Not “are you frustrated.” Not “is the system messy.”
Who benefits if you stay home?
Who benefits if you stay home?
2/ Look at who is not sitting this out.
DSA is not telling its supporters that electoral politics is pointless.
Its strategy is the opposite. It is trying to build political power through elections, back socialist candidates, and work toward an independent mass socialist party.
DSA is not telling its supporters that electoral politics is pointless.
Its strategy is the opposite. It is trying to build political power through elections, back socialist candidates, and work toward an independent mass socialist party.
3/ Its 2026 endorsement criteria even require candidates to help grow DSA and advance its priorities.
So ask the obvious question:
If elections are meaningless, why are organized political movements pouring time, money, volunteers, and energy into winning them?
So ask the obvious question:
If elections are meaningless, why are organized political movements pouring time, money, volunteers, and energy into winning them?
4/ They know something the “don’t vote” crowd pretends not to know.
Elections decide who writes the laws, who holds the gavel, who confirms judges, who funds agencies, and who sits in Congress when the next crisis hits.
People who want power do not skip the process that hands out power.
Elections decide who writes the laws, who holds the gavel, who confirms judges, who funds agencies, and who sits in Congress when the next crisis hits.
People who want power do not skip the process that hands out power.
5/ Now look at who does want Americans to lose faith in voting.
U.S. intelligence has repeatedly concluded that Russia, Iran, and China use information operations to exploit American divisions and weaken confidence in our democratic institutions. Their goals differ. The method rhymes.
U.S. intelligence has repeatedly concluded that Russia, Iran, and China use information operations to exploit American divisions and weaken confidence in our democratic institutions. Their goals differ. The method rhymes.
6/ ODNI said in 2024 that foreign actors view election periods as moments of vulnerability and try to exacerbate American divisions for their own benefit.
A divided, cynical, checked-out public is easier to manipulate than a public that still shows up.
A divided, cynical, checked-out public is easier to manipulate than a public that still shows up.
7/ Why would foreign adversaries spend real money trying to convince Americans their vote is worthless?
Because a confident country is harder to beat than a cynical one.
They do not need to occupy us. They need us divided, exhausted, and convinced that showing up is pointless.
Because a confident country is harder to beat than a cynical one.
They do not need to occupy us. They need us divided, exhausted, and convinced that showing up is pointless.
8/ They are not all trying to elect the same person.
They are trying to produce the same result:
Americans who no longer trust the process. Americans who fight each other first. Americans who stay home.
A loud, suspicious, checked-out public is cheaper to manage than a united one.
They are trying to produce the same result:
Americans who no longer trust the process. Americans who fight each other first. Americans who stay home.
A loud, suspicious, checked-out public is cheaper to manage than a united one.
9/ Russia has used this playbook in every federal election cycle since 2016. Officials say it is doing it again heading into these midterms: covert online operations meant to seed division and undercut confidence in November.
Iran has worked to stoke discord and undermine trust in the process itself.
China has used influence efforts to tear down American democracy as a model and, at times, target individual races and members of Congress.
Iran has worked to stoke discord and undermine trust in the process itself.
China has used influence efforts to tear down American democracy as a model and, at times, target individual races and members of Congress.
10/ This is cheap warfare.
They do not have to hack every machine. They do not have to convince the whole country.
They only have to amplify one idea until enough people repeat it as if it were their own:
“Your vote doesn’t count. Stay home.”
They do not have to hack every machine. They do not have to convince the whole country.
They only have to amplify one idea until enough people repeat it as if it were their own:
“Your vote doesn’t count. Stay home.”
11/ So ask yourself the hard question.
Why would an AMERICAN repeat the same message our adversaries want circulating?
“Your vote doesn’t count.” “It’s all rigged, so stay home.” “Participation is for suckers.”
That message does not build a better country. It empties the field.
Why would an AMERICAN repeat the same message our adversaries want circulating?
“Your vote doesn’t count.” “It’s all rigged, so stay home.” “Participation is for suckers.”
That message does not build a better country. It empties the field.
12/ This November is not a presidential election.
We are electing Congress.
Every single House seat is on the ballot. All 435.
About one-third of the Senate is on the ballot too.
That is the branch that writes the laws. That is not a side show.
We are electing Congress.
Every single House seat is on the ballot. All 435.
About one-third of the Senate is on the ballot too.
That is the branch that writes the laws. That is not a side show.
13/ Throughout American history, people fought extraordinarily hard for a voice in exactly these elections.
Women spent generations fighting for that right.
Black Americans faced intimidation and violence just trying to exercise it.
They did not do that so we could shrug and stay home in 2026.
Women spent generations fighting for that right.
Black Americans faced intimidation and violence just trying to exercise it.
They did not do that so we could shrug and stay home in 2026.
14/ Here is the practical reality.
Not voting does not stop the election.
November 3 still comes. All 435 House races still happen. Senate races still happen. Winners still take those seats. Congress still convenes in January.
Not voting does not stop the election.
November 3 still comes. All 435 House races still happen. Senate races still happen. Winners still take those seats. Congress still convenes in January.
15/ The only difference is that the people who chose not to participate were not part of deciding those races.
If your argument is that the wrong people are sitting in Congress, sitting out does not remove a single one of them.
It leaves them there.
If your argument is that the wrong people are sitting in Congress, sitting out does not remove a single one of them.
It leaves them there.
16/ You do not have to love the two-party system to understand this.
You do not have to pretend every candidate is a hero.
You just have to be honest about power.
Power goes to the people who show up. Every time.
You do not have to pretend every candidate is a hero.
You just have to be honest about power.
Power goes to the people who show up. Every time.
17/ If foreign governments spend resources pushing Americans to give up on elections, why would an AMERICAN repeat that same line?
Who does that help? Who does that weaken?
Not voting does not punish Moscow, Tehran, or Beijing. It just leaves the field to whoever still intends to take power.
Who does that help? Who does that weaken?
Not voting does not punish Moscow, Tehran, or Beijing. It just leaves the field to whoever still intends to take power.
18/ So who benefits when Americans become convinced their vote is worthless?
The people already organized to win elections. The people already sitting in office. And the foreign governments that want this country weaker, and more divided.
Don’t do their work for them.
VOTE.
The people already organized to win elections. The people already sitting in office. And the foreign governments that want this country weaker, and more divided.
Don’t do their work for them.
VOTE.
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