forced to yet again vote for “the lesser evil.”
You also have the Greens, which are the polar opposite to the Libertarians. A vote for them also sends the message that the two main party candidates are not acceptable.
Jo could just be tRump of 2016. What’s good with that change? So the purpose should be to kick out tRump, not just change per se.
No one besides Trump is Trump.
However it is an interesting thought experiment if Jo won. She could veto spending bills etc all she wants, the “DnR’s” in congress would find 2/3’s to get their crap through anyway.
At some other time voting libertarian would be a great way to make a statement. Unfortunately can’t afford that kind of luxury this time, as just a thought of a POTUS who would pack the SCOTUS, make new states, leave TSA a in the dust and dance to the squad’s tunes makes me sick in the stomach.
Any experience ? Govermor ? Senator, Congressman? Military? CEO of Fortune 500 CV company?
I am torn. I am planning on doing a write in for Ron Paul – Audit the Fed/End the Fed. Obviously, that ain’t gonna happen, but it is the root of the problem. Jo doesn’t mention anything about the Fed, but I do like the End the Wars among other things.
You’re gonna write in a guy that just had a stroke on a live broadcast and who’s lost his mind over the last several years? Well played.
He’s the only one that advocated an audit of the Federal Reserve. None of the candidates are calling for an audit, so….
Trump has started NO new wars and has been bringing troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria but media and NeoCon Democrats and Military-Industrial-Complex always have a freak-out when Trump does this.
Direct quote from Pres. Obama at Philadelphia today: “Joe is better than nobody.”
Freudian slip or honest truth?
All Democrats should vote for Jo Jorgensen.
I believe it was truth. Trump indeed is “nobody”. If I thought it would be close in my state, I’d certainly consider voting for Biden instead of Jo, because Biden is indeed better than nobody.
If I wasn’t living in a swing state I would have voted for Don Blankenship.
Mish, I am a long term reader of yours and respect your viewpoints. I agree with you and will also be voting Libertarian “to make a statement”. One issue I have is that no one really cares or will listen to our statement. You already see in the comments that most feel “it is a vote for some other outcome” or “independents are poor misguided souls who need education”. Please check out an organization I recently heard about that might actually create change. Check out Independentvoting.org they have been around for over 20 years and have actually challenged primaries and taken action to make real change. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks.
Voted Democratic last time, we all know Biden is a blunder, so voted Jo. At least we know Jo is not funded by WallStreet, Corporations and Big Pharma unlike Biden.
Donald Trump was change, I want effective leadership and experience.
Biden is about forwarding the climate change agenda and ending the use of natural gas. More than enough reason to vote against him.
Natural gas will be around for decades. Why does solar and wind upset you. It’s cheap, renewable and getting cheaper.
You should check out Planet of the Humans by Michael Moore:
Change for change’s sake can be worse than no change. And that’s why I’ve decide to vote for GRIDLOCK. Vote incumbents until challengers show moderate views.
“Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.”
― Franz Kafka
Put me down with Dave and Louis.
And….I want to hammer this home so much.
We desperately need alternatives…and the Libertarian Party has some great planks in its platform….I don’t agree with every one of those…but all Americans who would vote for some good alternative….any alternative…… to Democrats and Republicans…..need to understand one thing.
Winning takes money. That will not change. As I see it, the only way to break the monopoly the two big parties have….is to figure out how to crowdfund people like Jorgensen (and/or other good candidates). Two million raised by Jorgensen tells the story…….woefully insufficient to mount a viable campaign in the world we just happen to live in.
The billionaire donor class is not going to back anyone but Democrats and Republicans……the existing system works for them…..I could pretend to be an austerity loving pro-life Republican in Texas…and raise two million to run for dog-catcher. No problem.
There is no alternative to grass-roots fundraising….and nobody has yet figured out how to do it using social media and the net.
But that is (I think) about our last best hope. Because the congress is not about to legislate taking the big money out of the election process….they are not about to vote to give themselves term limits.
The Citizens United case was the last barrier to unlimited dark money from bazillionaires…and the good guys lost.
So we are only going to get good government if we learn how to pay for a campaign that will always take hundreds of millions of dollars….at least in a Presidential race.
I don’t know how to do it….but it has to be done….or we can keep doing what I did yesterday.
Vote against the greater evil….and sometimes these days it can be a toss-up…who is the greater evil.
winning takes money. Correct/enlighten me, but isn’t the rumor that the flame haired gourd used very, very little money to take the presidency???
Now, sorry, you’ve written a lot here, so allow me to reply in kind. I’ve noted little discussion anywhere re the Electoral College. One of today’s bloggers briefly alluded to it. Here’s a potted description of the history of same (the College): Back in the day, waaaay back, like almost Mayflower days, the Colony elites met up w/the Iroquois Confederation. These elites, including many of the Founding Fathers came to the conclusion that the immigration from England represented lower order DNA; that compared to the indigenous Mohawks(etc.) the future Americans came off pretty poorly. Some of the FF’s even suggested arming the Indians (true), but the suggestion put the kabosh entirely on that idea. Buuut, this ‘feeling’ persisted, very strongly. So, about 10/12 yrs before the Revolution broke out our FF’s decided to visit the homeland and bring along a bunch of the Indian elite; ya know, to create a sensation (distraction) AND more importantly to ask this bunch of tribesmen: Look carefully around you. We, the FF’s, want you’re opinion re these londoners and others in the countryside. OK?
