Lemme Say A Little Somethin' About The Aftermath Of The Debate
I've long been outspoken about the limits of the two-party system and the first presidential debate of this season perfectly displayed the problem with it. As Robert Kennedy Jr stated in his own debate, the problem with our system is that we can only vote against candidates. We have no one to vote for.
I've heard a lot of people from both major parties say that democracy is under threat in this election, but the truer statement is that this election is already devoid of democracy. Since the Democratic corporation unilaterally avoided any sort of primary on Federal and State levels, ignoring candidates like RFK Jr., Marianne Williamson, and Dean Phillips, summarily handing the candidacy to Joe Biden despite his unpopularity and low polling, they removed democracy from the election. Considering that the two candidates from both of the corporate parties are consistently hand-picked by the wealthy elite, there's an argument to be made that we haven't had democracy in a while, if we've ever truly had it at all.
If we had a functional democracy, would we really have these two incredibly unpopular candidates as our only two choices? Certainly any thinking human being can see that our limited system has failed us… epically. Unfortunately, many Americans still fear the “majority rule” that comes with democracy and somehow prefer the minority rule of autocracy and oligarchy that we've been saddled with, but it's still a beloved dream of mine to see the complete annihilation of both the Democratic and Republican corporations.
Some say that the only way to remove ourselves from the stranglehold of these two entities would be to integrate some sort of ranked choice voting. Unfortunately, corporate media won't talk about it as they continue to enable the corporate parties, and it's still gonna be awhile before something like that happens.
As I've discussed the concept of ranked choice voting over the last few years, I'm regularly faced with the negative feedback that it could be disastrous, but as imaginative as I may be, I can barely consider a scenario that is more disastrous than our current situation. I also hear people say that ranked choice voting is too complex and that Americans could never understand it, but everyone I've ever explained it to seems to grasp the concept right away. Basically, you rank your candidates based on who you like best, and if your preferred candidate doesn't get at least half of the votes, your vote goes to your next choice until the winner is the person who actually gets the most votes and the most voter support across the board.
If we had ranked choice voting now, I think Robert Kennedy Jr. would be very likely to win. Unfortunately, many establishment politicians devoted to the two corporate parties are very afraid of ranked choice voting, the government of my home state of florida, for instance, has gone so far as to ban it (like he bans so many other things he doesn't understand in the name of freedom, which he also doesn't understand), but maybe that's why we need a guy like Kennedy to win.
In both 2016 and 2020, I voted against Donald Trump in the only way our system allows us to, by voting for the candidate from the opposite corporation. This year, I can't in good conscience make that same decision. Although Biden was my least favorite candidate in the 2020 Democratic pageant, I still preferred him over Trump, however after what I watched in the debate, there is no way I can lend my support to either of those two men.
Regardless of how successful Biden has been at generating impressive numbers so that his devotees can account for what a wonderful president he has been, his ego has thwarted democracy and put the country in a position where another Trump presidency is incredibly likely. Even if I were to swallow the bile of the Democratic party and vote for Biden again, I think he's the only member of that party who can lose to Trump. Then, I would have gone against my conscience and been a loser, just like I was in 2016, when I was forced to hold my nose and vote against my best interests.
So in addition to listening to many people comment on the dumpster fire that was the first presidential election of 2024, I also listened to the entirety of Robert Kennedy's responses as he held his own debate, answering roughly the same questions the two major corporate candidates were asked on CNN since CNN wouldn't allow him on the stage. Although there were a few times that he deviated from answering the direct questions and made points he wanted to make instead, what he had to say sounded coherent, lucid, and not very disagreeable to my own perspective on the challenges our country is facing. Although I'm still a little hesitant on supporting a legacy candidate, he does have an outside the box approach that I think this country needs.
I did also watch Jill Stein's response to the debate, and I think she'd be a better president than either Biden or Trump as well. I appreciate what the Green Party stands for and the initiatives it has started over the years, but although she's run before, I don't think she thinks she can actually win. One of the best things about Kennedy, as delusional as many think it may make him, is that he actually believes he can win.
The Libertarian Party is as old as I am, and their candidate is considerably younger. Chase Oliver seems like a smart guy and speaks much better than either of the corporate candidates. He also seems to actually know what he's talking about and has a good bit of common sense. However, he's barely old enough to run for president, and as woke as many may think America is, I just don't know if the constituency is ready to elect an openly gay president.
As of now, I hope RFK Jr. can pull it off. After what happened on CNN the other night, I think a lot of Americans are going to be much more open to considering an independent. Granted, just as many, if not more, we'll be doubling down on the establishment of the two corporate parties and will vote against who they don't want. It's a sad state of affairs that we've gotten to this point, but I think it's going to take a situation just like this in order for us to move beyond what is holding us back.