After a cpl of weeks, the FF’s asked them, well, what do you think? Indian ans: my God, these morons are living in so much poverty, neglect and outright starvation…and why? because they have such a central gov’t, that’s why. The king has too much control.
Hmmm, replied our FF’s, interesting. Now we are continuing our voyage, this time to gay Paree. You will enjoy.
Long story shorter, after a week or so in La Douce France, again the guys were asked: what are your impressions??? Reply: Oh good God, the poverty here is even worse!! Again too much central control.
On returning, our FF’s asked the Sachems: how can we avoid this shit?? The direct ans was: on no account set up a king. Next, every single individual colony must receive EQUAL representation, no matter how numerous or how large.
Result: the electoral college.
Now, what happened to the Iroquois when they got back? Oh, interesting. They told their people that these two groups, Americanos and Brits, are going to war right now! So, we have to align w/the Brits. Why? They are as numerous as the leaves on the trees! We have no hope but to join w/our regular allies, the Brits.
So, the Indians left us the Electoral College and they ended up being steel workers and smugglers!
“but isn’t the rumor that the flame haired gourd used very, very little money to take the presidency???”
He spent 65 million of his own money…and his campaign raised about 600 million total…compared to a billion that Hillary raised. It is said that a lot of campaign money went back into Trump companies for services rendered (theoretically).
So “very little money” is not a term I’d use…but it was not a high budget campaign by modern standards.
On the story about the Native Americans….I have no idea if that is where the idea of the electoral college came from….but I doubt it.
I do think what you say is right……that the Indians were well aware that white society in Europe was inferior in terms of what we might call “people care” (that’s a term permaculturists use, and I like it) to their own culture.
I think the native tribes were more like the Europeans own ancestors…say the Celts…than they were to the “modern” Europeans of the 17th and 18th centuries.
To me it was a culture clash…..between an ancient hunter-gatherer culture…and one that was a thousand years more advanced…and at the cusp of going into a rapid industrial and technological evolution.
Private property was part of that……even in Europe, territory was ruled and controlled by tribes….by force…prior to the rise of the kings and the royals..
This popular notion now that the whites conducted a genocide against the native tribes…another mark of our white racism…is not quite right.
Just like we have so many displaced people now….there was a situation where war, feudalism, and increasingly, industry….was creating a a refugee class in Europe…the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries in Europe were marked by big bloody wars that lasted for decades….some of them. Poor people were terribly exploited. People were on the move. The new world was a place they could go…to get away from it.
The modern idea of private property didn’t even begin to evolve in Europe until the 12th century…and it wasn’t until the 17th century that real estate could be conveyed between owners the way we think of it now.
We tend to oversimplify so many things in the past…..make what happened into a good guys vs. bad guys story that never really was…
Only two realistic choices. Biden or Trump. You’ve posted the odds of both. Jorgensen doesn’t even measure. In 2016 votes for Greene resulted in Trump getting elected. And Jirgansen is anti vax. That’s ridiculous. We don’t need to bring back diseases we’ve eradicated like measles. Like michael Steele said when backing Biden, he will have many disagreements and looks forward to having them but right now we have a monster who doesn’t believe in Democracy or human rights
The Democratic Party doesn’t believe in democracy. Twice they rigged the DNC so that Sanders could not win the nomination. In California, we have ballot propositions. On some propositions, the Democrats have gone to court to attempt to overturn the vote, when they lost.
Michael Steele is entitled to his imagination and his opinion. A lot of people disagree with him.
Both parties do that. It’s called politics. Votes were not rigged
Mish, I love you and am sympathetic to Libertarians. I voted Ron Paul in 2008.
But let’s preserve Democracy first, and then we can debate policy later. That means voting Biden even if policy doesn’t align 100%.
Trump is an open, outspoken enemy of American Democracy. Four years of Trump has been a debacle. The Constitution wouldn’t survive another four years of Trump.
The U.S. is a constitutional republic. Let’s preserve the republic. Biden supports globalism, which is a threat to the republic. Trump is not a threat to the Constitution.
It is the Democrats that want to pack the Supreme Court and use it to overturn the Constitution.
Democracy is tyranny of the majority. That is why the filibuster has existed. A percentage of the minority must agree with the majority.
It is a Constitutional Democratic Republic if you really want to split hairs.
Yes, he really is. You probably won’t take the blinders off to see it, but Trump has called the election a sham and rigged, an active attempt at reducing the legitimacy of American elections.
He has also refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, which is the basic fundamental premise of the US Constitution.
And that’s just 2020. Search for Trump constitutional crises for more.
The GOP during Obama obstructed legitimate court nominees so that they could then fill them under Trump.
This is backdoor court packing.
The supreme court nominee obstruction was justified by saying it it wasn’t fair to fill it during an election year. Flash forward to 2020, and, surprise, the GOP has no such objections to filling the seat during an election year as long as they get to choose the nominee.
It is the height of hypocrisy, and shows clearly that the GOP has no principles other than power for power’s sake.
Dream on Mish. You’re voting for the winner.
Given that Jorgensen has ZERO chance of winning the Electoral College, voting for her is throwing your vote away.
There was a time when you could vote Libertarian (And, I did. Many times.) and feel good about your vote as a principled act. Now is not that time. The GOP: Party of Hate® needs to be destroyed.
Voting for Trump or Biden is throwing your vote away. Vote for the lesser of two evils, you assure that the only choices you ever will have are evil.
Party of Hate? I dunno. Both sides seem to have plenty of people excitedly hating. If you (“you” meaning the media you consume) see the R’s as more hateful, you might look at fan rallies for both sides. Contrast Trump rallies to Democrat rallies (AKA BLM protests). Both sides have their rah, rah fans, but their actions seem quite different in tone and result.
There is plenty to not like about Trump, but you’ll notice much of the trouble people have with him is that he does not spew hate for out-of-fashion people. Generally, he spews his hate at those who have spewed hate at him. It’s an interesting thing to watch.
Pish posh. He came down the escalator spewing against Mexicans who did not even know who he was.
Party of hate? The so-called party of tolerance became unglued when Hilary lost to Trump. I shudder to think what they’re capable of if Trump wins again.
I think i’ll go with the smart folks that work in that office …
Best wishes to Jorgensen. Last exits off the highway to hell were long passed in ‘92 and ‘96, however, and the mainstream media did everything they could to ridicule that guy.
Imagine if he didn’t have a wedding to duck out for. Things could have been sooooo different.
I’ve said it here before. I don’t know about other states but the polls here in AZ are incorrectly under reporting Latino support for Trump. I am married to and know tons of Mexican Americans. As Biden would say the fact of the matter is they in no way relate or have strong positive vibes about Biden and many do not know or support him. He’s just another BS white politician from somewhere else who does not understand the Mexican American life experience. Many hate Trump, however, many many more support him now vs 2016. I’m hearing this regularly for the past 6 months.
What makes you think they are undercounted?
Show me a actual poll that is undercounted.
Maybe polling is the wrong word. What I’m saying is I’ve seen a large shift towards Trump in this community. I really don’t know what the polling # is but my guess is it’s incorrect. I don’t know anything about polls but I do know Mexicans way better than what any pollster from a far away state knows.
Listen I’m not a Trump guy or looking for a debate or know anything about your neighbor. I’m just stating the fact that I’m pretty engrossed with the Mexican community in Tucson and I’d estimate based on those daily life interactions he’s liked by more Mexicans than people would think. Just my $.02
What polls measure, you can’t see with your eyes. You can not know/observe 500+, 1000+ likely voters, randomly. At the best, they’re all skewed in whatever walk of life they share with you.
What you see with your eyes is worse than anecdotal, it’s deceiving.
I can buy that polls are inaccurate (every measurement is inaccurate, that’s why statisticians invented the MOE concept). And I can buy that there’s some polling bias and/or methodology that works against Trump (include the “ashamed-to-admit-my-preference-out-loud” effect). But how big could that be, 2, 4, maybe 6 percent?
I add “+2” for Trump on all polls except the R-internal ones. Then if the margin between candidates is less than the MOE, it’s a statistical tie in my book.
Even with my standards that are quite generous to Trump, he’s behind with a really tough path. Trump needs close states where he is likely to win: IA, OH, NC, GA, TX. Then he needs 3 of 4 close states where he’s likely to lose: FL, AZ, MI, WI.
I think he’s already lost PA, NV and NH. Media should stop considering them swing states.
According to exit polls from 2016 Republicans were 33% of the voters.
Almost all polls that show Joe Biden having on average about 9% lead have sampled just 24-25% Republicans.
So Joe Biden has 8-9% more support in the polls than he likely has in the election.
You might have a point to make here, but you’re falling short on it.
“According to exit polls from 2016 Republicans were 33% of the voters.”
In which state?
Just like the all the popular vote polls in our system with the EC, if you don’t do a state-by-state analysis, it’s worthless info.
As an example, what if in California the number was 22% and in Florida the number was 40% Anything from CA/NY that skews the statistics from swing states is worthless noise, and it’s noise in large volume.
You’d also need to factor in the demographic change over time.
What if the % of registered Republicans dropped 10 points from last to this election?
Agreed. Voting for Donald Trump in 2016 is my single most regretted vote.
Already voted for her!
“If You Want Change There is Only One Choice: Jo Jorgensen”
edit:
“If You Want Positive Change There is Only One Choice: Jo Jorgensen”
we’ve had plenty of shiite “change” in the last 3.75 years.